Rangiora

Rangiora is the largest town and seat of the Waimakariri District, in the Canterbury Region of New Zealand's South Island. It is 29 kilometres (18 mi) north of Christchurch, and is considered a satellite town of the city. With a population of 17,000 (June 2015 estimate), Rangiora is the 25th largest urban area in New Zealand, and the fourth-largest in the Canterbury Region (behind Christchurch, Timaru and Ashburton).

Geography

Rangiora is 29 kilometres (18 mi) north of Christchurch's Cathedral Square or 20 minutes drive north of the Christchurch International Airport. It is close to the northern end of Canterbury's Inland Scenic Route (formerly State Highway 72), which skirts the inner edge of the Canterbury Plains, running southwest to Timaru via Oxford and Geraldine. The Ashley River is just to the north of the town.

Population

As of the 2006 census the population of the urban area was 11,871. There were approximately 4,500 more people living in the surrounding rural area. The urban area has seen a growth rate of over 10% in the last five years, while the rural areas have seen population growth in excess of 25%.

Māori language

Maori or Māori (/ˈmaʊəri/; Māori pronunciation: [ˈmaː.ɔ.ɾi]) is an Eastern Polynesian language spoken by the Māori people, the indigenous population of New Zealand. Since 1987, it has been one of New Zealand's official languages. It is closely related to Cook Islands Māori, Tuamotuan, and Tahitian.

According to a 2001 survey on the health of the Māori language, the number of very fluent adult speakers was about 9% of the Māori population, or 30,000 adults. A national census undertaken in 2006 says that about 4% of the New Zealand population, or 23.7% of the Maori population could hold a conversation in Maori about everyday things.

Name

The English word comes from the Maori language, where it is spelled "Māori". In New Zealand the Maori language is commonly referred to as Te Reo [tɛ ˈɾɛ.ɔ] "the language", short for te reo Māori.

The spelling "Maori" (without macron) is standard in English outside New Zealand in both general and linguistic usage. The Maori-language spelling "Māori" (with macron) has become common in New Zealand English in recent years, particularly in Maori-specific cultural contexts, although the traditional English spelling is still prevalent in general media and government use.

Rangiora (New Zealand electorate)

Rangiora is a former New Zealand parliamentary electorate, based on the town of Rangiora.

Population centres

The electorate is based on the town of Rangiora and the surrounding rural area, and is north of Christchurch in North Canterbury.

History

The electorate existed from 1963 when it replaced the Hurunui electorate to 1996, when with mixed-member proportional (MMP) representation it was absorbed into the new Waimakariri electorate.

The electorate is semi-rural and was represented by the National Party except for the 1972-1975 period. Derek Quigley was a National MP who was opposed to the interventionist policies of Muldoon's Third National Government. He resigned from Cabinet in 1982, and from Parliament in 1984.

Members of Parliament

Key   National     Labour  

Notes

References