Information about Canterbury, New Zealand

Regional Council
Environment Canterbury Canterbury Regional Council
Country:	New Zealand

Name:	Environment Canterbury
Chair:	Sir Kerry Burke
Population:	533,200 June 2006 estimate [1]
Land Area:	44,638km²
Website:	[2]
Cities and Towns
Cities:	Christchurch
Towns:	Kaikoura, Ashburton, Leeston, Rolleston, Timaru, Fairlie, Temuka, Methven, Rakaia, Geraldine, Rangiora, Oxford
Constituent Territorial Authorities
Names:	Christchurch Hurunui District Kaikoura District Ashburton District Timaru District Mackenzie District Selwyn District Waimate District Waimakariri District Waitaki District
Websites:	[3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]

The New Zealand region of Canterbury (Māori: Waitaha) is mainly composed of the Canterbury Plains and the surrounding mountains. Its main city, Christchurch, hosts the main office of the Christchurch City Council, the Canterbury Regional Council (promoted as Environment Canterbury) and the University of Canterbury.

Geography

Canterbury is New Zealand's largest region, with an approximate area of 42,200 km². The region is bounded in the north by the Conway River and to the west by the Southern Alps. The southern boundary is the Waitaki River.

The area is commonly divided into North Canterbury (north of the Rakaia River), Mid Canterbury (from the Rakaia River to the Rangitata River), South Canterbury (south of the Rangitata River) and Christchurch (Christchurch City). For many purposes South Canterbury is considered a separate region, centred on the city of Timaru.

When the current local government structure was introduced in 1989, Kaikoura District was part of the Nelson-Marlborough Region. That region was later abolished and replaced with 3 unitary authorities. Kaikoura was too small to function as an independent unitary authority and was moved under the jurisdiction of the Canterbury Regional Council. However Kaikoura remains part of Marlborough in the minds of many people.

History

Main article: History of Canterbury, New Zealand

Colonisation

In 1848 Edward Gibbon Wakefield and John Robert Godley established the Canterbury Association to plan a Church of England colony in New Zealand's South Island. The colony was to be based upon theories developed by Wakefield while in prison for eloping with a woman not-of-age.

Following 1850 the province developed, during this era the architect Benjamin Mountfort, as the first Provincial architect, designed many civic and ecclesiastical buildings in the Gothic Revival style.

Canterbury Province

The Canterbury Province was formed in 1853 following the passage of the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 from the part of New Munster and covered both the east and west coasts of the South Island of New Zealand. The Province was abolished, along with other provinces of New Zealand, in 1876.

Sport

Canterbury is home to the most successful team in Super 14 Rugby Competition; the Crusaders. The Crusaders also represent other provinces in the upper South Island, but are based in Christchurch. They were formerly known as the Canterbury Crusaders. Other sporting teams include the Canterbury Flames (Netball) and the Canterbury Rams (Basketball)

Wine regions of Canterbury

Canterbury has two major areas of viticulture. These are Waipara and the area around Christchurch, typically labelled merely Canterbury. Recently there have been vintages from plantings from Kurow further to the south.

White wine has typically predominated in Canterbury from Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Gewurztraminer, and to a lesser extent Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris. Pinot Noir has had some success in the province particularly in Waipara.

Very recently wine has been produced in Kurow.

Terminology

People in New Zealand commonly refer to people from the Canterbury region as Cantabrians, a term also used for people from Cantabria (Spain), although in most contexts this is unlikely to produce confusion. People from the city of Canterbury in England refer to themselves as Cantuarians.

Sources

rulers.org
An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, edited by A. H. McLintock, 1966
Christchurch City Council
Canterbury Regional Council website

• • [ e] Regions of New Zealand
North Island	Northland Auckland Waikato Bay of Plenty Gisborne Hawke's Bay Taranaki Manawatu-Wanganui Wellington
South Island	Tasman Marlborough Nelson West Coast Canterbury Otago Southland
Unitary authorities

Canterbury Regional Council is Canterbury's regional council, and is part of New Zealand's structure of local government. It uses the promotional name Environment Canterbury, frequently abbreviated to 'Ecan'. It is based primarily in Christchurch.
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country, state, and nation can have various meanings. Therefore, diverse lists of these entities are possible. Wikipedia offers the following lists:

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Anthem
"God Defend New Zealand"
"God Save the Queen"¹

Capital Wellington

Largest city Auckland
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New Zealand

This article is part of the series:
Politics of New Zealand

Constitution

Executive
Sovereign
Queen Elizabeth II

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Sir Thomas Kerry Burke (born March 24 1942) served as Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives from 1987 to 1990. He was a member of the Labour Party, and served throughout the second term of the Fourth Labour Government.
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Christchurch (Māori: Ōtautahi) is the regional capital of Canterbury, New Zealand. The largest city in the South Island, it is also the second largest city and third largest urban area of New Zealand.
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The Hurunui District is a political district on the east coast of New Zealand's South Island, north of Christchurch, New Zealand. It forms the northernmost part of the Canterbury region and stretches from the east coast to the main divide.
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Kaikoura is a town on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It is located on State Highway 1 180 km north of Christchurch.

According to the 2001 census, the permanent resident population is 2,104, a 5% decrease since the 1996 census.
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Ashburton is a town and district in the Canterbury region on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It is the third-largest centre in Canterbury, after Christchurch and Timaru. The Māori name for the town/area is Hakatere.
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Timaru is a major port city in the southern Canterbury region of New Zealand, located 160 kilometres south of Christchurch and about 200 kilometres north of Dunedin on the eastern Pacific coast of the South Island.
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Mackenzie District is a political district in New Zealand's South Island.

External links

Mackenzie District Council webpage
Mackenzie area history

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The Selwyn district is a predominantly rural area in central Canterbury, on the east coast of New Zealand's South Island. It is named after the Selwyn River, which is in turn named after Bishop Selwyn, an early explorer of the area.
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Waimate is a town and district in the South Island of New Zealand. It is 45.7 km south of Timaru in south Canterbury, 20 km north of the Waitaki River.

The population of Waimate at the count of the 2001 census is 7,101 people.
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The Waimakariri District is a political district of New Zealand, located in the South Island, on the eastern coast of north Canterbury, New Zealand. It is north of Christchurch and the Waimakariri River. The name is Maori for cold river.
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Waitaki district, in the Otago region of New Zealand, straddles the border with Canterbury, the traditional border of which is the Waitaki River. The district, which is agricultural by nature, comprises the wide alluvial fan of the river, and runs inland along the banks of the
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New Zealand

This article is part of the series:
Politics of New Zealand

Constitution

Executive
Sovereign
Queen Elizabeth II

..... Click the link for more information.

The Canterbury Plains cover an area bounded by the foothills of the Southern Alps and the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. They are centred to the south of the city of Christchurch in the Canterbury region.
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University of Canterbury (Māori: Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha), New Zealand's second-oldest university, is located in the suburb of Ilam in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand.
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The Conway River is part of the traditional boundary between the Canterbury and Marlborough regions in the South Island of New Zealand.

It runs for thirty kilometres through the Hundalee Hills at the south end of the Seaward Kaikoura Mountains before reaching the Pacific
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Southern Alps is a mountain range which runs along the western side of the South Island of New Zealand. It forms a natural dividing range along the entire length of the South Island.
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The Waitaki River is a large river in the South Island of New Zealand, some 110 km long. It is the major river of the Mackenzie Basin.

It is a braided river which has Lake Benmore, Lake Aviemore and Lake Waitaki at its headwaters.
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Rakaia River, in the Canterbury Plains in New Zealand's South Island, is the largest braided river in New Zealand . ^[1] The river has a mean flow of 203 cubic metres per second and a mean annual seven-day low flow of 87 cubic metres per second.
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The Rangitata River is one of the braided rivers that helped form the Canterbury Plains in southern New Zealand. It flows southeast for 120 kilometres from the Southern Alps, entering the Pacific Ocean 30 kilometres northeast of Timaru.
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