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The 'South Island' is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. The Māori name for the South Island, ''Te Wai Pounamu'', meaning "The Water/s of Greenstone" (greenstone being jade), possibly evolved from ''Te Wāhi Pounamu'' which means "The Place Of Greenstone". The island is also known as Te Waka a Māui which means "Māui's Canoe".
In the 19th century, some maps named the South Island as ''Middle Island'' or ''New Munster'', and the name ''South Island'' or ''New Leinster'' was used for today's Stewart Island/Rakiura.
The South Island is often called the Mainland (somewhat humorously) because it existed first according to Māori legend, and is larger than the North Island. About a quarter of New Zealand's four million inhabitants live in the South Island.^[1]

Contents

Political Parties

Local Government Regions

Territorial Authorities

Cities and Towns of the South Island

Companies of the South Island

Geographic features

National Parks

Demographics

Education

Film location

See also

External links

Notes

Political Parties

This is a list of Political Parties, past and present, who have their headquarters in the South Island.

★ Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party

★ Imperial British Conservative Party

★ National Democrats Party

★ New Zealand Democratic Party

★ New Zealand Progressive Party

★ South Island Party

Local Government Regions

There are seven local government regions covering the South Island and all its adjacent islands and territorial waters. Four are governed by an elected regional council, while three are governed by territorial authorities (the second tier of local government) which also perform the functions of a regional council and thus are known as unitary authorities. There is one exception to this, Nelson City is governed by an individual Territorial authority to its region (Tasman Region). The Chatham Islands Council is often counted by many as a unitary authority, but it is officially recognised as a part of the region of Canterbury.

★ Canterbury

★ Marlborough

★ Nelson

★ Otago

★ Southland

★ Tasman

★ West Coast

Territorial Authorities

There are 25 territorial authorities within the South Island: 4 city councils, 20 district councils and the Chatham Islands Council. Four territorial authorities (Nelson City Council, Tasman and Marlborough District Councils and the Chatham Islands Council) also perform the functions of a regional council and thus are known as unitary authorities.

★ Tasman District Council (unitary authority)

★ Nelson City Council (unitary authority)

★ Marlborough District Council (unitary authority)

★ West Coast Regional Council

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★ Buller District Council

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★ Grey District Council

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★ Westland District Council

★ Canterbury Regional Council (Environment Canterbury)

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★ Kaikoura District Council

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★ Hurunui District Council

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★ Selwyn District Council

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★ Waimakariri District Council

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★ Christchurch City Council

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★ Ashburton District Council

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★ Mackenzie District Council

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★ Timaru District Council

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★ Waitaki District Council (part)

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★ Waimate District Council

★ Otago Regional Council

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★ Queenstown Lakes District Council

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★ Central Otago District Council

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★ Waitaki District Council (part)

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★ Dunedin City Council

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★ Clutha District Council

★ Southland Regional Council (Environment Southland)

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★ Southland District Council

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★ Gore District Council

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★ Invercargill City Council

★ Stewart Island/Rakiura

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★ Southland Regional Council (Environment Southland)

★ Chatham Islands

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★ Chatham Islands Council (district)

Cities and Towns of the South Island

Companies of the South Island

This is a list of Companies of the South Island:

★ Abuzz Real Estate Limited

★ Air Nelson

★ Alliance Group

★ Allied Press

★ Arthur Barnett

★ Britten Motorcycle Company

★ Canterbury of New Zealand

★ Canterbury Television

★ Christchurch Casino

★ Countdown (supermarket)

★ Designline

★ D.I.C. (department store)

★ Earth Sea Sky

★ Emersons

★ Eurekster

★ Fergburger

★ Fulton Hogan

★ Glenorchy Air

★ Helicopters NZ

★ Hillside Engineering

★ H & J Smith's

★ Kathmandu (company)

★ Kea Audio

★ Link ElectroSystems

★ Longacre Press

★ Macpac Outdoors

★ McCashins Brewery

★ Monteith's

★ Mount Cook Group

★ NZSKI

★ New Zealand Midland Railway Company

★ New Zealand Natural

★ Northern Arch

★ Origin Pacific Airways

★ Passenger Transport (New Zealand)

★ Postie Plus

★ PPCS Limited

★ Radio Otago

★ Rice Refrigeration Limited

★ Ritchies Coachlines

★ SLI Systems

★ Speight's

★ Star Gazing Tours

★ Straylight Studios

★ Steelbro (NZ) Ltd

★ Talley's Frozen Foods

★ TNL Freighting

★ Two Paddocks

★ Westland Savings Bank

★ Wests (drink)

★ Whitcombe and Tombs

★ Whitestone cheese

★ Whittaker's

★ Wigram Brewing company

★ Wynn Williams & Co

Geographic features

The South Island with an area of 151,215 km² (58,093 square miles) is the largest land mass of New Zealand and 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 over 3000 metres (9800 ft) in the South Island.

★ Arthur's Pass

★ Banks Peninsula

★ Catlins

★ Doubtful Sound

★ Fox Glacier

★ Farewell Spit

★ Franz Josef Glacier

★ Haast Pass

★ Lake Manapouri

★ Lake Wakatipu

★ Lake Te Anau

★ Mackenzie Basin

★ Marlborough Sounds

★ Milford Sound

★ Southern Alps

National Parks

★ Abel Tasman National Park

★ Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park

★ Fiordland National Park

★ Kahurangi National Park

★ Mount Aspiring National Park

★ Nelson Lakes National Park

★ Paparoa National Park

★ Rakiura National Park

★ Westland National Park

Demographics

Compared to the more populated and multi-ethnic North Island, the South Island only has a resident population of 991,100 ^[2]. 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 ^[3]. This high percentage of European population has added weight to the argument for South Island Independence.

Education

The major universities in the South Island are Lincoln University, the University of Canterbury and the University of Otago .

Film location

Several movies have been filmed (in large part) in the South Island, including the ''Lord of the Rings'' and 2005's ''.

See also

★ Flag concepts for the South Island

★ List of famous South Islanders

★ Military of the South Island

★ New Munster

★ South Island Independence

External links

★

Notes

1. ''The South Island'' takes the definite article when used as a noun whereas maps, headings or tables and adjectival expressions use ''South Island''. This pattern can be found in a number of other names, such as ''the United Kingdom'', ''the Vatican'' and ''the Internet''.
Examples:

★ My mother lives in the South Island

★ The North Island is smaller in area than the South Island

★ I'm visiting the South Island

★ The major South Island peaks are all in the Southern Alps
Note also that places are said to be ''in'' the South Island rather than ''on'' the South Island.
2. Statistics New Zealand Subnational Population Estimates at 30 June 2006
3. Statistics New Zealand [1]