The South Island, also officially named Te Waipounamu, 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 Sea, and to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean. The South Island covers 150,437 square kilometres (58,084 sq mi), making it the world's 12th-largest island, constituting 56% of New Zealand's land area. At low altitude, it has an oceanic climate.
Otago is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately 32,000 square kilometres (12,000 sq mi), making it the country's second largest local government region. Its population was 254,600 in June 2023.
The Otago Peninsula is a long, hilly indented finger of land that forms the easternmost part of Dunedin, New Zealand. Volcanic in origin, it forms one wall of the eroded valley that now forms Otago Harbour. The peninsula lies south-east of Otago Harbour and runs parallel to the mainland for 20 km, with a maximum width of 9 km. It is joined to the mainland at the south-west end by a narrow isthmus about 1.5 km wide.
Ngāi Tahu, or Kāi Tahu, is the principal Māori iwi (tribe) of the South Island. Its takiwā is the largest in New Zealand, and extends from the White Bluffs / Te Parinui o Whiti, Mount Mahanga and Kahurangi Point in the north to Stewart Island / Rakiura in the south. The takiwā comprises 18 rūnanga corresponding to traditional settlements. According to the 2018 census an estimated 74,082 people affiliated with the Kāi Tahu iwi.
Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from Dùn Èideann, the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. The city has a rich Māori, Scottish, and Chinese heritage.
Mosgiel is an urban satellite of Dunedin in Otago, New Zealand, fifteen kilometres west of the city's centre. Since the re-organisation of New Zealand local government in 1989 it has been inside the Dunedin City Council area. Mosgiel has a population of approximately 14,800 as of June 2023. A nickname for Mosgiel is "The pearl of the plain". Its low-lying nature does pose problems, making it prone to flooding after heavy rains. Mosgiel takes its name from Mossgiel Farm, Ayrshire, the farm of the poet Robert Burns, the uncle of the co-founder in 1848 of the Otago settlement, the Reverend Thomas Burns.
Otakou is a settlement within the boundaries of the city of Dunedin, New Zealand. It is located 25 kilometres from the city centre at the eastern end of Otago Peninsula, close to the entrance of Otago Harbour. Though a small fishing village, Otakou is important in the history of Otago for several reasons. The settlement is the modern centre and traditional home of the Ōtākou rūnanga (assembly) of Ngāi Tahu. In 1946 Otakou Fisheries was founded in the township; this was later to become a major part of the Otago fishing industry.
The Matukituki River is a short braided river in the Southern Alps of New Zealand's South Island. Both its West Branch and East Branch originate from the Main Divide mountain ranges near Mount Aspiring / Tititea. Their largely glacier-fed waters each flow for approximately 20 kilometres (12 mi) before joining near Camerons Flat. After this confluence, the Matukituki River leaves the boundaries of Mount Aspiring National Park and continues for another 30 kilometres (19 mi) to exit into Lake Wānaka at the lake's southwestern edge.
Dunedin is a city of 134,600 people in the South Island of New Zealand. The principal suburbs of Dunedin are as follows. Inner and outer suburbs are ordered by location, clockwise from the city centre, starting due north:
Kāti Māmoe is a historic Māori iwi. Originally from the Hastings area, they moved in the 16th century to the South Island which at the time was already occupied by the Waitaha.
Waitaha, an early Māori iwi, inhabited the South Island of New Zealand. They were largely absorbed via marriage and conquest - first by the Ngāti Māmoe and then by Ngāi Tahu - from the 16th century onward. Today those of Waitaha descent are represented by the Ngāi Tahu iwi. Like Ngāi Tahu today, Waitaha was itself a collection of various ancient iwi. Kāti Rākai was said to be one of Waitaha's hapū.
The villages and then city that lay at the head of Otago Harbor never existed in isolation, but have always been a staging ground between inland Otago and the wider world. While Dunedin's current official city limits extend north to Waikouaiti, inland to Middlemarch and south to the Taieri River mouth, this articles focus is the history of the Dunedin urban area, only mentioning Mosgiel, the Otago Peninsula, Port Chalmers and inland Otago for context.
The Otago region of New Zealand is one of the more isolated places of the inhabited earth. Its high latitude, elevation and distance from larger foreign and domestic population centres has defined Otago at each stage of its history.
The Dunedin Southern Motorway is the main arterial route south from the South Island city of Dunedin, part of New Zealand's State Highway 1. Despite its name, only a portion of the route is officially classified as motorway. The route is the southernmost section of median-divided highway in the world.
Caversham is one of the older suburbs of the city of Dunedin, in New Zealand's South Island. It is sited at the western edge of the city's central plain at the mouth of the steep Caversham Valley, which rises to the saddle of Lookout Point. Major road and rail routes south lie nearby; the South Island Main Trunk railway runs through the suburb, and a bypass skirts its main retail area, connecting Dunedin's one-way street system with the Dunedin Southern Motorway. The suburb is linked by several bus routes to its neighbouring suburbs and central Dunedin.
Wakari is a residential suburb of the New Zealand city of Dunedin. It is located 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) to the northwest of the city centre, immediately to the west of the ridge which runs to the west of the city's centre. Wakari lies to the north of the upper reaches of the Kaikorai Valley, and is also north of the suburb of Kaikorai. The suburbs of Roslyn and Maori Hill are situated on the ridge immediately to the southeast and east of Wakari. The suburb of Halfway Bush lies to the northwest, and the smaller suburb of Helensburgh lies to the north.
Corstorphine is a suburb of southwest Dunedin in the South Island of New Zealand. It is located on the slopes of Calton Hill - a spur of Forbury Hill - between Caversham Valley and the Pacific Ocean. The suburbs of Saint Clair and Forbury lie to the east and south, and Caversham and Lookout Point lie to the north.
Maryhill is a residential suburb of the New Zealand city of Dunedin. It is located on a ridge to the southwest of the central city between the suburbs of Mornington, Kenmure, and Caversham. The smaller suburb of Balaclava lies immediately to its west. Maryhill is believed to take its name from a district in the city of Glasgow in Scotland, where many of the early settlers of the suburb originated. In this regard it is unusual among Dunedin suburbs, many of which are named for suburbs of Edinburgh - Maryhill and the nearby Little Paisley are the only suburbs named for Glaswegian locations, and the latter is an old name rarely used today. A second theory is that Maryhill was named in honour of Mary, the wife of early Dunedin settler John Bathgate.
Burnside is a mainly industrial suburb of the New Zealand city of Dunedin. It is located at the mouth of a long valley, the Kaikorai Valley, through which flows the Kaikorai Stream. This valley stretches to the northeast for 3.5 kilometres (2.2 mi). Burnside is 5.5 kilometres (3.4 mi) to the southwest of the city centre, close to eastern end of the much larger suburb, Green Island. Other suburbs located nearby include Concord, immediately to the southeast and Kenmure further up Kaikorai Valley.
Kaikorai Valley is a long broad valley which runs through the west of the New Zealand city of Dunedin, 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) to the west of the city centre. It is the valley of a small stream, the Kaikorai Stream, which runs from northeast to southwest down the length of the valley.
Calton Hill
