kids encyclopedia robot

Rivers of Tasmania facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

This page discusses the rivers and hydrography of the state of Tasmania, Australia.

In the geography of Tasmania, the state is covered with a network of rivers and lake systems. As an island, all rivers eventually empty into the waters that surround Tasmania. There are four main river systems:

  1. In the south, the Derwent flows from the Central Highlands past Hobart, to the sea at Storm Bay;
  2. In the west, the Gordon River takes the waters of Lake Gordon and Lake Pedder and is joined by the Franklin River before flowing into Macquarie Harbour;
  3. Flowing eastwards and to the south, the Huon River has its headwaters at Scotts Peak Dam on Lake Pedder, and reaches the sea in D'Entrecasteaux Channel; and
  4. Flowing from the north-east, the South Esk, the state's longest river, joins the North Esk at Launceston to create the Tamar.

Compared to the rest of Australia, Tasmania has a very high proportion of wild or undisturbed rivers.

Catchment areas

Major catchments of Tasmania are linked to the major rivers, the most notable being the Derwent. Catchments by region are:

South west region

West coast region

Major rivers

The following rivers are the longest river systems, by length.

Longest rivers in Tasmania by length
(January 2008)
Order River name Length Region(s)
km mi
1 South Esk 252 157 Midlands
2 Derwent 215 134 Central Highlands
3 Arthur 189 117 West Coast
4 Gordon 186 116 Central Highlands; South-west; Western
5 Huon 169 105 South-west
6 Mersey 158 98 North-west
7 Franklin 129 80 Central Highlands; West Coast
8 North Esk 97 60 Northern
9 Pieman 38 24 West Coast

River topography

Rivers that flow towards the Tasman Sea of the South Pacific Ocean

Rivers that flow towards the Southern Ocean

Rivers that flow north, towards Bass Strait

kids search engine
All content from Kiddle encyclopedia articles (including the article images and facts) can be freely used under Attribution-ShareAlike license, unless stated otherwise. Cite this article:
Rivers of Tasmania Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.