Kaikoura County was one of the

counties of New Zealand A system of counties of New Zealand was instituted after the country dissolved its provinces in 1876, and these counties were similar to other countries' systems, lasting with little change (except mergers and other localised boundary adjustmen ...

on the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

. During the period 1853 to 1859, the area that would become Kaikoura County was administered as part of Nelson Province. After a vote in 1859, the area that would become Kaikoura County was administered as part of the new

Marlborough Province :''(For the current top-level subdivision of Nelson in New Zealand, see Marlborough region)'' The Marlborough Province operated as a province of New Zealand from 1 November 1859, when it split away from Nelson Province, until the abolition of pr ...

. With the Abolition of Provinces Act 1876, Kaikoura County was created, taking over administration of its area on 1 January 1877. The county council was based in the town of Kaikoura (now

Kaikōura Kaikōura () 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. The town has an estimated permanent resident population of (as of ). The town is the government ...

), on the Pacific Ocean coast of the South Island. Kaikoura County existed until the 1989 local government reforms, when it became the Kaikoura District. The Kaikoura District did not include the part of Kaikoura County south of the Hundalee Hills, which was given to the new

Hurunui District Hurunui District is a territorial local government district within the Canterbury Region on the east coast of New Zealand's South Island, north of Christchurch. It stretches from the east coast to the Main Divide. Its land area is . Local gover ...

created on the same date. This area had been the subject of a failed 1971 proposal to create a Hurunui County.

References

Counties of New Zealand Marlborough Region {{Marlborough-geo-stub