Akaroa

Akaroa Port Louis-Philippe
Akaroa township and main wharf, in 2004
Akaroa Location of Akaroa in Banks Peninsula
Coordinates: 43°48′15″S 172°58′00″E / 43.80417°S 172.96667°E / -43.80417; 172.96667
Country	New Zealand
Region	Canterbury Region
District	Christchurch City
Ward	Banks Peninsula
Community	Te Pātaka o Rākaihautū Banks Peninsula
European settlement	18 August 1840
Founded by	Jean François Langlois
Electorates	Banks Peninsula Te Tai Tonga (Māori)
Government
• Territorial Authority	Christchurch City Council
• Regional council	Environment Canterbury
• Mayor of Christchurch	Phil Mauger
• Banks Peninsula MP	Vanessa Weenink
• Te Tai Tonga MP	Tākuta Ferris
Area [1]
• Total	2.03 km2 (0.78 sq mi)
Population  (June 2024)[2]
• Total	780
• Density	380/km2 (1,000/sq mi)
Postcode	7520
Local iwi	Ngāi Tahu

Akaroa is a small town on Banks Peninsula in the Canterbury Region of the South Island of New Zealand, situated within a harbour of the same name. The name Akaroa is Kāi Tahu Māori for "Long Harbour", which would be spelled Whangaroa in standard Māori. The area was also named Port Louis-Philippe by French settlers after the reigning French king Louis Philippe I.

The town is 84 kilometres (52 mi) by road from Christchurch and is the terminus of State Highway 75. It is set on a sheltered harbour and is overlooked and surrounded by the remnants of an eruptive centre of the miocene Banks Peninsula Volcano.^[3]

Ōnuku marae, a marae (tribal meeting ground) of Ngāi Tahu and its Ōnuku Rūnanga branch, is located in Akaroa.^[4] It includes the Karaweko wharenui (meeting house).^[5]