Sawmilling and woodchipping industries are important. Great Lake in the interior is the largest lake and the reservoir of an important hydroelectric plant. The development of hydroelectric power in wilderness regions of Tasmania has been a controversial issue in recent years. Tasmania has the highest proportion of national park land of all Australian states. The state's major manufactures are metals and metal products.
Agriculture is confined almost exclusively to small farms.
The raising of sheep for wool in the east and dairy farming in the northwest are also important. The mining of copper, zinc, tin, lead, and iron has increased in recent years. The island was explored in 1642 by the Dutch navigator Abel Tasman, who named it Van Diemen's Land. James Cook visited the island in 1777 and, in 1803, Great Britain took possession and established a penal colony. Governed by New South Wales until 1825, Tasmania was then constituted as a separate colony.