page_title: Hamilton, New Zealand
section_title: Geography
hierarchical_section_title: Hamilton, New Zealand / Geography
caption_attribution_description: Waikato River in Hamilton Central from Parana Park
context_page_description: Hamilton is a city in the North Island of New Zealand. It is the seat and most populous city of the Waikato region, with a territorial population of 169,300, the country's fourth most-populous city. Encompassing a land area of about 110 km² on the banks of the Waikato River, Hamilton is part of the wider Hamilton Urban Area, which also encompasses the nearby towns of Ngāruawāhia, Te Awamutu and Cambridge.
  The area now covered by the city was originally the site of several Māori villages, including Kirikiriroa, from which the city takes its Māori name. By the time English settlers arrived, most of these villages, which sat beside the Waikato River, were abandoned as a result of the Invasion of Waikato and land-confiscation by the Crown.
  Initially an agricultural service centre, Hamilton now has a diverse economy and is the third fastest growing urban area in New Zealand, behind Pukekohe and Auckland. Hamilton Gardens is the region's most popular tourist attraction. Education and research and development play an important part in Hamilton's economy, as the city is home to approximately 40,000 tertiary students and 1,000 PhD-qualified scientists.
context_section_description: Hamilton's geography is largely the result of successive volcanic ash falls, plus debris, which swept down the Waikato River in at least two massive floods, created by ash blocking the outlet of Lake Taupo. In its present form the landscape originated around 20,000 years ago (20 ka), after the Oruanui eruption at Taupo. The dates given for the eruption vary. A 2007 study said it was between 22.5 and 14 ka. Another in 2004 put it 26.5 ka. After the eruption Lake Taupo rose to about 145 m (476 ft) above the present lake. Around 20 ka. the ash dam eroded and the lake rapidly fell some 75 m (246 ft), creating massive floods. The ash they carried formed the main Hinuera Surface into an alluvial fan of volcanic ash, which extends north of Hamilton and drops about 60 m (200 ft) from Karapiro. The Waikato changed its course from flowing into the sea at Thames at about that time, possibly just because sediment built up. The peat lakes and bogs also formed about that time; carbon dating gives maximum ages of 22.5 to 17 ka. Due to an ice age, vegetation was slow to restabilise the ash, so dunes formed up to 25 m (82 ft) above the local Hinuera surface. The current Waikato valley had cut into the debris by about 12 ka. and was further modified by the 181 AD Hatepe eruption, when again Lake Taupo level fell 34 m (112 ft), generating a 20 km³ (4.8 cu mi) flood, equivalent to 5 years' normal flow in just a few weeks. About 800 years ago aggradation began raising the river bed by about 8 m (26 ft).
  
  With the exceptions of the many low hills such as those around the University of Waikato, Hamilton Lake, Beerescourt, Sylvester Road, Pukete and to the west of the city, and an extensive network of gullies, the terrain of the city is relatively flat. In some areas such as Te Rapa, one old path of an ancient river can be traced. The relatively soft and unconsolidated soil material is still being actively eroded by rain and runoff.
  In its natural state, Hamilton and environs was very swampy in winter with 30 small lakes connected to surrounding peatlands. Hamilton was surrounded by 7 large peat bogs such as Komakorau to the North and Rukuhia and Moanatuatua to the South, as well as many smaller ones all of which have now been drained with only small remnants remaining. The total area of peat bog was about 655 km². Early photos of Hamilton East show carts buried up to their axles in thick mud. Up until the 1880s it was possible to row and drag a dinghy from the city to many outlying farms to the North East. This swampy, damp environment was at the time thought to be an ideal breeding ground for the TB bacillus, which was a major health hazard in the pioneering days. The first Hamilton hospital was constructed on a hill to avoid this problem. One of the reasons why population growth was so slow in Hamilton until the 1920s was the great difficulty in bridging the many arms of the deep swampy gullies that cross the city. Hamilton has 6 major dendritic gully complexes with the 15 km long, 12 branch, Kirikiriroa system being in the north of the city and the southern Mystery creek-Kaipaki gully complex being the largest. Others are Mangakotukutuku, Mangaonua and Waitawhiriwhiri.
  In the 1930s, Garden Place Hill, one of the many small hills sometimes referred to as the Hamilton Hills, was removed by unemployed workers working with picks and shovels and model T Ford trucks. The Western remains of the hill are retained by a large concrete wall. The original hill ran from the present Wintec site eastwards to the old post office (now casino). The earth was taken 4 km north to partly fill the Maeroa gully adjacent to the Central Baptist Church on Ulster Street, the main road heading north.
  Lake Rotoroa (Hamilton Lake) began forming about 20,000 years ago. Originally it was part of an ancient river system that was cut off by deposition material and became two small lakes divided by a narrow peninsula. With higher rainfall and drainage from the extensive peat land to the west, the water level rose so the narrow peninsula was drowned so forming one larger lake
caption: Waikato River in Hamilton Central from Parana Park
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