Van Diemen's Land was the name used by Europeans for Tasmania before it was known it was an island. Tasmania is now a state of Australia. The Dutch explorer Abel Tasman was the first European to chart some coasts of Tasmania. He named the land Anthoonij van Diemenslandt after Anthony van Diemen, the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies. Van Diemen had sent Tasman to explore the extent of the presumed south land in 1642.