Christchurch District Dorset England United Kingdom
50.730814,-1.755909
Christchurch
Christchurch ( ; Māori: Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island and the second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand, after Auckland. Christchurch lies in the Canterbury Region, near the centre of the east coast of the South Island, east of the Canterbury Plains. It is located near the southern end of Pegasus Bay, and is bounded to the east by the Pacific Ocean and to the south by the Banks Peninsula. The Avon River (Ōtākaro) flows through the centre of the city, with a large urban park along its banks.
The first Māori inhabitants migrated to the area sometime between 1000 and 1250 AD. They hunted moa, which led to the birds' extinction by 1450, and destroyed much of the mataī and tōtara forest. The first iwi to settle the area that would later become known as Christchurch were the Waitaha, who migrated to the area in the 16th century. They were followed later by the Kāti Māmoe, who conquered the Waitaha. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the Ngāi Tahu migrated to the area and subjugated the Kāti Māmoe.
Christchurch became a city by royal charter on 31 July 1856, making it officially the oldest established city in New Zealand. The Canterbury Association, which settled the Canterbury Plains, named the city after Christ Church, Oxford. The new settlement was laid out in a grid pattern centred on Cathedral Square; during the 19th century there were few barriers to the rapid growth of the urban area, except for the Pacific to the east and the Port Hills to the south. Agriculture is the historic mainstay of Christchurch's economy. The early presence of the University of Canterbury and the heritage of the city's academic institutions in association with local businesses has fostered a number of technology-based industries. Christchurch is one of five Antarctic gateway cities, hosting Antarctic support bases for several nations.
The city's territorial authority population is 396,200 people, and includes a number of smaller urban areas as well as rural areas. The population of the urban area is 384,800 people. It is the major urban area of an emerging sub-region known as Greater Christchurch. Notable smaller urban areas or satellite towns within this sub-region include Rangiora and Kaiapoi in Waimakariri District, north of the Waimakariri River, and Rolleston and Lincoln in Selwyn District to the south.
The city suffered a series of earthquakes between September 2010 and January 2012, with the most destructive occurring on 22 February 2011, in which 185 people were killed and thousands of buildings across the city suffered severe damage, with a few central city buildings collapsing. By late 2013, 1,500 buildings in the city had been demolished, leading to ongoing recovery and rebuilding projects. The city later became the site of a terrorist attack targeting two mosques on 15 March 2019.
Distance between:
London to Christchurch89 Miles / 143 Kms Liverpool to Christchurch193 Miles / 310 Kms
50.730814,-1.755909