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The City of Launceston
Launceston
is a city in the north of the
State of
Tasmania, Australia, with a population (greater urban and
statistical sub division) of 103,325 located at the juncture of the
North Esk, South Esk, and Tamar rivers. It is the second largest
city in Tasmania after the state capital
Hobart. Settled by Europeans in March 1806, Launceston is one of
Australia's oldest cities and is arguably home to the largest
selection of nineteenth century buildings in Australia. Like many
Australian places, it was named after a town in the United Kingdom —
in this case, Launceston, Cornwall.
Launceston has also been home to several firsts
such as the first use of anaesthetic in the Southern Hemisphere, the
first Australian city to have underground sewers and the first
Australian city to be lit by hydroelectricity. The city has a cool
temperature climate with four distinct seasons. The average February
maximum temperature is 24.4 °C (76 °F) with the average maximum
dropping to 12.5 °C (54 °F) in July.
Tourism
Launceston serves as the commercial hub for the
north of Tasmania, and like many parts of the state, is becoming a
major tourist centre. Visitors to the city have grown over the past
few years, during 2004 Launceston attracted 412,800 visitors, up 51%
from 2001. The United Kingdom is the origin of 25% of all
international visitors to the city and 17% originate from the USA.
The Cataract Gorge is Launceston's largest
tourist attraction and is in close proximity to the city. It's home
to the longest single span chairlift in the world, stretching
308 metres (1,010 ft) from Basin 1 all the way to Basin 2.
Launceston has many parks throughout the city including City Park,
located next to the city centre. City Park is home to Albert Hall.
The park also has a large enclosure for Japanese Macaque monkeys,
which is a gift from sister city Ikeda, Japan. The Launceston
General Post Office dates back to the 1880s, with a clock tower
added in the early twentieth century. The GPO clock chime chimes
every quarter hour.
Launceston is home to the Tasmania Zoo, which is
known for its wildlife conservation work, including a breeding
program for Tasmanian Devils.
Sport
An AFL match at Aurora Stadium
Sport is a popular recreational and spectator
activity in Launceston and like most of the state cricket and
Australian rules football are most popular sports.
The city has been the birthplace of two prominent
Australian cricketers; the current Australian cricket captain Ricky
Ponting and the retired cricketer and current Australian selector
David Boon. It is also home of York Park (Aurora Stadium); with a
capacity of 20,000, it is the state's largest capacity stadium, and
the only first class sports ground in the state with lights for
evening games. The first first-class cricket match played in
Australia was played at the Northern Tasmania Cricket Association
Ground between the Melbourne Cricket Club and the Launceston Cricket
Club in 1851.
Content via
Wikipedia
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City
of Launceston .com 