Southland Region
Southland () is New Zealand's southernmost region. It consists mainly of the southwestern portion of the South Island and Stewart Island/Rakiura. It includes Southland District, Gore District and the city of Invercargill. The region covers over 3.1 million hectares and spans over 3,400 km of coast. History. The earliest inhabitants of Murihiku (meaning "the last joint of the tail") were Māori of the Waitaha iwi, followed later by Kāti Māmoe and Kāi Tahu. Waitaha sailed on the Uruao waka, whose captain Rakaihautū named sites and carved out lakes throughout the area. The Takitimu Mountains were formed by  the overturned Kāi Tahu waka Tākitimu. Descendants created networks of customary food gathering sites, travelling seasonally as needed, to support permanent and semi-permanent settlements in coastal and inland regions. In later years, the coastline was a scene of early extended contact between Māori and Europeans, in this case sealers, whalers and missionaries such as Wohlers at Ruapuke Island. Contact was established as early as 1813. By the 1830s, Kāi Tahu had built a thriving industry supplying whaling vessels, looked after whalers and settlers in need, and had begun to integrate with the settlers. Throughout the nineteenth century local Māori  continued such regular travel from trade that a "Māori house" had to be built in 1881 to accommodate them when they travelled from Ruapuke and Stewart Island to Bluff to sell produce. On 10 June 1840, Tūhawaiki, a paramount chief of Kāi Tahu, signed the Treaty of Waitangi aboard at Ruapuke. Aware that this treaty did not guarantee him sovereignty over his land he had previously asserted that he would sign it if those bringing it to him would sign one he had prepared himself. In 1853, Walter Mantell purchased Murihiku from local Māori iwi, claiming the land for European  settlement. Part of the agreement was that schools and hospitals would be provided alongside each Kāi Tahu village; this promise was not fulfilled. The boundaries of the land sold were also not made sufficiently clear, with Kāi Tahu always maintaining that Fiordland was not intended to be included in this purchase. Over successive decades, present-day Southland and Otago were settled by large numbers of Scottish settlers. Immigration to New Zealand had been precipitated by an economic depression in Scotland and a schism between the Church of Scotland and the Free Church of Scotland. In 1852, James Menzies, leader of  the Southland separatist movement, became the first Superintendent of the tiny Southland electorate which was still part of the large Otago region. Under the influence of Menzies, Southland Province (a small part of the present Region, centred on Invercargill) seceded from Otago in 1861 following the escalation of political tensions. However, rising debt forced Southland to rejoin Otago in 1870, and the province was abolished entirely when the "Abolition of the Provinces Act" came into force on 1 November 1876. In the 1880s, the development of an export industry based on butter and cheese encouraged the growth of dairy farming  in Southland. Consequently, the colony's first dairy factory was established at Edendale in 1882. Much of this export went to the United Kingdom. Now, Edendale is the site of the world's largest raw milk-processing plant, and Southland's economy is based on agriculture, tourism, fishing, forestry, coal, and hydropower. Southland Region and the Southland Regional Council were created in 1989, as part of the 1989 local government reforms. Structure. Representation. Southland is divided into two parliamentary electorates. The large rural electorate of Southland, held by Joseph Mooney, also includes some of the neighbouring Otago Region. The seat  of Invercargill is held by Penny Simmonds. Both are members of the opposition National Party. Under the Māori electorates system, Southland is part of the large Te Tai Tonga electorate which covers the entire South Island and the surrounding islands, and is currently held by the Labour Party MP Rino Tirikatene. Local government. Regional responsibilities are handled by the Southland Regional Council (Environment Southland). Three Territorial Authorities fall entirely within Southland. The Invercargill City Council governs Invercargill itself, together with some adjoining rural areas. Much of the remaining area of Southland, including all of Stewart Island/Rakiura, falls within the  Southland District, which is administered by its own Council, also based in Invercargill. The Gore District Council administers the town of the same name and its rural hinterland. In 2001, three authorities (Invercargill City, Southland District and Gore District Councils) created the joint initiative agency Venture Southland which is the agency responsible for the region's economic and community development initiatives and tourism promotion. National parks. The region is home to two national parks: Fiordland National Park and Rakiura National Park. The former which covers 7,860 square kilometres; making it New Zealand's largest national park. Southland also includes Stewart  Island, 85% of which is covered by Rakiura National Park. Both parks are administrated by the Department of Conservation. Geography. Politically, Southland proper extends from Fiordland in the west past the Mataura River to the Catlins the east. To the north, Southland is framed by the Darran and Eyre Mountains. Farther south lies Stewart Island which is separated from the mainland by the Foveaux Strait. Southland contains New Zealand's highest waterfall—the Browne Falls. Lake Hauroko is the deepest lake in the country. The highest peak in Southland is Mount Tūtoko, which is part of the Darran mountains. The  largest lake in Southland is Lake Te Anau followed by Lake Manapouri which both lie within the boundaries of Fiordland National Park. Established on 20 February 1905, it is the largest national park in New Zealand—covering much of Fiordland which is devoid of human settlement. Fiordland's terrain is dominated by mountains, fjords and glacial lakes carved up by glaciations during the last ice age, between 75,000 and 15,000 years ago. The region's coast is dotted by several fjords and other sea inlets which stretch from Milford Sound in the north to Preservation Inlet to the south. Farther  north and east in Fiordland lie the Darran and Eyre Mountains which are part of the block of schist that extends into neighboring Central Otago. Farther east of the Waiau River, the Southland Plains predominate which include some of New Zealand's most fertile farmlands. The region's two principal settlements Invercargill and Gore are located on the plains. The Plains extend from the Waiau River in the west to the Mataura River to the east. It can be divided into three broad areas: the Southland plain proper, the Waimea Plains and the lower Waiau plain to the west near  the Waiau river. The southern part of these plains (including the Awarua Plains along the coast east of Bluff) contains much wetland and swamp. In the far southeast of Southland rises the rough hill country of The Catlins. This area is divided between Southland and the neighbouring Otago region, with the largest settlement, Owaka, being within Otago. The hills of The Catlins form part of a major geological fold system, the Southland Syncline, which extends from the coast northwestward, and include the Hokonui Hills above Gore. Off the coast of Southland lies the Great South Basin which stretches over 500,000  km (covering an area 1.5 times New Zealand's land mass). It is one of the country's largest undeveloped offshore petroleum basins with prospects for both oil and gas. Climate. Weather conditions in Southland are cooler than the other regions of New Zealand due to its distance from the Equator. However, they can be broken down into three types: the temperate oceanic climate of the coastal regions, the semi-continental climate of the interior and the wetter mountain climate of Fiordland to the west. Due to its closer proximity to the South Pole, the Aurora Australis or "Southern Lights