Hobart, Australia

The state capital of Tasmania, Australia, Hobart is a city of 191,169 (census 2001) people on the estuary of the Derwent River in the state's south-east.

Located largely on steep hills up to the often snow-covered peak of Mt. Wellington (approximately 1270 metres high), this picturesque little city is a busy seaport, notably serving as the home port for Australia's Antarctic activities, and supports several secondary industries (notably including a high-speed catamaran factory and a zinc smelter) as well as a vibrant tourist industry. Visitors come to the city to explore its historic inner suburbs, to visit the weekly craft market in Salamanca Place, as well as to use the town as a base from which to explore the rest of Tasmania.

(history needed here, including penal colony, seal and whalers, postwar economic decline)