Which Dutch explorer first sighted Tasmania in 1642?

Abel Tasman was the Dutch explorer who first sighted Tasmania in 1642. On 24 November, his expedition reached the island’s west coast, which he named Van Diemen’s Land after Anthony van Diemen, governor-general of the Dutch East Indies.

Tasman was commanding a voyage for the Dutch East India Company, or VOC, seeking information about the largely unknown southern oceans. His two ships, Heemskerck and Zeehaen, had sailed from Batavia and were surveying waters south of the Dutch East Indies. After sighting Tasmania, the expedition explored parts of its coast and formally claimed the land on 3 December 1642.

Tasman did not recognize Tasmania as an island separate from mainland Australia, and he soon turned away while searching for the hypothetical southern continent. He later became the first known European to reach New Zealand, sighting its South Island on 13 December 1642.

A common mix-up is the island’s name: Tasman called it Van Diemen’s Land, while “Tasmania” was adopted much later, officially replacing the older name in 1856. Indigenous Tasmanian peoples had lived there for thousands of years before European voyages.