The Waikato Plains are a large area of low-lying land in the northwest of 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...
of
New ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous smaller islands, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands. The indigenous Māori named New Zealand Aotearoa, commonly translated as The Land of the Long White Cloud...
. The plains are the
floodplain||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||}A floodplain, or flood plain, is flat or nearly flat land adjacent to a stream or river that experiences occasional or periodic flooding...
s of the country's longest river, the
WaikatoThe 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...
.
The plains can be divided roughly into the
Middle Waikato Plain, extending in all directions around the city of
HamiltonHamilton is the centre of New Zealand's fourth largest urban area, and Hamilton City is the country's seventh largest territorial authority. Hamilton is in the Waikato region of the North Island, approximately south of Auckland...
, and the
Lower Waikato Plain, to the east of the river's mouth. The two are broken by the rough, low-lying hills of the
Hakarimata RangeHakarimata Range is the name of the hills on the western edge of Ngaruawahia township in the Waikato region of New Zealand, lying along the Waikato River and Waipa River....
between
NgaruawahiaNgāruawāhia is a town in the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand.The meaning of the town's name is open the food pits, which comes from a feast held hundreds of years ago to celebrate the coming together of two tribes through a marriage. The word combines the Māori words wahia...
and
HuntlyHuntly is a town in the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is on State Highway 1, 93 kilometres south of Auckland and 35 kilometres north of Hamilton. It is situated on the North Island Main Trunk Railway and straddles the Waikato River.Huntly was called Rahui Pokeka when...
.
The region is heavily populated by New Zealand standards, with over 250,000 people in approximately 8000 km² area.
The Waikato Plains are a large area of low-lying land in the northwest of 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...
of
New ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous smaller islands, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands. The indigenous Māori named New Zealand Aotearoa, commonly translated as The Land of the Long White Cloud...
. The plains are the
floodplain||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||}A floodplain, or flood plain, is flat or nearly flat land adjacent to a stream or river that experiences occasional or periodic flooding...
s of the country's longest river, the
WaikatoThe 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...
.
The plains can be divided roughly into the
Middle Waikato Plain, extending in all directions around the city of
HamiltonHamilton is the centre of New Zealand's fourth largest urban area, and Hamilton City is the country's seventh largest territorial authority. Hamilton is in the Waikato region of the North Island, approximately south of Auckland...
, and the
Lower Waikato Plain, to the east of the river's mouth. The two are broken by the rough, low-lying hills of the
Hakarimata RangeHakarimata Range is the name of the hills on the western edge of Ngaruawahia township in the Waikato region of New Zealand, lying along the Waikato River and Waipa River....
between
NgaruawahiaNgāruawāhia is a town in the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand.The meaning of the town's name is open the food pits, which comes from a feast held hundreds of years ago to celebrate the coming together of two tribes through a marriage. The word combines the Māori words wahia...
and
HuntlyHuntly is a town in the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is on State Highway 1, 93 kilometres south of Auckland and 35 kilometres north of Hamilton. It is situated on the North Island Main Trunk Railway and straddles the Waikato River.Huntly was called Rahui Pokeka when...
.
The region is heavily populated by New Zealand standards, with over 250,000 people in approximately 8000 km² area. Just under half of these live in Hamilton.
The plains are an area of very fertile land, which is intensively farmed.
DairyA dairy is a facility for the extraction and processing of animal milk—mostly from cows or goats, but also from buffalo, sheep, horses or camels —for human consumption. Typically it is a farm or section of a farm that is concerned with the production of milk, butter and...
cattle, sheep,
grainCereals, grains or cereal grains, {as a collective} are grasses cultivated for the edible components of their fruit seeds - the endocarp, germ and bran...
and
maizeMaize , is a herbaceous plant domesticated in Mesoamerica and subsequently spread throughout the American continents...
are all farmed here, but it is dairy that is the staple of the local economy. The lower plain is also known for
vineyardA vineyard is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture....
s, and the middle plain has some of the southern hemisphere's top thoroughbred stables, notably around the towns of
CambridgeCambridge is a town in the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand. Situated 24 kilometres southeast of Hamilton, on the banks of the Waikato River, Cambridge is known as "The Town of Trees"...
and
MatamataMatamata is a rural Waikato town in New Zealand with a total population of around 12,000 . It is located near the base of the Kaimai Ranges, and is a thriving farming area known for Thoroughbred horse breeding and training pursuits...
.
A considerable amount of the land is
peatPeat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation matter. Peat forms in wetlandbogs, moors, muskegs, pocosins, mires, and peat swamp forests...
y, and some sections are undrained
swampA swamp is a wetland featuring temporary or permanent inundation of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water. A swamp generally has a substantial number of hammocks, or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodical inundation. The two main types...
. Several shallow riverine lakes lie at the southern end of the lower plain, notably
Lake WaikareLake Waikare is the largest of several shallow lakes in the upper floodplain of the Waikato River in New Zealand's North Island. It is a riverine lake, located to the east of Te Kauwhata, 40 kilometres north of Hamilton...
.