Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
The Chatham Islands (/ ˈ tʃ æ t ə m / CHAT-əm; Moriori: Rēkohu, lit. 'Misty Sun'; Māori: Wharekauri) are an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean about 800 km (430 nmi) east of New Zealand's South Island, administered as part of New Zealand, [4] and consisting of about 10 islands within an approximate 60 km (30 nmi) radius, the largest of which are Chatham Island and Pitt Island ().
The island was named after the survey ship HMS Chatham which was the first European ship to locate the island in 1791. [2] It covers an area of 920 km 2 (355 sq mi). [ 3 ] Chatham Island lies 650 km (404 mi) south-east of Cape Turnagain , the nearest point of mainland New Zealand to the island.
The Chatham Islands were given their current name in 1846 by surveyors in honor of HMS Chatham, the escort ship of HMS Discovery, which carried 18th century British explorer Captain George Vancouver on his voyage to chart the coastline of British Columbia between 1792 and 1794 (the Vancouver Expedition). [1]
Mayoral elections take place in the Chatham Islands every 3 years, as part of the wider local elections in New Zealand.Under section 10 of the Local Electoral Act 2001, a "general election of members of every local authority or community board must be held on the second Saturday in October in every third year" from the date the Act came into effect in 2001.
By early 2013, the Chatham Island robin population was approximately 250. [5] As of 2021, the population was approximately 300. [6] A book about her, Old Blue: The Rarest Bird in the World by Mary Taylor, won an award in 1994 for the Best Children's Non-fiction Title at New Zealand's National Book Awards. [7] [8]
The Chatham Islands comprise 40 islands and rocks. Although over 650 km (400 mi) from the main islands, the flora of the Chatham Islands is largely similar to the rest of New Zealand . About 400 of the 875 taxa (including hybrids ) attested in the Chatham Islands are indigenous to them; of these, only 47 are endemic to the islands.
The Moriori genocide was the systematic mass murder, ethnic cleansing, enslavement and cultural annihilation of the Moriori people, the indigenous ethnic group of the Chatham Islands (Rēkohu), by invaders from the mainland New Zealand iwi of Ngāti Tama and Ngāti Mutunga, from November 1835 for a disputed time onward. Siege of Pukerangiora [20]
The Chatham Islands was incorporated into the Colony of New Zealand by the British in 1842. The first local government set up on the islands was the Chatham Islands Māori Council in 1900. [4] Chatham Islands County was established in 1901, [5] [6] though the Chatham Islands County Council was not established until 1926. [7] [8]