Palmerston North

Palmerston North (/ˌpɑːmərstənˈnɔːrθ/ PAH-mər-stən-NORTH) (Māori: Te Papaioea or transliterated Māori: Pamutana), commonly referred to by locals as Palmerston, or colloquially Palmy, is the main city of the Manawatu-Wanganui region of the North Island of New Zealand.

The city is inland, located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, near the north bank of the Manawatu River. The city is 35 km (22 mi) from the river's mouth and 12 km (7 mi) from the end of the Manawatu Gorge. It is about 140 km (87 mi) north of the capital, Wellington.

The city covers an area of 325.94 square kilometres (126 sq mi). The official limits of the city take in rural areas to the south, north-east, north-west and west of the main urban area, extending to the Tararua Ranges; including the town of Ashhurst at the mouth of the Manawatu Gorge, the villages of Bunnythorpe and Longburn in the north and west respectively. Included in the city limits are fertile agricultural areas.

Palmerston North is the country's seventh largest city and eighth largest urban area, with an urban population of 83,500 (June 2015 estimate).

Palmerston North (New Zealand electorate)

Palmerston North is a parliamentary electorate, returning one Member of Parliament to the House of Representatives of New Zealand. The electorate was first formed for the 1890 election and was called Palmerston until 1938. The current MP for Palmerston North is Iain Lees-Galloway of the Labour Party. He has held this position since the 2008 election.

Population centres

In December 1887, the House of Representatives voted to reduce its membership from general electorates from 91 to 70. The 1890 electoral redistribution used the same 1886 census data used for the 1887 electoral redistribution. In addition, three-member electorates were introduced in the four main centres. This resulted in a major restructuring of electorates, and Palmerston was one of four electorates to be first created for the 1890 election.

Palmerston North reached its current approximate size at the expense of the old Manawatu electorate in the lead up to the introduction of mixed-member proportional (MMP) voting in 1996. The boundaries of the Palmerston North electorate were last adjusted in the 2007 redistribution, when the electorate became fully urban and covered all of the urbanised part of Palmerston North City, with the towns in its orbit such as Ashhurst and Linton becoming part of the neighbouring electorate of Rangitīkei. To counter the population loss on the Manawatu River's left bank, the section of the city on the right bank, including the suburb of Milson, was moved in at the same time. No boundary adjustments were undertaken in the subsequent 2013/14 redistribution.