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'Environment Southland' Southland Regional Council
Country:	New Zealand
Regional Council
Name:	Environment Southland
Chair:	Stuart Collie
Population:	92,400 June 2006 estimate [1]
Land Area:	32,079km²
Website:	http://www.es.govt.nz
Cities and Towns
Cities:	Invercargill
Towns:	Gore, Lumsden, Winton, Mataura, Te Anau
Constituent Territorial Authorities
Names:	Invercargill City, Gore District, Southland District
Websites:

'Southland' () is the name of New Zealand's southernmost region and is also the name of a district within that region.

Contents

History

Structure

Settlements

Representation

Local government

National parks / Tourism

See also

References

External links

History

From 1861 until 1870 Southland was a province, but later rejoined Otago after financial difficulties.

Structure

Settlements

The region has one city, Invercargill and one other district, Gore. Southland covers an area of 28,681 square kilometres. In the 2001 census it had a population of 91,002 people, down 6,096 from the 1996 census, making it one of New Zealand's most scarcely populated areas.

Representation

Southland is divided into two parliamentary electorates, and is represented in Parliament by Bill English (Clutha-Southland) and Eric Roy (Invercargill). Both are members of the opposition National Party

Local government

The seats of the ''Southland Regional Council'', ''Southland District Council'' and the ''Invercargill City Council'' are in Invercargill. ''Southland District'' includes the towns of Winton, Lumsden and all of Stewart Island/Rakiura.

National parks / Tourism

The region is home to Fiordland National Park which covers 7,860 square kilometres. Southland also includes Stewart Island, much of which is set aside as Rakiura National Park.
Tourism spending is a major factor of the Southland economy, with NZ$ 368 million being spent by visitors in 2003, of which NZ$ 92 was spent in the Fiordland area.^[1]

See also

★ Fiordland

★ Southland Rugby

★ Stewart Island

References

1. Milford Sound Transport - Issues and Options (GHD Ltd for Venture Southland, 2005)

External links

★ Southland regional council's site

★ Southland district council's site

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