separating Tasmania
from the south of the Australia
n mainland, specifically the state of Victoria
.
The International Hydrographic Organization
defines the limits of the Bass Strait as follows:
On the West. The Eastern limit of the Great Australian BightGreat Australian BightThe Great Australian Bight is a large bight, or open bay, off the central and western portions of the southern coastline of mainland Australia.-Extent:...
[A line from Cape OtwayCape OtwayCape Otway is a cape in south Victoria, Australia on the Great Ocean Road; much of the area is enclosed in the Otway National Park.-History:...
, AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, to King Island and thence to Cape GrimCape GrimCape Grim is the northwestern point of Tasmania, Australia.It is the location of the Cape Grim Baseline Air Pollution Station which is operated by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology in a joint programme with the CSIRO....
, the Northwest extreme of TasmaniaTasmaniaTasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...] .
On the East. The Western limit of the Tasman Sea
Tasman SeaThe Tasman Sea is the large body of water between Australia and New Zealand, approximately across. It extends 2,800 km from north to south. It is a south-western segment of the South Pacific Ocean. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman, the first recorded European...
between Gabo IslandGabo IslandGabo Island is a 154 ha island located off the coast of eastern Victoria, Australia, between Mallacoota and Cape Howe on the border with New South Wales. It is separated from the mainland by a 500 m wide channel; access is available by arranged flights and boats...
and Eddystone Point [A line from Gabo Island (near Cape HoweCape HoweCape Howe is a coastal headland in Australia, forming the south-eastern end of the Black-Allen Line, the border between New South Wales and Victoria.-History:...
, 37°30'S) to the Northeast point of East Sister Island (148°E) thence along the 148th meridian148th meridian eastThe meridian 148° east of Greenwich is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, Australasia, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole....
to Flinders IslandFlinders IslandFlinders Island may refer to:In Australia:* Flinders Island , in the Furneaux Group, is the largest and best known* Flinders Island * Flinders Island , in the Investigator Group* Flinders Island...
; beyond this Island a line running to the Eastward of the Vansittart Shoals to [Cape] Barren Island, and from Cape Barren (the Easternmost point of [Cape] Barren Island) to Eddystone Point (41°S) in Tasmania].
The strait was named after George Bass
after he and Matthew Flinders
passed through it while circumnavigating Van Diemen's Land
(now named Tasmania) in the Norfolk
in 1798–99.
