Koonya, Tasmania
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Koonya | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Officers' quarters for the penal colony | |||||||||||||
  Koonya | |||||||||||||
| Coordinates: 43°06′S 147°45′E / 43.100°S 147.750°E | |||||||||||||
| Country | Australia | ||||||||||||
| State | Tasmania | ||||||||||||
| Region | South-east | ||||||||||||
| LGA | |||||||||||||
| Location |
| ||||||||||||
| Government | |||||||||||||
| • State electorate | |||||||||||||
| • Federal division | |||||||||||||
| Population | |||||||||||||
| • Total | 134 (2016 census)[1] | ||||||||||||
| Postcode | 7184 | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
Koonya is a rural locality in the local government area (LGA) of Tasman in the South-east LGA region of Tasmania. The locality is about 18 kilometres (11 mi) north-east of the town of Nubeena. The 2016 census has a population of 134 for the state suburb of Koonya.[1] It hosts the annual Koonya Garlic Festival, a "one-day celebration".[2]
The area was formerly known as Cascades, but had been changed by 1888. Koonya was gazetted as a locality in 1968. The name is believed to be an Aboriginal word, but the meaning is disputed.[3]
It was established in 1841 as one of outlying parts of the network of penal colony sites centered on Port Arthur.[4] Under its former name of "Cascades", it was populated by at least 400 convicts.[4]
After the Port Arthur penal colony was closed, and Van Diemen's Land was renamed "Tasmania", a number of places in Tasmania were renamed; "Cascades" was renamed "Koonya".[5]