Where in the World is Tasmania?

If someone gave you a world atlas and told you to put your finger on Tasmania, if you’re like I was until recently, you’d spend lots of time searching. Your finger would quickly pass over the major continents, Africa, South America, North America, Asia, maybe head out into the Pacific for a quick spin then start looking for island specks in the ocean.

Then, if you’re like me, your finger would drift landward and start hovering over places you’d read about in National Geographic. Tanzania? Tunisia? Romania?

Finally, if you looked south under Australia, about 150 miles off the southeastern corner, you’d find an island – Tasmania.

Australia – and below it, at the 5 o’clock position, Tasmania

About the size of Ireland, Tasmania, or Tassie as some call it, is an Australian state just as Queensland and Victoria are. Home to about 500,000 Tasmanians, it’s also the stomping grounds of more exotic creatures such as the Tasmanian devil. Which yes, exists, but that’s a whole different story…

The island state of Tasmania