Hauraki District
Encyclopedia
| Hauraki District | ||
| Name | Hauraki | |
| Population | 17,193 | |
| Extent | Hauraki Gulf to Waihi; Firth of Thames to Bay of Plenty |
|
The Hauraki District Council is a municipality
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
in the Waikato Region of New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. The seat of the council is at Paeroa
Paeroa
Paeroa is a small town in New Zealand, in the northern Waikato region of the Thames Valley. Located at the foot of the Coromandel Peninsula, it is close to the junction of the Waihou and Ohinemuri Rivers, 20 kilometres from the coast at the Firth of Thames...
.
The area covered by the district extends from the southwest corner of the Firth of Thames
Firth of Thames
The Firth of Thames is a large bay located in the north of the North Island of New Zealand. It is the firth of the rivers Waihou and Piako, the former of which was formerly named the Thames River, and the town of Thames lies on its southeastern coast....
southeast towards Te Aroha
Te Aroha
Te Aroha is a rural town in the Waikato region of New Zealand with a population of 3,768 . It is 53 km northeast of Hamilton and 50 km south of Thames. It sits at the foot of 952-metre Mount Te Aroha, the highest point in the Kaimai Range....
, although that town lies beyond its boundaries. It extends eastwards to the Bay of Plenty
Bay of Plenty
The Bay of Plenty , often abbreviated to BOP, is a region in the North Island of New Zealand situated around the body of water of the same name...
coast, taking in the southernmost part of the Coromandel Peninsula
Coromandel Peninsula
The Coromandel Peninsula lies in the North Island of New Zealand. It is part of the Waikato Region and Thames-Coromandel District and extends 85 kilometres north from the western end of the Bay of Plenty, forming a natural barrier to protect the Hauraki Gulf and the Firth of Thames in the west...
. The rest of the peninsula is part of the Thames-Coromandel district.
Features of the district include the Karangahake Gorge
Karangahake Gorge
The Karangahake Gorge lies between the Coromandel and Kaimai ranges, at the southern end of the Coromandel Peninsula in New Zealand's North Island. A sharply winding canyon, it was formed by the Ohinemuri River. State Highway 2 passes through this gorge between the towns of Paeroa, Waikino and Waihi...
, Whiritoa
Whiritoa
Whiritoa is a small beach village on the Coromandel Peninsula between Whangamata and Waihi Beach. It has a permanent population in the low hundreds, which swells to over a thousand during the New Year holiday period....
, the Hauraki Plains
Hauraki Plains
The Hauraki Plains are a geographical feature and non-administrative area located in the northern North Island of New Zealand, at the lower end of the Thames Valley...
, and the gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
town of Waihi
Waihi
Waihi is a town in Hauraki District in the North Island of New Zealand, especially notable for its history as a gold mine town. It had a population of 4,503 at the 2006 census....
. The town of Ngatea
Ngatea
Ngatea is a small town on the Hauraki Plains in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located 18 kilometres southwest of Thames and 70 kilometres southeast of Auckland. Ngatea lies on the Piako River, eight kilometres south of its outflow into the Firth of Thames.Ngatea is the 'service centre' for...
is also in the district.
The district covers 1144 km², and has a population of 17,193 (2006 census), of whom 3975 live in Paeroa and 4500 live in Waihi.
The current Mayor is John Tregidga and Deputy Mayor is Bruce Gordon.