Hamilton (New Zealand)

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Hamilton
Hamilton City
Māori: Kirikiriroa
Geographical location
Hamilton CC.PNG
Location of Hamilton
Photo by Hamilton
GardenPlaceHamilton.jpg
Garden Place in Hamilton
Local authority
Country New Zealand
island North island
region Waikato
Local authority City
Council Hamilton City Council
mayor Andrew King
founding 1864
Post Code 3200, 3204, 3206, 3210, 3214, 3216
Telephone code +64 (0) 7
UN / LOCODE NZ HLZ
Website www.hamilton.co.nz
presentation
Hamilton city coa n10422.gif
coat of arms
geography
Region ISO NZ-WKO
Coordinates 37 ° 47 ′  S , 175 ° 17 ′  E Coordinates: 37 ° 47 ′  S , 175 ° 17 ′  E
Highest elevation 51 m
Lowest elevation 94 m
surface 110 km 2
Residents 141 612 (2013)
Population density 1,287.38 inhabitants per km 2
Statistical data
Public revenue NZ $ 199.2 million  (2015)
Public expenditure NZ $ 215.3 million  (2015)
Number of households 53 970 (2013)
Ø income NZ $ 27,700  (2013)
Māori population 20.2% (2013)
The Victoria Street to the south

Hamilton , official name Hamilton City , in Māori Kirikiriroa , is a city and an independent Territorial Authority on the North Island of New Zealand . It houses the Waikato Regional Council and the administration for the Waikato region. The city council is called the Hamilton City Council .

geography

Geographical location

Hamilton City is located around 100 km south of Auckland in the sweeping Waikato Plains . The west coast is around 35 km west of the city. The Waikato River , the longest river in New Zealand, flows right through the city . The city and has a pure land area of 110 square kilometers belonged to the Census in 2013 141,612 inhabitants. This makes Hamilton the city with the highest population density in the country with 1285 inhabitants per km². Hamilton is enclosed in the north, west and east by the Waikato District , while the southern border of the city is formed by the adjacent Waipa District .

climate

With preferred westerly wind directions, the mean daytime temperatures are between 23 ° C and 24 ° C in summer and between 14 ° C and 15 ° C in winter. The duration of sunshine levels off around 2100 hours per year and the rainfall between 800 and 900 mm calculated over the year.

history

The area of ​​today's Hamilton was originally the land of the Māori , who descended from the Tainui Waka and was populated by some Māori villages ( Pā ), including Kirikiriroa , from which the city got its Maori name.

In 1863 the government confiscated 1.2 million  acres of land from the local tribe under the New Zealand Settlement Act and used it for settlement purposes. The settlement of Kirikiriroa was built on part of this land and was later named after John Charles Fane Hamilton , commander of HMS Esk , who was killed in the battle for Gate Pa near Tauranga in 1864 . In 1877, Hamilton received borough status and was named a city in December 1945 when the city exceeded the 20,000 mark.

population

Of the 141,612 inhabitants of the city in 2013, 28,605 inhabitants were of Māori origin (20.2%). This means that 4.8% of the country's Māori population lived in the city.

When asked about ethnic group membership in the 2013 census, 69.5% said they were European, 21.3% said they had Māori roots, 5.1% came from the Pacific Islands and 13.8% % came from Asia (multiple answers were possible). 24.0% of the population said they were born overseas and 5.6% of the population spoke Māori , compared to 24.1% among the Māori . The median income for the population in 2013 was NZ $ 27,700  , compared to NZ $ 28,500 national average.

politics

administration

Hamilton City is again divided into two wards , the East Ward and the West Ward . Six Councilors from each of the two wards are sent to the City Council , which they form together with the Mayor . The mayor and the twelve council members are re-elected every three years.

Town twinning

Sister cities of Hamilton are:

In 2015, a friendship agreement was signed with Ypres in Flanders ( Belgium ).

economy

Hamilton sees itself as the center of one of the richest agricultural areas in the world and as the economic center of the region. Biotechnology and dairy farming are based in and around Hamilton , as are some of the country's research centers.

In 2015 the city had 13,926 companies with a total of 85,574 employees, who together generated a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of NZ $ 7.4 billion  in 2015. The city's two most important branches of industry were manufacturing with 11.9% and the social and health sector with 10.9%, followed by technical and scientific service with 7.3%, construction with 6.8% and the real estate sector as well the gas, water and electricity supply each with 6.1% of GDP.

In Hamilton is u. a. the largest aircraft manufacturing plant in the country, Pacific Aerospace , which, for example, supplies parts to both Boeing and Airbus . The corporate headquarters of Gallagher Animal Management Systems , which manufactures products for electric fences, for example, is also located in Hamilton.

media

Hamilton is the editorial office of the Waikato Times newspaper .

Infrastructure

traffic

Road traffic

In terms of transport, the city is connected by the New Zealand State Highway 1 , which , coming from the north of Auckland , continues through the city to the south-east and connects Hamilton with the interior. Furthermore, the New Zealand State Highway 3 has its starting point in the city and continues to the Taranaki region in the south. The State Highway 23 connects the city to the west coast and State Highway 26 to the Coromandel Peninsula and continuing with the region of the Bay of Plenty .

Rail transport

Also makes Hamilton a transportation hub for rail traffic. In addition to the North Island Main Trunk Railway , which connects Auckland with Wellington and runs directly through the city, the East Coast Main Trunk Railway branches off from it in the city to the east and also connects the Bay of Plenty region .

Air traffic

About 10 km southeast of the city is the Hamilton Airport , which connects Hamilton with the most important regional airports in the country.

education

Hamilton hosts around 30,000 students annually who study at one of the two universities , the University of Waikato and the Waikato Institute of Technology . There are also a large number of elementary and secondary schools or high schools .

Culture

Although the city is said to have lost its character, especially in the extensive suburbs, due to its extremely rapid growth, the city center in particular is extremely lively. For example, the second most cafes are located here in just one block - only surpassed by Ponsonby Road in Auckland .

In Hamilton , there are a number of smaller art galleries and museums, among them the Waikato Museum of Art and Culture . The latter houses the Te Winika, one of the oldest surviving waka (war canoes) from the time before European colonization .

Various annual events take place in or near the city. The most famous of these are the Balloons over Waikato , a five-day hot air balloon festival that attracts around 100,000 spectators annually and, more popularly , the National Agricultural Fieldays , the largest agricultural fair in the southern hemisphere ; this takes place just south of the city in the Waipa District and attracted 122,000 visitors in 2005.

The most famous tourist attraction, however, are undoubtedly the Hamilton Gardens , an extensive garden complex in which green spaces from different countries are laid out; there is, for example, the English Flower Garden , a Tschāhār Bāgh (garden with two crossed canals) based on the Persian model or the American Modernist Garden . The annual Hamilton Gardens Summer Festival is also held there. Other attractions include the Hamilton Zoo , the Waikato Museum of Art and Culture , the Art Post Art Gallery, and the Sky Riverside Casino .

Sports

The Waikato Stadium , here the Lions against the NZ Maori (2005)

Like everywhere else in the country, rugby also playsa major rolein Hamilton . The Waikato Rugby Union team competes in the Air New Zealand Cup , the New Zealand-wide rugby championship, while the Chiefs , an elite team so to speak, competein the Super 14 Cup, which is played among teams from New Zealand, Australia and South Africa . The venue for both teams is the Waikato Stadium , which was completed in 2001 and can seat 26,350 spectators.

But other sports, such as cricket and motor sports , are also very popular in Hamilton . In 2006, to found here Rally World Championship scoring Rally New Zealand instead of and for the year 2008, had V8 Supercars -Veranstaltung announced.

Personalities

People related to the city
  • Richard O'Brien (* 1942), British actor, lived in Hamilton
  • Dick Quax (1948–2018), New Zealand runner of Dutch origin

See also

Web links

Commons : Hamilton  - collection of images, videos and audio files
  • Homepage . Hamilton City Council,accessed July 6, 2016.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e 2013 Census QuickStats about a place : Hamilton City - Population and dwellings . Statistics New Zealand , accessed July 6, 2016 .
  2. ↑ a b c d e Hamilton City Council . In: Local Councils . Department of Internal Affairs , accessed July 6, 2016 .
  3. ^ PR Chappell : The Climate and Weather of Waikato . In: NIWA Science and Technologies Series . 2nd Edition. Number 61 . National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research , 2013, ISSN 1173-0382 , p.   11, 15, 23 (English, online PDF 6.5 MB [accessed June 8, 2016]).
  4. ↑ Hamilton's history . Hamilton City Council , accessed July 6, 2016 .
  5. ↑ 2013 Census QuickStats about a place : Hamilton City - Cultural diversity . Statistics New Zealand , accessed July 6, 2016 .
  6. ↑ Our Council - Mayor and Councilors . Hamilton City Council , accessed April 13, 2018 .
  7. ^ Sister City Programs and International Partnerships . Hamilton City Council , accessed April 13, 2018 .
  8. ↑ Hamilton's economy . Hamilton City Council , accessed July 6, 2016 .
  9. ↑ Hamilton City Economic Profile . Infometrics , accessed July 6, 2016 .
  10. ↑ Hamilton City GDP Structure . Infometrics , accessed July 6, 2016 .
  11. ↑ Topo250 maps . Land Information New Zealand , accessed July 6, 2016 .