Bass Strait separates mainland Australia from Tasmania and links the Indian Ocean with the Tasman Sea.
The strait is about 240 kilometres wide at its narrowest point and contains numerous islands, including King Island and Flinders Island. Its waters are relatively shallow compared with the surrounding ocean, because the strait was dry land during parts of the Ice Age when sea levels were lower.
The strait was named after George Bass, a British naval surgeon and explorer. Bass and Matthew Flinders surveyed the area in 1798, helping establish that Tasmania was an island rather than a peninsula of mainland Australia.
Bass Strait is often confused with the Tasman Sea, which lies to its east. The strait itself is the passage between the two landmasses, while the Tasman Sea extends between Australia and New Zealand.