Hobart

Hobart (/ˈhoʊbɑːrt/ ^ⓘ HOH-bart) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly half of Tasmania's population, Hobart is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-smallest by population and area after Darwin if territories are taken into account. Its skyline is dominated by the 1,271-metre (4,170 ft) kunanyi / Mount Wellington, and its harbour forms the second-deepest natural port in the world, with much of the city's waterfront consisting of reclaimed land. The metropolitan area is often referred to as Greater Hobart, to differentiate it from the City of Hobart, one of the seven local government areas that cover the city. It has a mild maritime climate.

The city lies on country which was known by the local Muwinina people as Nipaluna, a name which includes surrounding features such as Kunanyi / Mount Wellington and Timtumili Minanya (River Derwent). Prior to British colonisation, the land had been occupied for possibly as long as 35,000 years by Aboriginal Tasmanians, who generally refer to themselves as Palawa or Pakana.

Founded in 1804 as a British penal colony, Hobart is Australia's second-oldest capital city after Sydney, New South Wales. Whaling quickly emerged as a major industry in the area, and for a time Hobart served as the Southern Ocean's main whaling port. Penal transportation ended in the 1850s, after which the city experienced periods of growth and decline. The early 20th century saw an economic boom on the back of mining, agriculture and other primary industries, and the loss of men who served in the world wars was counteracted by an influx of immigration. Despite the rise in migration from Asia and other non-English speaking regions, Hobart's population is predominantly ethnically Anglo-Celtic and has the highest percentage of Australian-born residents among Australia's capital cities.

Today, Hobart is the financial and administrative hub of Tasmania, serving as the home port for both Australian and French Antarctic operations and acting as a tourist destination. Well-known drawcards include its convict-era architecture, Salamanca Market and the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA), the Southern Hemisphere's largest private museum.

In 1804, the settlement was named Hobart Town or Hobarton by the first Lt-governor David Collins after then British Secretary of State for war and the colonies Lord Hobart (a variant of Hubert, his name was pronounced with emphasis on the second syllable) at Sullivans Cove (named after the under-secretary). Earlier in 1793, Risdon Cove was named after the second officer on the ship Duke of Clarence by the captain John Hayes, and the river after the River Derwent, Cumbria (also briefly named by Bruni D'Entrecasteaux as La Rivière du Nord). The city was named the singular Hobart in 1881, and an inhabitant is known as a Hobartian.

Though the city is not officially dual-named, the 'saltwater country' of the western shore where the city is located has the Palawa kani name Nipaluna which was originally documented on 16 January 1831 by George Augustus Robinson (as nibberloonne, later niberlooner) when he was told by Woureddy, a Nununi chief from Bruny Island who spoke five dialects. Though the island is offshore, the language is related and in the same family as the Southeastern Tasmanian language which the local Muwinina people spoke. Another recorded name was an Oyster Bay word lebralawaggena (Bedford).

A semi-permanent settlement at Little Sandy Bay was called kriwa beneath the hill of kriwalayti. The dividing line of the region is the timtumili minanya (river), which winds its way down from the centre of the island through the lands of the Big River (Lemerina) people. On the eastern shore, the name for the Clarence Plains was known as naniyilipata by the Mumirimina, a group of the Oyster Bay (Poredareme) people. Droughty Point was known as trumanyapayna (kangaroo point) as it was a hunting ground, and South Arm as mutatayna. Later names by the TAC include piyura kitina (little native hens) at Risdon Cove and turikina truwala (mountain waterfall) on the Myrtle Gully Falls track.

The first European settlement began in 1803 as a military camp at Risdon Cove on the eastern shores of the River Derwent, amid British concerns over the presence of French explorers. It was the site of the 1804 Risdon Cove massacre. Later that year, along with the military, settlers and convicts from the abandoned Port Phillip settlement, the camp at Risdon Cove was moved by Captain David Collins to a better location at the present site of Hobart at Sullivans Cove.