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Concept
Invercargill
Summary
Invercargill (ˌɪnvərˈkɑːrɡᵻl , Waihōpai) is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. The city lies in the heart of the wide expanse of the Southland Plains to the east of the Ōreti or New River some north of Bluff, which is the southernmost town in the South Island. It sits amid rich farmland that is bordered by large areas of conservation land and marine reserves, including Fiordland National Park covering the south-west corner of the South Island and the Catlins coastal region.
Many streets in the city, especially in the centre and main shopping district, are named after rivers in Scotland. These include the main streets Dee and Tay, as well as those named after the Tweed, Forth, Tyne, Esk, Don, Ness, Yarrow, Spey, Eye and Ythan rivers, amongst others.
The 2018 census showed the population was 54,204, up 2.7% on the 2006 census number and up 4.8% on the 2013 census number.
Southland was a scene of early extended contact between Europeans and Māori, notably whalers and missionaries – Wohlers at Ruapuke. In 1853, Walter Mantell purchased Murihiku from local Māori iwi, claiming the land for European settlement. Otago, of which Southland was itself part, was the subject of planned settlement by the Free Church of Scotland, an offshoot of the Church of Scotland. Settlement broadened with the discovery of gold in Central Otago in the 1860s. Traces of Scottish speech persist in Southland voices, with R often pronounced with a rolling burr. This is more noticeable among country people.
In 1856, a petition was put forward to Thomas Gore Browne, the Governor of New Zealand, for a port at Bluff. Due to the Otago gold rush, the region's population grew during the 1860s with the settlement of Bluff. Browne agreed to the petition and gave the name Invercargill to the settlement north of the port. Inver comes from the Scottish Gaelic word inbhir meaning a river's mouth and Cargill is in honour of Captain William Cargill, who was at the time the Superintendent of Otago, of which Southland was then a part.
Official source
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