Banks Peninsula

Banks Peninsula is a peninsula of volcanic origin on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It has an area of approximately 1,150 square kilometres (440 sq mi) and encompasses two large harbours and many smaller bays and coves. The South Island's largest city, Christchurch, is immediately north of the peninsula.

History

Three successive phases of Māori settlement took place on the peninsula, which is still known to Māori as Te Pataka o Rakaihautu (The Storehouse of Rakaihautu). Rakaihautu brought the Waitaha to the South Island in the waka (canoe) Uruao; they were the first people to light the fires of occupation. Thus Banks Peninsula was named Te Pataka o Rakaihautu in recognition of his deeds and the abundance of mahinga kai (foods of the forests, sea, rivers and skies) found on the peninsula. Waitaha settled there first, followed by Kāti Mamoe, and then Ngai Tahu took over in the 17th century.

The crew of Captain James Cook became the first Europeans to sight the peninsula on 17 February 1770, during Cook's first circumnavigation of New Zealand. Cook described the land as "of a circular figure ... of a very broken uneven surface and [having] more the appearance of barrenness than fertility." Deceived by the outline of higher land behind the peninsula, Cook mistook it for an island and named it "Banks Island" in honour of Endeavour's botanist, Joseph Banks. Distracted by a phantom sighting of land to the southeast, Cook then ordered Endeavour away to the south without exploring more closely.

Banks Peninsula (disambiguation)

Banks Peninsula is a region in New Zealand. Other uses for Banks Peninsula include:

Banks Peninsula (Nunavut)

The Banks Peninsula (sometimes Banks' Peninsula) is located on the mainland of Canada's Nunavut territory. There are no communities on the peninsula, though the hamlet of Bathurst Inlet is located close-by, to the south, across the waterway of Bathurst Inlet. The peninsula has an irregular coastline, including a portion bounded by Arctic Sound. Point Wollaston is the northern most geographic feature.

The peninsula is one of many landforms named in honour of Sir Joseph Banks, President of the Royal Society.

References

External links

Coordinates: 67°15′N 108°30′W / 67.250°N 108.500°W / 67.250; -108.500 (Banks Peninsula)

Banks Peninsula (New Zealand electorate)

Banks Peninsula was a New Zealand parliamentary electorate from 1996 to 2008.

It was held by Ruth Dyson MP from 1999 to 2008.

Population centres

The 1996 election was notable for the significant change of electorate boundaries, based on the provisions of the Electoral Act 1993. Because of the introduction of the mixed-member proportional (MMP) electoral system, the number of electorates had to be reduced, leading to significant changes. More than half of the electorates contested in 1996 were newly constituted, and most of the remainder had seen significant boundary changes. In total, 73 electorates were abolished, 29 electorates were newly created (including Banks Peninsula), and 10 electorates were recreated, giving a net loss of 34 electorates.

The electorate included the following population centres:

History

In boundary changes for the 2008 general election, the electorate lost its rural population centres to newly formed Selwyn, becoming a solely urban electorate and was renamed Port Hills. The change saw Port Hills become a safer Labour seat. Up to 1996, the first MMP election, Banks Peninsula was part of the now defunct Lyttelton electorate.