town, northwestern Tasmania, Australia, at the mouth of the Duck River on Duck Bay. The site was included in a grant made to the Van Diemen's Land Company in 1825. White settlement began in earnest in the 1850s, and from 1907 Smithton was the centre of Circular Head municipality. On the Bass Highway and a rail line to Launceston (110 miles 【175 km】 southeast), the town serves a productive dairy-, vegetable-, and potato-farming region. Its industries include dairying (butter and cheese), bacon processing, vegetable canning, sawmilling, and lime quarrying. A fishing fleet operates from Smithton's port. Pop. (2001) urban centre, 3,142.