Whangarei

Whangarei (/ˌfɒŋəˈreɪ/, alt. /ˌwɒŋəˈreɪ/; Māori: [faŋaˈɾɛi]) is the northernmost city in New Zealand and the regional capital of Northland Region. It is part of the Whangarei District, a local body created in 1989 to administer both the city proper and its hinterland from the former Whangarei City, Whangarei County and Hikurangi Town councils. The city population was estimated to be 55,400 at the June 2015 estimate, up from 47,000 in 2001. The wider Whangarei area had an estimated population of 85,900 in 2015.

The Whangarei urban area is spread throughout the valleys of the surrounding area and has several suburbs: Kamo, Springs Flat, Tikipunga, Three Mile Bush, Otangarei, Mairtown, Regent, Kensington, and Whau Valley lie to the north of the city. South and west of the city centre are Morningside, Raumanga, Maunu, Horahora, Woodhill, and the Avenues, and to the east are Riverside, Sherwood Rise, Onerahi, and Parihaka.

History

The Māori iwi Ngāpuhi occupied Whangarei from the early 19th century, and the Te Parawhau hapū lived at the head of the harbour. Captain James Cook and the crew of the Endeavour were the first Europeans to contemplate the Whangarei Harbour entrance. On 15 November 1769 they caught about one hundred fish there which they classified as "bream" (probably snapper) prompting Cook to name the area Bream Bay.

Whangarei (New Zealand electorate)

Whangarei is a New Zealand parliamentary electorate that was first created for the 1972 election. The electorate is a reasonably safe National seat, and was held for long periods by John Banks (1981–1999) and Phil Heatley (1999–2014), before being won in the 2014 election by Shane Reti.

Population centres

Since the 1969 election, the number of electorates in the South Island was fixed at 25, with continued faster population growth in the North Island leading to an increase in the number of general electorates. There were 84 electorates for the 1969 election, and the 1972 electoral redistribution saw three additional general seats created for the North Island, bringing the total number of electorates to 87. Together with increased urbanisation in Christchurch and Nelson, the changes proved very disruptive to existing electorates. In the South Island, three electorates were abolished, and three electorates were newly created. In the North Island, five electorates were abolished, two electorates were recreated, and six electorates were newly created (including Whangarei).