North West Tasmania is one of the

regions In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The region comprises the whole of the north west, including the ''North West Coast'' and the northern reaches of the ''West Coast''. It is usually accepted as extending as far south as the Pieman River and including the

Savage River National Park Savage River National Park is located in north-west Tasmania, Australia. Established in April 1999, it is the largest undisturbed area of temperate rainforest in Australia since the era of the thylacine. Unlike other national parks of Tasmania ...

within the

Tarkine The Tarkine ( indigenous name: takayna), officially takayna / Tarkine, is an area containing the Savage River National Park in the north west Tasmania, Australia, which contains significant areas of wilderness. The Tarkine is noted for its bea ...

region. The region is characterised by its rugged beauty, from coastlines to agricultural lands. It is a key gateway for the ferry, which docks at Devonport.

North West Coast

The North West Coast is a region of

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

on the north coast of Tasmania to the west of

Port Sorell, Tasmania Port Sorell is a town on the north-west coast of Tasmania, Australia. It is on the waterway of the same name, just off Bass Strait, 20 km east of Devonport and close to Shearwater and Hawley Beach. It borders the Rubicon Estuary, whic ...

. It includes towns such as Devonport,

Burnie Burnie is a port city on the north-west coast of Tasmania, Australia. When founded in 1827, it was named Emu Bay, being renamed after William Burnie, a director of the Van Diemen's Land Company, in the early 1840s. , Burnie had an urban popu ...

, Wynyard, Ulverstone,

Penguin Penguins (order (biology), order List of Sphenisciformes by population, Sphenisciformes , family (biology), family Spheniscidae ) are a group of Water bird, aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: on ...

, Smithton and

Stanley Stanley may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Stanley'' (1972 film), an American horror film * ''Stanley'' (1984 film), an Australian comedy * ''Stanley'' (1999 film), an animated short * ''Stanley'' (1956 TV series) ...

. The water to the north is called

Bass Strait Bass Strait () is a strait separating the island state of Tasmania from the Australian mainland (more specifically the coast of Victoria, with the exception of the land border across Boundary Islet). The strait provides the most direct waterwa ...

. North-West and West Tasmania Area Profile July 2016 * The gross regional product is $5.29 billion – the highest it has been in the last 10 years. In comparison, the gross regional product of Tasmania is $24,707 billion. * The population is 113,834. * 51,526 people are employed (this figure has been steady since 2009). * About 70,600 people are working age (between 15 and 64). * There are 51,724 local jobs and 7,618 local businesses. * The employment rate for people between 15 and 64 years of age is 71.1% * The employment participation rate (15 and above) is 59.6% * The unemployment rate (15 and above) is 6.84% (the lowest since March 2012). The national average is 5.8%. * The youth unemployment rate (ages 15 to 24) is 12.0%. The national average is 12.2% (this has been decreasing since December 2014). * The largest employment industries, accounting for 38.5% (19,936) of the workforce, are manufacturing (7,065 people or 13.7%), retail trade (6,897 people or 13.3%) and health care and social assistance (5,974 people or 11.6%).

Cradle Coast

The region is characterised by some as 'Cradle to Coast' as a reference to the World Heritage listed icon Cradle Mountain. The region stretches from the coastline inland to rugged mountain areas. The term Cradle Coast is also the name of a regional local government authority within this region - ''The Cradle Coast Authority'' (CCA) which is a joint authority formed under the Tasmanian Local Government Act (1993) by the local government councils of Burnie City, Central Coast, Circular Head, Devonport City, Kentish, King Island, Latrobe, Waratah-Wynyard and West Coast (the participating Councils). The Cradle Coast region comprises the combined areas of the CCA's participating councils. The CCA is governed by a two-tiered structure comprising two representatives from each participating council (the Representatives) and a skills-based board of directors (the Board). The CCA was established by the nine Local Government Councils of North West Tasmania to represent and advocate the needs of the region. The CCA collaborates and facilitates a diverse range of projects and initiatives involving all tiers of government, industry and the community, by operating under three focus areas: Regional Economic Development, Natural Resource Management and Tourism.

COVID-19 pandemic

The region was a site of particularly severe disruption during the autumn 2020

COVID-19 pandemic in Australia The COVID-19 pandemic in Australia is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The first confirmed case in Australia was identified on 25 Januar ...

. Two hospitals in

North West Regional Hospital North West Regional Hospital is the primary healthcare facility for the North Western region of Tasmania. Like the Mersey Community Hospital, it is operated by the Tasmanian Health Service - North West Region, which is part of the Tasmanian g ...

(NWRH) and North West Private Hospital, were closed when an outbreak of the virus occurred among the staff. The emergency department at the NWRH was staffed by Australian Defence Force personnel for two weeks while the usual staff were under a mandatory 14 day quarantine after exposure to the virus. there had been at least 12 deaths from COVID-19 in the region, out of a total of 13 statewide.

Notes

External links

*{{wikivoyage-inline, North West Coast Regions of Tasmania