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South Island
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and Marlborough District Councils and the Chatham Islands Council) also perform the functions of a regional council and thus are known as unitary authorities.
Political PartiesThis is a list of Political Parties, past and present, who have their headquarters in the South Island.
PeoplePopulationCompared to the more populated and multi-ethnic North Island, the South Island has a smaller, more homogeneous resident population of 1,008,400. 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 .
Economy
The South Island had an estimated sub-national GDP of US$27.8 billion (as of 2003).
The main industry groups within the South Island are manufacturing, agriculture, mining, construction, electricity, gas and water supply, education, health and community services.
TourismThe main tourism destinations of the South Island are;
Ski areas and ResortsThis is a list of ski areas and resorts in the South Island where the public can pay to ski.
Nelson Lakes
Canterbury
Otago
TransportRoad TransportThe South Island has a State Highway network of 4,921 km.
Rail Transport- See also: List of New Zealand railway lines, Rail transport in New Zealand.
The South Island's railway network has two main lines, two secondary lines, and a few branch lines. The Main North Line from Picton to Christchurch and the Main South Line from Lyttelton to Invercargill via Dunedin together comprise the South Island Main Trunk Railway. The secondary Midland Line branches from the Main South Line in Rolleston and passes through the Southern Alps via the Otira Tunnel to the West Coast and its terminus in Greymouth. In Stillwater, it meets the other secondary route, the Stillwater - Westport Line, which now includes the Ngakawau Branch. A number of other secondary routes are now closed, including the Otago Central Railway, the isolated Nelson Section, and the interdependent Waimea Plains Railway and Kingston Branch. An expansive network of branch lines once existed, especially in Canterbury, Otago, and Southland, but these are now almost completely closed. The branch lines that remain in operation serve ports, coal mines, and a dairying factory. The first 64 km of the Otago Central Railway remain in operation for tourist trains run by the Taieri Gorge Railway (TGR). The most significant freight is coal from West Coast mines to the port of Lyttelton for export.
Passenger services were once extensive. Commuter trains operated multiple routes around Christchurch and Dunedin, plus a service between Invercargill and Bluff. Due to substantial losses, these were cancelled between the late 1960s and early 1980s. The final services to operate ran between Dunedin and Mosgiel, and they ceased in 1982. Regional passenger trains were once extensive, but are now limited to the TranzCoastal from Christchurch to Picton and the TranzAlpine from Christchurch to Greymouth. The Southerner between Christchurch and Invercargill, once the flagship of the network, was cancelled on 10 February 2002. Subsequently, the architecturally significant Dunedin Railway Station has been used solely by the TGR's tourist trains, the Taieri Gorge Limited along the Otago Central Railway and the Seasider to Palmerston. Rural passenger services on branch lines were provided by mixed trains and Vulcan/88 seater railcars but the mixeds had largely ceased to exist by the 1950s and the railcars were withdrawn in the mid-1970s.
The South Island saw the final use of steam locomotives in New Zealand. Locomotives belonging to classes long withdrawn elsewhere continued to operate on West Coast branches until the very late 1960s, when they were displaced by DJ class diesels. In comparison to most countries, where steam locomotives were last used on insubstantial rural and industrial operations, the very last services run by steam locomotives were the premier expresses between Christchurch and Invercargill: the South Island Limited until 1970 and the Friday and Sunday night services until 1971. This was due to the carriages being steam-heated. The final steam-hauled service in New Zealand, headed by a member of the JA class, ran on 26 October 1971.
Water Transport
The South Island is separated from the North Island by Cook Strait, 24 km wide at its narrowest point, but requiring a 70 km ferry trip to cross.
Ports and harbours- Container ports: Lyttelton, Port Chalmers
- Other ports: Nelson, Picton, Westport, Greymouth, Timaru, Bluff.
- Harbours: Akaroa, Otago Harbour, Half Moon Bay, Milford Sound.
- Freshwater: Queenstown and Kingston, Te Anau and Manapouri
Air TransportSouth Island AirportsGeographyThe South Island with an area of 151,215 kmē (58,093 square miles) is the largest land mass of New Zealand, it contains about one quarter of the New Zealand population and is 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 of more than 3000 metres (9800 ft) in the South Island. The east side of the island is home to the Canterbury Plains while the West Coast is famous for its rough coastlines, very high proportion of native bush, and Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers.
ClimateThe climate in the South Island is mostly temperate. The Mean temperature for the South Island is 8 °C (46 °F). January and February are the warmest months while July is the coldest.
Most areas have between 600 and 1600 mm of rainfall with the most rain along the West Coast and the least rain on the East Coast, predominantly on the Canterbury Plains. Christchurch is the driest city receiving about 640 mm (25 in) of rain per year.
There are three main factors that influence New Zealand's climate:
GeologyNational Parks
Other Native Reserves and Parks
- Hakatere Conservation Park
Geographic Features
Glaciers:
Rivers:
EducationPrimarySecondaryTertiaryThe South Island has several tertiary level institutions:
HealthcareHealthcare in the South Island is provided by six District Health Boards (DHBs). Organized around geographical areas, of varying population sizes, they are not coterminous with the Local Government Regions.
- Canterbury DHB
- Nelson Marlborough DHB
- Otago DHB
- South Canterbury DHB
- Southland DHB
- West Coast DHB
MediaPrint
Television
RadioNelson StationsCurrent Stations
- Fresh FM
- Impact 100
- Mainland FM
- Radio Robot
Previous Stations
West Coast StationsCurrent Stations
- Coast FM - (no connection to Coast Radio Network.
- Z102 102.5FM
Previous Stations
- Radio Scenicland and later Scenicland FM - Rebranded as Classic Hits Scenicland FM.
Canterbury StationsCurrent Stations
Previous Stations
- 3ZB - Rebranded as Newstalk ZB
- 3ZE (Ashburton) - Rebranded as Classic Hits 92.5 ZEFM
- Channel Z - Operated local Channel Z station until 2001 when station was replaced with Auckland based network product.
- Fox FM (Ashburton) - Rebranded as Port FM
- 99 Life FM - Original Life FM station
- B98 FM - Rebranded as Classic Hits B98 and later Classic Hits 97.7
- Lite FM - Rebranded as The Breeze
- Radio Avon and later C93FM
- Radio Caroline (Timaru) - Rebranded as Classic Hits 99FM
- Blush 96.1 - Christchurch NZBS "Live Sexy"
Dunedin and East Otago StationsCurrent Stations
Previous Stations
- 4XO - Rebranded as More FM
- 4ZB and later ZBFM - Rebranded as Classic Hits 89FM
- 93Rox
- Radio Waitaki (Oamaru) - Rebranded as Classic Hits Radio Waitaki
- Whitestone FM (Oamaru) - Rebranded as Port FM
Queenstown and Central Otago StationsCurrent Stations
- 96.7 Blue Skies FM (Alexandra)
- Burn 729AM (Ranfurly)
- The Studio FM (Queenstown)
- Radio Wanaka (Wanaka)
Previous Stations
- Radio Central (Alexandra) - Rebranded as More FM
- Resort Radio (Queenstown) - Rebranded as More FM
- Q92 (Queenstown) - Rebranded as Q92 The Breeze
Southland StationsCurrent Stations
Previous Stations
SportA number of national or international sporting teams and events are based in the South Island, including:
- Basketball: Canterbury Rams, Christchurch Sirens, Nelson Giants and the Otago Nuggets.
- Ice hockey: Canterbury Red Devils, Dunedin Thunder, Southern Stampede.
- Netball: Canterbury Tactix and the Southern Steel.
- Soccer: Canterbury United, Otago United.
- Rugby league: Canterbury Bulls
- Rugby union: Crusaders, Highlanders, Tasman Makos, Southland Stags, West Coast, Buller, South Canterbury, North Otago
International events hosted in the South Island include the National Basketball League, the ANZ Championship netball competition and the Super 14 rugby union competition.
The ArtsArt Galleries
Museums
Film locationSeveral movies have been filmed (in large part) in the South Island, including the Lord of the Rings and 2005's .
See also
External links
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