Southland, New Zealand
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Southland () is
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
's southernmost
region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...
. It consists of the southwestern portion of the
South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...
and includes
Stewart Island Stewart Island (, ' glowing skies', officially Stewart Island / Rakiura, formerly New Leinster) is New Zealand's third-largest island, located south of the South Island, across Foveaux Strait. It is a roughly triangular island with a la ...
. Southland is bordered by the culturally similar
Otago Region Otago (, ; ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island and administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government region. Its po ...
to the north and east, and the
West Coast Region The West Coast () is a region of New Zealand on the west coast of the South Island. It is administered by the West Coast Regional Council, and is known co-officially as Te Tai Poutini. It comprises the territorial authorities of Buller Distri ...
in the extreme northwest. The region covers over 3.1 million hectares and spans 3,613 km of coastline. , Southland has a population of 103,900, making it the eleventh-most-populous New Zealand region, and the second-most sparsely populated. Approximately half of the region's population lives in
Invercargill Invercargill ( , ) is the southernmost and westernmost list of cities in New Zealand, city in New Zealand, and one of the Southernmost settlements, southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland Region, Southlan ...
, Southland's only city. The earliest inhabitants of Southland were
Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...
of the Waitaha
iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori, roughly means or , and is often translated as "tribe". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, and is typically pluralised as such in English. ...
, followed later by
Kāti Māmoe Kāti Māmoe (also spelled Ngāti Māmoe) is a Māori iwi. Originally from the Heretaunga Plains of New Zealand's Hawke's Bay, they moved in the 16th century to the South Island which at the time was already occupied by the Waitaha. A centu ...
and Kāi Tahu. Early European arrivals were
sealers Sealer may refer either to a person or ship engaged in seal hunting, or to a sealant; associated terms include: Seal hunting * Sealer Hill, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica * Sealers' Oven, bread oven of mud and stone built by sealers around 1800 ...
and whalers, and by the 1830s, Kāi Tahu had built a thriving industry supplying whaling vessels, looked after whalers and settlers in need, and had begun to integrate with the settlers. By the second half of the 19th century these industries had declined, and immigrants, predominantly Scottish settlers, had moved further inland. The region maintains a strong cultural identity, including its own distinct dialect of English and strong influences from its Māori and Scottish heritage. Southland extends from
Fiordland Fiordland (, "The Pit of Tattooing", and also translated as "the Shadowlands"), is a non-administrative geographical region of New Zealand in the south-western corner of the South Island, comprising the western third of Southland. Most of F ...
in the west past the
Mataura River The Mataura River is in the Southland Region of the South Island of New Zealand. It is long. Description The river's headwaters are located in the Eyre Mountains to the south of Lake Wakatipu. From there it flows southeast towards Gore, New ...
to
the Catlins The Catlins (sometimes referred to as The Catlins Coast) comprise an area in the southeastern corner of the South Island of New Zealand. The area lies between Balclutha, New Zealand, Balclutha and Invercargill, straddling the boundary between ...
the east. It contains New Zealand's highest waterfall, the Browne Falls, and its deepest lake,
Lake Hauroko Lake Hauroko is the deepest lake in New Zealand. The lake, which is 462 metres deep, is located in a mountain valley in Fiordland National Park. Etymology "Hauroko" translates from te reo Māori as " soughing of the wind" or "sounding wind" ...
. Fiordland's terrain is dominated by mountains,
fiord In physical geography, a fjord (also spelled fiord in New Zealand English; ) is a long, narrow sea inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Antarctica, the Arctic, and surrounding landmasses of the no ...
s and
glacial lake A glacial lake is a body of water with origins from glacier activity. They are formed when a glacier erodes the land and then melts, filling the depression created by the glacier. Formation Near the end of the last glacial period, roughly 10,0 ...
s carved up by glaciations during the last ice age, between 75,000 and 15,000 years ago. The region's coast is dotted by several fiords and other sea inlets which stretch from Milford Sound in the north to Preservation Inlet to the south. Farther north and east in Fiordland lie the Darran and Eyre Mountains which are part of the block of
schist Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock generally derived from fine-grained sedimentary rock, like shale. It shows pronounced ''schistosity'' (named for the rock). This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a l ...
that extends into neighbouring
Central Otago Central Otago is an area located in the inland part of the Otago region in the South Island of New Zealand. The motto for the area is "A World of Difference". The area is dominated by mountain ranges and the upper reaches of the Clutha River ...
. The region is rich in natural resources, with large reserves of
forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests and woodlands for associated resources for human and Natural environment, environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and ...
,
coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...
,
petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring un ...
and
natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...
.


History

The earliest inhabitants of the region—known to Māori as Murihiku ('the last joint of the tail')—were Māori of the Waitaha
iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori, roughly means or , and is often translated as "tribe". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, and is typically pluralised as such in English. ...
, followed later by
Kāti Māmoe Kāti Māmoe (also spelled Ngāti Māmoe) is a Māori iwi. Originally from the Heretaunga Plains of New Zealand's Hawke's Bay, they moved in the 16th century to the South Island which at the time was already occupied by the Waitaha. A centu ...
and Kāi Tahu. Waitaha sailed on the Uruao waka, whose captain
Rākaihautū Rākaihautū was the captain of the canoe () and a Polynesian ancestor of various , most famously of Waitaha and other southern groups, though he is also known in the traditions of Taitokerau and in those of Rarotonga. In Māori traditions ...
named sites and carved out lakes throughout the area. The Takitimu Mountains were formed by the overturned Kāi Tahu waka
Tākitimu ''Tākitimu'' was a ''waka (canoe), waka'' (canoe) with ''whakapapa'' throughout the Pacific Ocean, Pacific particularly with Samoa, the Cook Islands, and New Zealand in ancient times. In several Māori mythology, Māori traditions, the ''Tāk ...
. Descendants created networks of customary food gathering sites, travelling seasonally as needed, to support permanent and semi-permanent settlements in coastal and inland regions. In later years, the coastline was a scene of early extended contact between Māori and Europeans, in this case sealers, whalers and missionaries such as Wohlers at
Ruapuke Island Ruapuke Island is one of the southernmost islands in New Zealand's main chain of islands. It is located to the southeast of Bluff and northeast of Oban on Stewart Island. It was named "Bench Island" upon its discovery by Captain James Cook i ...
.Wright (2009), p. 61 Contact was established as early as 1813. By the 1830s, Kāi Tahu had built a thriving industry supplying whaling vessels, looked after whalers and settlers in need, and had begun to integrate with the settlers. Throughout the nineteenth century local Māori continued such regular travel from trade that a "Māori house" had to be built in 1881 to accommodate them when they travelled from Ruapuke and Stewart Island to Bluff to sell produce. On 10 June 1840, Tūhawaiki, a paramount chief of Kāi Tahu, signed the
Treaty of Waitangi The Treaty of Waitangi (), sometimes referred to as ''Te Tiriti'', is a document of central importance to the history of New Zealand, Constitution of New Zealand, its constitution, and its national mythos. It has played a major role in the tr ...
aboard at Ruapuke. Aware that this treaty did not guarantee him sovereignty over his land he had previously asserted that he would sign it if those bringing it to him would sign one he had prepared himself. In 1853, Walter Mantell purchased Murihiku from local Māori iwi, claiming the land for European settlement.Wright (2009), p. 140 Part of the agreement was that schools and hospitals would be provided alongside each Kāi Tahu village; this promise was not fulfilled. The boundaries of the land sold were also not made sufficiently clear, with Kāi Tahu always maintaining that Fiordland was not intended to be included in this purchase. Over successive decades, present-day Southland and Otago were settled by large numbers of
Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
settlers. Immigration to New Zealand had been precipitated by an economic depression in Scotland and a
schism A schism ( , , or, less commonly, ) is a division between people, usually belonging to an organization, movement, or religious denomination. The word is most frequently applied to a split in what had previously been a single religious body, suc ...
between the
Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...
and the Free Church of Scotland.King (2003), p. 170 In 1852, James Menzies, leader of the Southland separatist movement, became the first Superintendent of the tiny Southland electorate which was still part of the large
Otago Otago (, ; ) is a regions of New Zealand, region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island and administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local go ...
region. Under the influence of Menzies,
Southland Province The Southland Province was a province of New Zealand from March 1861, when it split from Otago Province, until 1870, when it rejoined Otago. History Following the passage of the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 by the British Parliament, New ...
(a small part of the present Region, centred on
Invercargill Invercargill ( , ) is the southernmost and westernmost list of cities in New Zealand, city in New Zealand, and one of the Southernmost settlements, southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland Region, Southlan ...
) seceded from Otago in 1861 following the escalation of political tensions.Wright (2009), p. 237 However, rising debt forced Southland to rejoin Otago in 1870, and the province was abolished entirely when the ''Abolition of the Provinces Act'' came into force on 1 November 1876. In the 1880s, the development of an export industry based on butter and cheese encouraged the growth of
dairy farming Dairy farming is a class of agriculture for the long-term production of milk, which is processed (either on the farm or at a dairy plant, either of which may be called a dairy) for the eventual sale of a dairy product. Dairy farming has a h ...
in Southland. Consequently, the colony's first dairy factory was established at Edendale in 1882. Much of this export went to the United Kingdom.King (2003), p. 238 Now, Edendale is the site of the world's largest raw milk-processing plant, and Southland's economy is based on agriculture, tourism, fishing,
forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests and woodlands for associated resources for human and Natural environment, environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and ...
, coal, and
hydropower Hydropower (from Ancient Greek -, "water"), also known as water power or water energy, is the use of falling or fast-running water to Electricity generation, produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by energy transformation, ...
. Southland region and the Southland Regional Council were created in 1989, as part of the
1989 local government reforms The 1989 New Zealand local government reform was the most significant reform of local government in New Zealand in over a century. Some 850 local bodies were amalgamated into 86 local authorities, on Regions of New Zealand, regional and Territo ...
.


Structure


Representation

Southland is divided into two
parliamentary In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
electorate Electorate may refer to: * The people who are eligible to vote in an election, especially their number e.g. the term ''size of (the) electorate'' * The dominion of a prince-elector in the Holy Roman Empire until 1806 * An electoral district ...
s. The large rural electorate of Southland, held by of the , also includes some of the neighbouring
Otago Otago (, ; ) is a regions of New Zealand, region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island and administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local go ...
Region. The seat of
Invercargill Invercargill ( , ) is the southernmost and westernmost list of cities in New Zealand, city in New Zealand, and one of the Southernmost settlements, southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland Region, Southlan ...
is held by of the . Under the
Māori electorates In Politics of New Zealand, New Zealand politics, Māori electorates, colloquially known as the Māori seats (), are a special category of New Zealand electorates, electorate that give Reserved political positions, reserved positions to repre ...
system, Southland is part of the large
Te Tai Tonga Te Tai Tonga () is a New Zealand parliamentary Māori electorates, Māori electorate, returning one Member of Parliament to the New Zealand New Zealand House of Representatives, House of Representatives. It was established for the 1996 New Zeal ...
electorate which covers the entire South Island and the surrounding islands, and is currently held by of .


Local government

Regional responsibilities are handled by the Southland Regional Council (Environment Southland). Three
territorial authorities Territorial authorities ( Māori: ''mana ā-rohe'') are a tier of local government in New Zealand, alongside regional councils. There are 67 territorial authorities: 13 city councils, 53 district councils and the Chatham Islands Council. Dist ...
fall entirely within Southland. The Invercargill City Council governs Invercargill itself, together with some adjoining rural areas. Much of the remaining area of Southland, including all of
Stewart Island Stewart Island (, ' glowing skies', officially Stewart Island / Rakiura, formerly New Leinster) is New Zealand's third-largest island, located south of the South Island, across Foveaux Strait. It is a roughly triangular island with a la ...
, falls within the
Southland District Southland District is a New Zealand Districts of New Zealand, territorial authority district that covers most of the southern end of the South Island as well as Stewart Island. History Southland District was formed through the 1989 local govern ...
, which is administered by its own Council, also based in Invercargill. The Gore District Council administers the Gore township and its rural hinterland. In 2001, the three authorities (Invercargill City, Southland District and Gore District Councils) created the joint initiative agency Venture Southland which is the agency responsible for the region's economic and community development initiatives and tourism promotion.


National parks

The region is home to two national parks:
Fiordland Fiordland (, "The Pit of Tattooing", and also translated as "the Shadowlands"), is a non-administrative geographical region of New Zealand in the south-western corner of the South Island, comprising the western third of Southland. Most of F ...
National Park and
Rakiura National Park Rakiura National Park is a nature reserve park located on Stewart Island / Rakiura, New Zealand. It is the newest National parks of New Zealand, national park of New Zealand and opened in 2002. The protected area covers about 85% of the island. ...
. The former which covers 7,860 square kilometres; making it New Zealand's largest
national park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...
. Southland also includes Stewart Island, 85% of which is covered by
Rakiura National Park Rakiura National Park is a nature reserve park located on Stewart Island / Rakiura, New Zealand. It is the newest National parks of New Zealand, national park of New Zealand and opened in 2002. The protected area covers about 85% of the island. ...
. Both parks are administrated by the Department of Conservation.


Geography

Politically, Southland proper extends from
Fiordland Fiordland (, "The Pit of Tattooing", and also translated as "the Shadowlands"), is a non-administrative geographical region of New Zealand in the south-western corner of the South Island, comprising the western third of Southland. Most of F ...
in the west past the
Mataura River The Mataura River is in the Southland Region of the South Island of New Zealand. It is long. Description The river's headwaters are located in the Eyre Mountains to the south of Lake Wakatipu. From there it flows southeast towards Gore, New ...
to the
Catlins The Catlins (sometimes referred to as The Catlins Coast) comprise an area in the southeastern corner of the South Island of New Zealand. The area lies between Balclutha, New Zealand, Balclutha and Invercargill, straddling the boundary between ...
the east. To the north, Southland is framed by the Darran and Eyre Mountains. Farther south lies Stewart Island which is separated from the mainland by the
Foveaux Strait Foveaux Strait ( ; ) is a strait that separates Stewart Island from the South Island of New Zealand. The width of the strait ranges from about , and the depth varies between . The strait was first charted by an American Seal hunting, sealer, O ...
. Southland contains New Zealand's highest waterfall—the Browne Falls.
Lake Hauroko Lake Hauroko is the deepest lake in New Zealand. The lake, which is 462 metres deep, is located in a mountain valley in Fiordland National Park. Etymology "Hauroko" translates from te reo Māori as " soughing of the wind" or "sounding wind" ...
is the deepest lake in the country. The highest peak in Southland is Mount Tūtoko, which is part of the Darran mountains. The largest lake in Southland is Lake Te Anau followed by
Lake Manapouri Lake Manapouri () is located in the South Island of New Zealand. The lake is situated within the Fiordland National Park and the wider region of Te Wahipounamu South West New Zealand World Heritage Area. Māori History According to Māori peop ...
which both lie within the boundaries of
Fiordland National Park Fiordland National Park is a national park in the south-west corner of South Island of New Zealand. It is the largest of the 13 National parks of New Zealand, national parks in New Zealand, with an area covering , and a major part of the Te W ...
. Established on 20 February 1905, it is the largest national park in New Zealand—covering much of Fiordland which is devoid of human settlement.Russell Kirkpatrick, ''Contemporary Atlas of New Zealand: The Shapes of our Nation'', Auckland, NZ: David Bateman Ltd, 2005 (), Plates 13, 32 Fiordland's terrain is dominated by mountains,
fiord In physical geography, a fjord (also spelled fiord in New Zealand English; ) is a long, narrow sea inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Antarctica, the Arctic, and surrounding landmasses of the no ...
s and
glacial lake A glacial lake is a body of water with origins from glacier activity. They are formed when a glacier erodes the land and then melts, filling the depression created by the glacier. Formation Near the end of the last glacial period, roughly 10,0 ...
s carved up by glaciations during the last ice age, between 75,000 and 15,000 years ago. The region's coast is dotted by several fiords and other sea inlets which stretch from Milford Sound in the north to Preservation Inlet to the south. Farther north and east in Fiordland lie the Darran and Eyre Mountains which are part of the block of
schist Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock generally derived from fine-grained sedimentary rock, like shale. It shows pronounced ''schistosity'' (named for the rock). This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a l ...
that extends into neighbouring
Central Otago Central Otago is an area located in the inland part of the Otago region in the South Island of New Zealand. The motto for the area is "A World of Difference". The area is dominated by mountain ranges and the upper reaches of the Clutha River ...
. Farther east of the Waiau River, the
Southland Plains The Southland Plains is a general name given to several areas of low-lying land in the South Island of New Zealand, separated by the rise of the Hokonui Hills in the north. It forms a sizeable area of Southland region and encompasses its two p ...
predominate which include some of New Zealand's most fertile farmlands. The region's two principal settlements
Invercargill Invercargill ( , ) is the southernmost and westernmost list of cities in New Zealand, city in New Zealand, and one of the Southernmost settlements, southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland Region, Southlan ...
and Gore are located on the plains. The plains extend from the Waiau River in the west to the
Mataura River The Mataura River is in the Southland Region of the South Island of New Zealand. It is long. Description The river's headwaters are located in the Eyre Mountains to the south of Lake Wakatipu. From there it flows southeast towards Gore, New ...
to the east. It can be divided into three broad areas: the Southland plain proper, the Waimea Plains and the lower Waiau plain to the west near the Waiau river. The southern part of these plains (including the Awarua Plains along the coast east of Bluff) contains much
wetland A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...
and swamp. In the far southeast of Southland rises the rough hill country of
the Catlins The Catlins (sometimes referred to as The Catlins Coast) comprise an area in the southeastern corner of the South Island of New Zealand. The area lies between Balclutha, New Zealand, Balclutha and Invercargill, straddling the boundary between ...
. This area is divided between Southland and the neighbouring
Otago Otago (, ; ) is a regions of New Zealand, region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island and administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local go ...
region, with the largest settlement,
Owaka Owaka is a small town in the Clutha District of South Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand. It is the largest community in the rugged, forested The Catlins, Catlins area, close to the border with Southland Region, Southland, some south o ...
, being within Otago. The hills of the Catlins form part of a major
geological fold In structural geology, a fold is a stack of originally planar surfaces, such as sedimentary strata, that are bent or curved (''"folded"'') during permanent deformation. Folds in rocks vary in size from microscopic crinkles to mountain-sized fo ...
system, the
Southland Syncline The Southland Syncline is a major geological structure located in the Southland, New Zealand, Southland Region of New Zealand's South Island. The syncline folds the Mesozoic Greywacke, greywackes of the Stratigraphy of New Zealand, Murihiku Terr ...
, which extends from the coast northwestward, and include the Hokonui Hills above Gore. Off the coast of Southland lies the
Great South Basin The Great South Basin is an area of mainly sea to the south of the South Island of New Zealand. Starting in the 1960s, the area was explored and drilled for oil deposits by various, mostly international minerals companies — including Hunt Oi ...
which stretches over —an area 1.5 times New Zealand's land mass. It is one of the country's largest undeveloped offshore petroleum basins with prospects for both
oil and gas A fossil fuel is a flammable carbon compound- or hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the buried remains of prehistoric organisms (animals, plants or microplanktons), a process that occurs within geologi ...
.


Climate

Weather conditions in Southland are cooler than the other regions of New Zealand due to its distance from the
equator The equator is the circle of latitude that divides Earth into the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Southern Hemisphere, Southern Hemispheres of Earth, hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, about in circumferen ...
. However, they can be broken down into three types: the temperate oceanic climate of the coastal regions, the semi-continental climate of the interior and the wetter mountain climate of
Fiordland Fiordland (, "The Pit of Tattooing", and also translated as "the Shadowlands"), is a non-administrative geographical region of New Zealand in the south-western corner of the South Island, comprising the western third of Southland. Most of F ...
to the west. Due to its closer proximity to the South Pole, the Aurora Australis or "Southern Lights" are more commonly seen than in other regions. The coastal regions have mild summers and cool winters. The mean daily temperature varies from 5.2 °C in July to 14.9 °C in January. Rainfall varies from 900 mm to 1300 mm annually with rainfall being more frequent in coastal areas and rainbows being a regular occurrence in the region. Summers are temperable with downpours and cold snaps not being uncommon. On 7 January 2010,
Invercargill Invercargill ( , ) is the southernmost and westernmost list of cities in New Zealand, city in New Zealand, and one of the Southernmost settlements, southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland Region, Southlan ...
was hit by a hail storm with temperatures plummeting rapidly from 15 °C to 8 °C in the afternoon. Occasionally, temperatures exceed 25 °C with an extreme temperature of 33.8 °C having been reached before in Invercargill in 1948 and 35.0 °C in Winton in 2018. Winters are colder and more severe than other regions, although not by much. The mean maximum temperature in July is 9.5 °C and Southland's lowest recorded temperature was −18 °C in July 1946. Snow and frost also frequently occur in inland areas but are less common and extreme in coastal areas where the oceans act as a moderating factor. The long-lasting cool and wet conditions are influenced by the presence of a stationary low-pressure zone to the southeast of the country. Fiordland has a wet mountain climate though conditions vary due to altitude and exposure. Rainfall is the highest in the country and varies between 6,500 and 7,500 mm annually. The farthest coastal reaches of Fiordland are characterised by a limited temperature range with increasing rainfall at higher altitudes. The moist wet climate is influenced by approaching low-pressure systems which sweep across the country entering Fiordland.


Demographics

Southland region covers . It has an estimated population of as of , % of New Zealand's population. It is the country's second-most sparsely populated region (after the West Coast), with people per square kilometre ( per square mile). Southland region had a population of 100,143 in the
2023 New Zealand census The 2023 New Zealand census, which took place on 7 March 2023, was the thirty-fifth national census in New Zealand. It implemented measures that aimed to increase the Census' effectiveness in response to the issues faced with the 2018 census, i ...
, an increase of 2,676 people (2.7%) since the 2018 census, and an increase of 6,801 people (7.3%) since the 2013 census. There were 50,115 males, 49,704 females and 321 people of other genders in 41,070 dwellings. 2.6% of people identified as LGBTIQ+. The median age was 40.4 years (compared with 38.1 years nationally). There were 18,921 people (18.9%) aged under 15 years, 17,208 (17.2%) aged 15 to 29, 45,495 (45.4%) aged 30 to 64, and 18,516 (18.5%) aged 65 or older. People could identify as more than one ethnicity. The results were 84.1% European (
Pākehā ''Pākehā'' (or ''Pakeha''; ; ) is a Māori language, Māori-language word used in English, particularly in New Zealand. It generally means a non-Polynesians, Polynesian New Zealanders, New Zealander or more specifically a European New Zeala ...
); 16.8%
Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...
; 3.3% Pasifika; 7.1% Asian; 1.0% Middle Eastern, Latin American and African New Zealanders (MELAA); and 3.0% other, which includes people giving their ethnicity as "New Zealander". English was spoken by 97.3%, Māori language by 3.1%, Samoan by 0.5% and other languages by 7.2%. No language could be spoken by 1.9% (e.g. too young to talk).
New Zealand Sign Language New Zealand Sign Language or NZSL () is the main language of the deaf community in New Zealand. It became an official language of New Zealand in April 2006 under the New Zealand Sign Language Act 2006. The purpose of the act was to create rights ...
was known by 0.5%. The percentage of people born overseas was 14.4, compared with 28.8% nationally. Religious affiliations were 33.1%
Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
, 0.8%
Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...
, 0.4%
Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
, 0.5%
Māori religious beliefs Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...
, 0.6%
Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
, 0.4%
New Age New Age is a range of Spirituality, spiritual or Religion, religious practices and beliefs that rapidly grew in Western world, Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclecticism, eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise d ...
, and 1.1% other religions. People who answered that they had no religion were 54.9%, and 8.3% of people did not answer the census question. Of those at least 15 years old, 10,104 (12.4%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, 45,333 (55.8%) had a post-high school certificate or diploma, and 22,866 (28.2%) people exclusively held high school qualifications. The median income was $41,100, compared with $41,500 nationally. 6,549 people (8.1%) earned over $100,000 compared to 12.1% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 43,197 (53.2%) people were employed full-time, 11,688 (14.4%) were part-time, and 1,749 (2.2%) were unemployed. A relatively high proportion of nineteenth century migrants came from Scotland and Ireland. Māori are largely concentrated around the port of Bluff. During the 1940s, the development of the freezing works boosted a short-term immigration to the region by North Island Māori. /Michael_King_(historian) Michael King ''The Penguin History of New Zealand'', Auckland, NZ: Penguin Books (NZ) Ltd, 2003 (), Pp 170, 202, 238, 473 In the 21st century the Asian-origin population of Southland increased owing to the recruitment of dairy workers, many of them from the Philippines. In 2013 the population of Asian origin accounted for 3.2% of the Southland total. The West Coast aside, Southland has New Zealand's strongest regional identity. It is the only part of New Zealand which has a distinct regional accent (shared with most rural parts of Otago), characterised in particular by a rolling 'r'. Food-wise, cheese rolls are a Southland specialty and swedes are a popular vegetable, prepared and eaten as are pumpkin and kūmara (sweet potato) elsewhere in New Zealand. For many years a television channel, known as Southland TV from 2003 to 2007, later Cue TV, transmitted Southland content. The strength of Southland identity may owe something to the relatively high proportion of New Zealand-born in the region – 85% compared with 70% for New Zealand as a whole at the 2013 census.


Cities and towns

With a population of
Invercargill Invercargill ( , ) is the southernmost and westernmost list of cities in New Zealand, city in New Zealand, and one of the Southernmost settlements, southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland Region, Southlan ...
, the region's main centre and seat of local government, makes up half of Southland's total. Six other centres have populations over 1,000: Gore, Mataura, Winton, Riverton, Bluff and
Te Anau Te Anau is a town in the Southland, New Zealand, Southland List of regions in New Zealand, region of the South Island of New Zealand. In Māori language, Māori, Te-Anau means the Place of the Swirling Waters. It is on the eastern shore of Lake ...
. Most of Southland's population is concentrated on the eastern
Southland Plains The Southland Plains is a general name given to several areas of low-lying land in the South Island of New Zealand, separated by the rise of the Hokonui Hills in the north. It forms a sizeable area of Southland region and encompasses its two p ...
.
Fiordland Fiordland (, "The Pit of Tattooing", and also translated as "the Shadowlands"), is a non-administrative geographical region of New Zealand in the south-western corner of the South Island, comprising the western third of Southland. Most of F ...
, the western part of the region, is almost totally devoid of permanent human settlement.


Economy

The subnational gross domestic product (GDP) of Southland was estimated at NZ$6.36 billion in the year to March 2019, 2.1% of New Zealand's national GDP. The subnational GDP per capita was estimated at $63,084 in the same period. In the year to March 2018, primary industries contributed $1.35 billion (22.4%) to the regional GDP, goods-producing industries contributed $1.52 billion (25.2%), service industries contributed $2.63 billion (43.7%), and taxes and duties contributed $516 million (8.6%). The region's economy is based on agriculture, tourism, fishing,
forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests and woodlands for associated resources for human and Natural environment, environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and ...
and energy resources like coal and
hydropower Hydropower (from Ancient Greek -, "water"), also known as water power or water energy, is the use of falling or fast-running water to Electricity generation, produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by energy transformation, ...
. The agriculture industry includes both
sheep Sheep (: sheep) or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are a domesticated, ruminant mammal typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to d ...
and
dairy farming Dairy farming is a class of agriculture for the long-term production of milk, which is processed (either on the farm or at a dairy plant, either of which may be called a dairy) for the eventual sale of a dairy product. Dairy farming has a h ...
which both account for a significant proportion of the region's revenue and export receipts. Much of this farming is on the
Southland Plains The Southland Plains is a general name given to several areas of low-lying land in the South Island of New Zealand, separated by the rise of the Hokonui Hills in the north. It forms a sizeable area of Southland region and encompasses its two p ...
, with expansion into the more remote western regions since the 1950s and 1960s. Southland also has the world's largest raw milk-processing plant at the town of Edendale which was established by Fonterra. In the 2019–20 season, there were 591,600 milking cows in Southland, 12.0% of the country's total herd. The cows produced 247,230 tonnes of milk solids, worth $1,780 million at the national average farmgate price ($7.20 per kg). Other sizeable industries in Southland include coal and
hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...
power. Eastern Southland has significant deposits of
lignite Lignite (derived from Latin ''lignum'' meaning 'wood'), often referred to as brown coal, is a soft, brown, combustible sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It has a carbon content around 25–35% and is considered the lowest ...
which are considered to be New Zealand's biggest fossil fuel energy resource. Solid Energy operated open cast lignite mines at Newvale and Ohai until its 2015 bankruptcy. Southland hosts the nation's largest
hydroelectric power station Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and also mo ...
at
Manapouri Manapouri is a small town in Southland / Fiordland, in the southwest corner of the South Island, in New Zealand. The township is the westernmost municipality in New Zealand. Located at the edge of the Fiordland National Park, on the eastern ...
which is owned by
Meridian Energy Meridian Energy Limited is a New Zealand electricity generator and retailer. The company generates the largest proportion of New Zealand's electricity, generating 35 percent of the country's electricity in the year ending December 2014, and i ...
and powers the Tiwai Point Aluminium Smelter. The Manapouri project generated much controversy from environmental groups which initiated the Save Manapouri Campaign in opposition to rising water levels in nearby lakes. Tourism spending is a major factor of the Southland economy, with NZ$595 million being spent by visitors in 2016, of which $210 million was spent in the
Fiordland Fiordland (, "The Pit of Tattooing", and also translated as "the Shadowlands"), is a non-administrative geographical region of New Zealand in the south-western corner of the South Island, comprising the western third of Southland. Most of F ...
area.Milford Sound Transport – Issues and Options
(GHD Ltd for Venture Southland, 2005)
In July 2007 the New Zealand Government awarded oil and gas exploration permits for four areas of the
Great South Basin The Great South Basin is an area of mainly sea to the south of the South Island of New Zealand. Starting in the 1960s, the area was explored and drilled for oil deposits by various, mostly international minerals companies — including Hunt Oi ...
. The three successful permit holders were
ExxonMobil Exxon Mobil Corporation ( ) is an American multinational List of oil exploration and production companies, oil and gas corporation headquartered in Spring, Texas, a suburb of Houston. Founded as the Successors of Standard Oil, largest direct s ...
New Zealand, OMV and Greymouth Petroleum.


See also

* Southland Museum and Art Gallery * Southland Rugby Football Union * Southland temperate forests * Rural Heritage Southland * List of shipwrecks of Southland


References


External links


Southland Regional Council / Environment Southland

Southland
in ''Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand'' {{coord, -45.7, 168.1, region:NZ-STL_type:adm1st, display=title Regions of New Zealand