South Island

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The South Island

The South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. The Māori name for the South Island, Te Wai Pounamu, meaning "The Water/s of Greenstone" (greenstone being jade), possibly evolved from Te Wāhi Pounamu which means "The Place Of Greenstone". The island is also known as Te Waka a Māui which means "Māui's Canoe".

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In the 19th century, some maps named the South Island as Middle Island or New Munster, and the name South Island or New Leinster was used for today's Stewart Island/Rakiura.

The South Island is often called the Mainland (somewhat humorously) because it existed first according to Māori legend, and is larger than the North Island. About a quarter of New Zealand's four million inhabitants live in the South Island.[1]

A true-colour image of the South Island. The scene was taken by NASA's Terra satellite on 23 October 2002.


[edit] Local Government Regions

There are seven local government regions covering the South Island and all its adjacent islands and territorial waters. Four are governed by an elected regional council, while three are governed by territorial authorities (the second tier of local government) which also perform the functions of a regional council and thus are known as unitary authorities. There is one exception to this, Nelson City is governed by an individual Territorial authority to its region (Tasman Region). The Chatham Islands Council is often counted by many as a unitary authority, but it is officially recognised as a part of the region of Canterbury.

[edit] Territorial Authorities

There are 25 territorial authorities within the South Island: 4 city councils, 20 district councils and the Chatham Islands Council. Four territorial authorities (Nelson City Council, Tasman and Marlborough District Councils and the Chatham Islands Council) also perform the functions of a regional council and thus are known as unitary authorities.

[edit] Cities and Towns of the South Island

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[edit] Companies of the South Island

This is a list of Companies of the South Island:

[edit] Geographic features

A true-colour image of the South Island, after a powerful winter storm swept across New Zealand on June 12, 2006.

The South Island with an area of 151,215 km² (58,093 square miles) is the largest land mass of New Zealand and the world's 12th-largest island. It is divided along its length by the Southern Alps, the highest peak of which is Aoraki/Mount Cook at 3754 metres (12,316 ft). There are eighteen peaks over 3000 metres (9800 ft) in the South Island.

[edit] National Parks

[edit] Demographics

Compared to the more populated and multi-ethnic North Island, the South Island only has a resident population of 991,100 . At the 2001 Census, over 91 percent of people in the South Island said they belong to the European ethnic group, compared with 80.1 percent for all of New Zealand . This high percentage of European population has added weight to the argument for South Island Independence.

[edit] Education

The major universities in the South Island are Lincoln University, the University of Canterbury and the University of Otago .

[edit] Film location

Several movies have been filmed (in large part) in the South Island, including the Lord of the Rings and 2005's The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] References

This article uses material from Wikipedia, "South Island".

Flag of New Zealand

Regions of New Zealand

North Island:

Northland | Auckland | Waikato | Bay of Plenty | Gisborne¹ | Hawke's Bay | Taranaki | Manawatu-Wanganui | Wellington

South Island:

Tasman¹ | Marlborough¹ | Nelson¹ | West Coast | Canterbury | Otago | Southland

¹ Unitary authorities



43°59′S, 170°27′E


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