The island of Tasmania on which Hobart was to become the capital was discovered in 1642 by Abel Tasman, of the Dutch East India Company. Having found no evidence of useful natural resources or ready treasure in the area, the Dutch had little interest in the island and concentrated their trade and business energies elsewhere.

Tasman, however, named the area Van Diemens Land; a name which was used until 1855 when it was changed to the name we have today.

The existence of Van Diemens Land was well known when Arthur Phillip arrived with the First Fleet in Botany Bay in New South Wales, although it was assumed that it was a part of the main continent. It was not until the arrival of Bass and Flinders, the first Europeans to circumnavigate the area in 1798-9, that it was known to be an island, separated from the mainland by what was to become known as Bass Strait.

There has been much speculation in regard to the way in which Tasmania originally became an island. The popular belief, however, from the available scientific evidence is that some twelve thousand years ago there occurred a rise in the sea level, due to the partial melting of the polar ice caps. The immediate effect of this was to cause a flooding of the land which had previously connected Tasmania with the rest of the continent.

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