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Otago
Ōtākou (Māori) | |
|---|---|
| Otago Region | |
 Otago within New Zealand | |
| Country | New Zealand |
| Island | South Island |
| Established | 1848 (Dunedin settlement) 1852 (Otago Province) |
| Seat | Dunedin |
| Territorial authorities | |
| Government | |
| • Body | Otago Regional Council |
| • Chair | Gretchen Robertson |
| • Deputy Chair | Lloyd McCall |
| Area | |
• Region | 31,251 km2 (12,066 sq mi) |
| • Land | 31,186.16 km2 (12,041.04 sq mi) |
| Population (June 2024)[1] | |
• Region | 257,200 |
| • Density | 8.2/km2 (21/sq mi) |
| GDP | |
| • Total | NZ$ 15.336 billion (2021) (6th) |
| • Per capita | NZ$ 62,518 (2021) |
| Time zone | UTC+12:00 (NZST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+13:00 (NZDT) |
| HDI (2021) | 0.932[3] very high · 6th |
| Website | www.otago.co.nz www.orc.govt.nz |
Otago (/əˈtɑːɡoʊ/ , /oʊ-, ɒ-/[4]; Māori: Ōtākou [ɔːˈtaːkou]) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately 32,000 square kilometres (12,000 sq mi),[5] making it the country's second largest local government region. Its population was 257,200 in June 2024.[1]
The name "Otago" is the local southern Māori dialect pronunciation of "Ōtākou", the name of the Māori village near the entrance to Otago Harbour.[6][7] The exact meaning of the term is disputed, with common translations being "isolated village" and "place of red earth", the latter referring to the reddish-ochre clay which is common in the area around Dunedin. "Otago" is also the old name of the European settlement on the harbour, established by the Weller Brothers in 1831, which lies close to Otakou. The upper harbour later became the focus of the Otago Association, an offshoot of the Free Church of Scotland, notable for its adoption of the principle that ordinary people, not the landowner, should choose the ministers.
Major centres include Dunedin (the principal city), Oamaru, Balclutha, Alexandra, and the major tourist centres Queenstown and Wānaka. Kaitangata in South Otago is a prominent source of coal. The Waitaki and Clutha rivers provide much of the country's hydroelectric power. Vineyards and wineries have been developed in the Central Otago wine region. Some parts of the area originally covered by Otago Province are now administered by either Canterbury Regional Council or Southland Regional Council.
- ^ a b "Aotearoa Data Explorer". Statistics New Zealand. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
- ^ "Regional gross domestic product: Year ended March 2022". Statistics New Zealand. 24 March 2023. Archived from the original on 15 May 2024. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
- ^ "Sub-national HDI – Area Database – Global Data Lab". hdi.globaldatalab.org. Archived from the original on 23 September 2018. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
- ^ Jones, Daniel (2003) [1917], Peter Roach; James Hartmann; Jane Setter (eds.), English Pronouncing Dictionary, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 3-12-539683-2
- ^ "About the Otago region". Otago Regional Council. Archived from the original on 30 August 2010.
- ^ McKinnon, Malcolm (2012). Otago region – The Otago settlement. Archived from the original on 15 June 2017. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
- ^ Peter Entwisle, Behold the Moon: The European Occupation of the Dunedin District 1770–1848, Dunedin, NZ: Port Daniel Press, 1998 (ISBN 0-473-05591-0), appendix 1 pp.136–139.