The
Franklin District is a
territorial authority of New ZealandTerritorial authorities are the second tier of local government in New Zealand, below regional councils. There are 73 territorial authorities: 16 city councils, 56 district councils, and the Chatham Islands Council...
, in the
North IslandThe North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the South Island by Cook Strait. The island is in area, making it the world's 14th-largest island...
. The district is divided between
Auckland RegionThe Auckland Region is one of the sixteen regions of New Zealand, named for the city of Auckland, New Zealand's largest. It is the most populous region of New Zealand, as well as being the most prosperous in economic terms.-Geography:...
(39.82 percent by land area) to the north and Waikato Region (60.18 percent) to the south. It is administered from the town of
PukekohePukekohe is a small but growing rural service town in the Franklin district of the North Island of New Zealand. Located at the southern edge of the Auckland region, it is approximately 50 kilometres south of Auckland City, between the southern shore of the Manukau Harbour and the mouth of the...
(in the Auckland Region). In 2010, the district is scheduled to be dissolved and its territory split between a new Auckland territorial authority in the Auckland Region and
Waikato DistrictWaikato District is a territorial authority of New Zealand, in the northern part of Waikato Region, North Island. Waikato District is administered by the Waikato District Council, with headquarters in Ngaruawahia....
in the Waikato Region.
The
Franklin District is a
territorial authority of New ZealandTerritorial authorities are the second tier of local government in New Zealand, below regional councils. There are 73 territorial authorities: 16 city councils, 56 district councils, and the Chatham Islands Council...
, in the
North IslandThe North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the South Island by Cook Strait. The island is in area, making it the world's 14th-largest island...
. The district is divided between
Auckland RegionThe Auckland Region is one of the sixteen regions of New Zealand, named for the city of Auckland, New Zealand's largest. It is the most populous region of New Zealand, as well as being the most prosperous in economic terms.-Geography:...
(39.82 percent by land area) to the north and Waikato Region (60.18 percent) to the south. It is administered from the town of
PukekohePukekohe is a small but growing rural service town in the Franklin district of the North Island of New Zealand. Located at the southern edge of the Auckland region, it is approximately 50 kilometres south of Auckland City, between the southern shore of the Manukau Harbour and the mouth of the...
(in the Auckland Region). In 2010, the district is scheduled to be dissolved and its territory split between a new Auckland territorial authority in the Auckland Region and
Waikato DistrictWaikato District is a territorial authority of New Zealand, in the northern part of Waikato Region, North Island. Waikato District is administered by the Waikato District Council, with headquarters in Ngaruawahia....
in the Waikato Region. It has also been proposed that Franklin district become an independent unitary authority, fulfilling both the functions of a local and regional council.
Location and extent
The district is bounded in the north by the start of the Auckland metropolitan area and the waters of the
Manukau HarbourManukau Harbour is the second largest natural harbour in New Zealand by area. It is located to the southwest of the Auckland isthmus, and is an arm of the Tasman Sea.-Geography:...
. Awhitu Peninsula stretches up the Tasman coast to the mouth of this harbour. Here are located several holiday spots, such as
Kariotahi BeachKariotahi Beach is a black sand beach located in Franklin District, near Auckland, on the west coast of New Zealand.It is a rugged and windswept environment, often used for beach activities such as fishing, horse riding, off-road motorcycling and, most notably, paragliding....
and Matakawau.
To the south, Franklin is bounded by the fertile lowlands of the
Waikato PlainsThe Waikato Plains are a large area of low-lying land in the northwest of the North Island of New Zealand. The plains are the floodplains of the country's longest river, the Waikato....
. In the east, the land rises to the
Hunua RangesThe Hunua Ranges form a block of hilly country to the southeast of Auckland in New Zealand's North Island. They cover some 250 square kilometres , containing 178 km² of parkland, and rise to 688 metres at Kohukohunui...
, to the east of which is the coast of the
Firth of Thamesright|thumb|320px|A true-colour image showing the Hauraki Gulf . The Firth of Thames is the large bay to the southeast. The image was acquired by NASA's Terra satellite, on October 23, 2002....
. In the west is the
Tasman SeaThe Tasman Sea is the large body of water between Australia and New Zealand, approximately 2000 kilometres across. It extends 2800 km from north to south. It is a south-western segment of the South Pacific Ocean. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman, the first...
. The
Waikato RiverThe Waikato River is the longest river in New Zealand. In the North Island, it runs for 425 kilometres from the eastern slopes of Mount Ruapehu, joining the Tongariro River system and emptying into Lake Taupo, New Zealand's largest lake. It drains Taupo at the lake's northeastern edge, creates the...
mouth is at
Port WaikatoPort Waikato is on the south bank of the Waikato River at its outflow into the Tasman Sea, in northern New Zealand. Now a small town with a population of under 300, it was an important port during the New Zealand Land Wars of the 19th century...
in the south of the region. This is renowned as a good place for
surfcastingFishing is the activity of catching fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
.
The district is mainly rural, with local settlements such as
WaiukuWaiuku is a country town in the Franklin District, in the North Island of New Zealand.The town is located at the southern end of the Waiuku River which is an estuarial arm of the Manukau Harbour...
and
TuakauTuakau is a town in the Franklin district, and is part of the Waikato Region in the North Island of New Zealand.The town serves to support local farming, and is the residence of many employees of New Zealand Steel at Glenbrook....
supporting the farming industry. One industry of note is the
New Zealand SteelNew Zealand Steel is a large steel mill located at Glenbrook, New Zealand. It uses a unique method of producing steel from ironsand, abundant on the west coast of the North Island...
steel millA steel mill is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel.Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon. It is produced in a two-stage process...
at
GlenbrookGlenbrook is a rural and industrial area in the Franklin district of New Zealand.The industrial site, that of New Zealand's major steel mill, New Zealand Steel, is not located close to any towns - the surrounding countryside is occupied by huge farms...
, north of
WaiukuWaiuku is a country town in the Franklin District, in the North Island of New Zealand.The town is located at the southern end of the Waiuku River which is an estuarial arm of the Manukau Harbour...
.
External links