Bagdad, Tasmania

Bagdad is a small town 37km north of Hobart, Tasmania. It is in the Southern Midlands Council.In the days of the horse and buggy, Bagdad was an important rest area and horse-changing place for those continuing their journey up Constitution Hill. It is now an area of orchards and small mixed farms and a commuter settlement.HistoryThe town was named by the explorer Hugh Germain, a private in the Royal Marines. He was said to carry two books in his saddlebags while travelling: the Bible and the Arabian Nights, which he used as inspiration when he named places.Bagdad Post Office opened on 1 December 1878.A railway line connected the town with Hobart from 1891 until 1947.In April 2003, during the early part of the Iraq war, the town's website was bombarded by confused internet users from around the world trying to contact Iraqis.DemographicsThe 2006 Census by the Australian Bureau of Statistics counted 996 persons in Bagdad on census night. Of these, 51.7% were male and 48.3% were female.The majority of residents (86.9%) are of Australian birth, with another 2.6% from England.The age distribution of Bagdad residents is comparable to that of the greater Australian population. 62.8% of residents were over 25 years in 2006, compared to the Australian average of 66.5%; and 37.2% were younger than 25 years, compared to the Australian average of 33.5%.