1.
Urban areas of New Zealand
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Statistics New Zealand defines urban areas of New Zealand for statistical purposes. The urban areas comprise cities, towns and other conurbations of a people or more. In combination, the areas of the country constitute New Zealands urban population. At the 2001 census, the population made up 86% of New Zealands total population. There are three classes of area, Main urban areas, with a population of 30,000 or more. These 17 areas mostly correspond to the known by New Zealanders as cities. Secondary urban areas are the 14 urban areas with a population of 10,000 to 30,000, minor urban areas make up the remainder of the urban population of the country, towns with 1,000 to 10,000 people. There are 103 minor urban areas, Statistics New Zealand also defines rural centres with a population of 300 to 999 people. While these do not fit the standard definition of an urban population. The current placement of urban areas into the three classes is based on populations at the 2013 census, and does not reflect population changes since then, placements are revised after every census. The population figures shown are Statistics New Zealands resident population estimates at the June 2016, for rankings in various criteria see the ranked list of New Zealand urban areas. Four main urban areas are subdivided into urban zones, the following cities are listed by location from north to south. The following towns are listed by location north to south. Whakatane, From Coastlands to Ōhope Beach and south to Poroporo, Taupo, From Wairakei to Taupo Airport. Levin, From Waitarere Beach to Ohau, greymouth, From Runanga to Southbeach and Camerons. Rangiora, From the Ashley River to Flaxton Ashburton, From Fairton to Winslow, timaru, From Washdyke to Scarborough and west to Gleniti. Queenstown, From Fernhill and Kelvin Heights to Frankton Oamaru, From Pukeuri to Weston and Holmes Hill
2.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
3.
Regions of New Zealand
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New Zealand is divided into sixteen regions for devolved local government. Eleven are administered by councils, and five are administered by unitary authorities. The Chatham Islands Council is similar to an authority, authorised under its own legislation. The regional councils are listed in Part 1 of Schedule 2 of the Local Government Act 2002, the Act requires regional councils to promote sustainable development – the social, economic, environmental and cultural well-being of their communities. The current regions and most of their councils came into being through a government reform in 1989 that took place under the Local Government Act 1974. In addition they took over roles that had previously been performed by county councils. Auckland Regional Council, formed in 1989, was replaced by Auckland Council, the boundaries of the regions are based largely on drainage basins. This anticipated the responsibilities of the Resource Management Act 1991, most regional boundaries conform with territorial authority boundaries but there are a number of exceptions. An example is Taupo District, split between four regions, although most of its area is in the Waikato region, property rates are used to fund both regional and territorial government activities. There is often a degree of co-operation between regional and territorial councils as they have complementary roles. Regional councils have these specific functions under the Resource Management Act 1991, notes, These regions have unitary authorities. The Gisborne Region is still widely but unofficially known by its name or as East Coast. Some outlying islands are not included within regional boundaries, the Chatham Islands is not in a region, although its council has some of the powers of a regional council under the Resource Management Act. Councils may use a first past the post or single transferable vote system, the chairperson is selected by the elected council members. The Auckland Regional Council was preceded by the Auckland Regional Authority, the Wellington Regional Council was first formed in 1980 from a merger of the Wellington Regional Planning Authority and the Wellington Regional Water Board. In 1978, legislation was passed enabling the formation of regions with united councils, twenty regions were designated, excluding the Auckland and Wellington areas. For most of the country this was the first regional level of government since the abolition of provinces in 1876, councillors were not elected directly – they were appointed from the various territorial local authorities within the region. For example, in a number of cases the united council took responsibility for the allocation of revenue from regional petrol taxes, the united councils were based in the facilities of the largest TLA in the region and largely dependent on the TLAs for resources
4.
Manawatu-Wanganui
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Manawatu-Wanganui is a region in the lower half of the North Island of New Zealand, whose main population centres are the cities of Palmerston North and Whanganui. It is administered by the Manawatu-Wanganui Regional Council, which for trading purposes is known as Horizons Regional Council, although in recent years both the Whanganui River and Whanganui District have been renamed, the region is currently spelled without an h. The region covers all or part of ten territorial authority areas, parts of five of these are covered by five other regions of New Zealand, the most of any region. The largest city is Palmerston North, with a population of 85,300 and it is the only territorial authority in the region to be administered by a city council. It is also responsible for public transport, the region is dominated and defined by two significant river catchments, the Whanganui and the Manawatu. The Whanganui River, in the northwest, is the longest navigable river in New Zealand, the river was extremely important to early Māori as it was the southern link in a chain of waterways that spanned almost two-thirds of the North Island. It was one of the areas of Māori settlement with its easily fortified cliffs. Legends emphasise the importance of the river and it remains sacred to Whanganui iwi, Māori along the coast and lowland plains grew kumara and other crops. The Manawatu River runs across the centre of the region, from rolling hill country in the east to the fertile Manawatu Plains in the west. The main city of Palmerston North is located on these plains and this river is unusual, in that it passes from hill country to plains through a gorge cut into much higher country, an indication that the hills have risen since the river formed. To the southeast, a further, more populated area lies between the sources of the Manawatu River and the Pacific coast. The two river catchments have very different natures, while the open Manawatu Plains became more densely settled by Europeans, inland Ruapehu, Rangitikei and Whanganui remained more Māori-dominated, remote and independent, and is still heavily forested. As late as the 1950s the Whanganui River remained a river of mystery, since then exploitation of the rivers commercial potential has opened up the area, often causing friction with local Māori, who have long-standing grievances. Manawatu-Wanganui as a whole is one of the most important pastoral areas in New Zealand, much of Manawatu-Wanganui was fertile and bush-covered when Europeans arrived and developed the area as a source of timber. Saw milling and flax milling dominated the 19th century, followed by an influx of farmers who exploited the newly cleared ground. Deforestation, burn-offs of timber and scrub and large scale combined with overgrazing. In the early 1900s authorities realised that careful management was needed to maintain this important agricultural area, Manawatu-Wanganui takes up a large proportion of the lower half of the North Island. It is the second-largest local government region in the North Island, the region stretches from north of Taumarunui to south of Levin on the west coast, and across to the east coast from Cape Turnagain to Owhanga
5.
Territorial authorities of New Zealand
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Territorial authorities are the second tier of local government in New Zealand, below regional councils. There are 67 territorial authorities,12 city councils,53 district councils, Auckland Council, six territorial authorities also perform the functions of a regional council and thus are unitary authorities. A unitary authority may also have local boards, currently only Auckland Council has them, territorial authority districts are not subdivisions of regions, and some of them fall within more than one region. Taupo District has the distinction of straddling the boundaries of four different regions, Regional council areas are based on water catchment areas, whereas territorial authorities are based on community of interest and road access. Some activities are delegated to council-controlled organisations, the boundaries of councils tended to follow the edge of the built-up area, so little distinction was made between the urban area and the local government area. Regional councils were reduced in number from 20 to 13, territorial authorities from 200 to 75, the new district and city councils were generally much larger and most covered substantial areas of both urban and rural land. Many places that once had a city council were now being administered by a district council, as a result, the term city began to take on two meanings. The word city came to be used in a formal sense to describe major urban areas independent of local body boundaries. This informal usage is jealously guarded, gisborne, for example, adamantly described itself as the first city in the world to see the new millennium. Gisborne is administered by a council, but its status as a city is not generally disputed. Under the current law the minimum population for a new city is 50,000, since the 1989 reorganisations, there have been few major reorganisations or status changes in local government. Incomplete list,1991, Invercargill re-proclaimed a city,1992, Nelson-Marlborough Regional Council abolished by a Local Government Amendment Act. Of its territorial authorities, Kaikoura District was transferred to the Canterbury Region,2004, Tauranga became a city again on 1 March. 2006, Banks Peninsula District merged into Christchurch City as a result of 2005 referendum,2010, Auckland Council, a unitary authority, replaced seven local councils and the regional council. Reports on completed reorganisation proposals since 1999 are available on the Local Government Commissions site, the split areas as well as the current North Shore City would form a Waitemata local council. Waitakere local council would consist of the current Waitakere City as well as the Avondale area, tamaki Makaurau would consist of the current Auckland City and Otahuhu Manukau local council would consist of the urban parts of the current Manukau City and of the Papakura District. Hunua local council would consist of the entire Franklin District, much of which is currently in the Waikato Region, along with areas of the current Papakura District. The entire Papakura District would be dissolved between urban and rural councils, the National-led Government responded within about a week
6.
Horowhenua District
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Horowhenua is a district on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It forms part of the Manawatu-Wanganui Region and its name roughly means shaking or rippling earth. The main town and seat of the council is Levin, and other towns in the district include Foxton, Shannon. The population of the district is 31,900, Levin Ward Waiopehu Ward Miranui Ward Kere Kere Ward Much of the area was once an extensive wetland and the centre of a substantial flax industry. It has been drained and converted to productive but flood-prone farmland, with a mixture of loam. Some parts of the wetland, particularly those around Lake Horowhenua are being returned to their state as a conservation area. One of the tribal authorities is the Muaūpoko Tribal Authority. In cricket, a Horowhenua-Kapiti team has competed in the Hawke Cup since 2002, Official website Official Tourism website Horowhenua facebook page
