Banks Peninsula
| Banks Peninsula | |
 The Banks Peninsula from space |
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| Geographical location | |
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| Coordinates | 43 ° 45 ′ S , 172 ° 50 ′ E |
| location | East coast of the South Island , Canterbury Region , New Zealand |
| Waters 1 | Pacific Ocean |
| length | 40 km |
| width | 32 km |
| surface | 1 000 km² |
The Banks Peninsula ( German "Banks Peninsula" ) is a more than 1000 km² peninsula on the South Island of New Zealand in the Canterbury region . It has been part of the Christchurch city district since March 6, 2006 .
geography
The Banks Peninsula is surrounded by the South Pacific to the north, east and south .
The highest point of the peninsula is Mount Herbert at 919 meters, near the summit there is a small shelter and about three kilometers further is the historic Packhorse Hut. There are several hiking trails to Mount Herbert. The fastest is probably to hike from Diamond Harbor over the Mount Herbert Walkway. The entire peninsula is of volcanic origin. It contains the remains of several earlier stratovolcanoes . These remains now form the two largest natural harbors in the district: first the harbor bay near Lyttelton was created , later the nearby Akaroa . At that time, the area was a bare island. It was only when large alluvial cones formed around the rivers from the New Zealand Alps that New Zealand's land area increased to the east - the Canterbury Plain , a large, fertile coastal plain, the easternmost foothills of which meet the hilly area of the Banks Peninsula.
Before the colonization by Māori and Europeans , 98% of the peninsula was forested, now it is only 2%. That is why the government has started a reforestation program for the area.
Residents
There are two larger towns on the peninsula: Lyttelton in the northwest and Akaroa in the southeast. Both cities are on the edge of large bays that stretch far into the peninsula. Lyttelton Bay is home to the South Island's largest port, Christchurch's overseas port.
In November 2005, 60% of the district's residents were in favor of merging the administrations of the Banks Peninsula District Council and Christchurch City Council. This was finally carried out in March 2006 and completed in the course of that year.
history
Up until the 17th century there were three major waves of Māori immigration.
The first Europeans to see the peninsula were the crew of James Cook's first circumnavigation of New Zealand in 1769 . Because he couldn't see the low-lying Canterbury Plains, he made the mistake of marking the Banks Peninsula as an island. Because he was distracted by a country that he thought he had seen southeast of his current location, he discovered neither his fault nor the two good natural harbors.
By 1830 the Banks Peninsula was an important European whaling outpost; thus the Māori were greatly decimated by diseases brought in by the Europeans and also by the use of weapons.
In 1838 the French whaler Langlois decided to found a French colony on the peninsula. He acquired the land from the Māori through dubious deals. When he returned to the Banks Peninsula with French and German families in 1840, after first driving back to his homeland, many local tribal chiefs had already signed the Treaty of Waitangi , which declared Great Britain to be the ruling power over New Zealand. Due to unfavorable wind conditions, British civil servants were more likely to reach the South Island area than Langlois.
Although the South Island could no longer officially become a French colony, the French influence can still be seen in the architecture of some houses in Lyttelton and Akaroa. The entire peninsula is now a recreational area, especially for people from nearby Christchurch.
The Banks Peninsula is also considered to be the site of the first settlement by immigrants of German origin. As early as 1839, George Hempleman set up a whaling station in Peraki Bay , in the southern part of the peninsula, and lived there with his wife. In his honor a memorial was erected in the bay in 1938.
event
On 22 February 2011, the peninsula by a major earthquake measuring 6.3 was M W shaken. The epicenter of what came to be known as the 2011 Christchurch earthquake was near Lyttelton, but most of the destruction took place in Christchurch. A total of 185 people were killed in the earthquake.
Web links
- Department of Conservation: Banks Peninsula reserves (English)
- The Banks Peninsula Track (Banks Peninsula Trail) (English)
- Tas Walker: Post-Flood volcanism on the Banks Peninsula, New Zealand
Individual evidence
- ^ Memorial at Peraki . In: The Evening Post . Volume CXXV, Issue 63.Wellington March 16, 1938, pp. 14 (English, online [accessed February 8, 2011]).
- ↑ Feb 22 2011 - Christchurch badly damaged by magnitude 6.3 earthquake. GeoNet, archived from the original on August 28, 2012 ; accessed on December 25, 2015 (English, original website no longer available).
- ↑ M 6.3, Christchurch, February 22, 2011. GeoNet, accessed on December 25, 2015 (English).