St Kilda is a suburb of the 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...

 city of Dunedin

Dunedin

Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago Region. It is considered to be one of the four main urban centres of New Zealand for historic, cultural, and geographic reasons. Dunedin was the largest city by territorial land area until...

. A densely populated residential suburb, it lies on the southern part of the city's central plain, to the southwest of the head of the harbour and immediately north of Ocean Beach

Ocean Beach, Otago

Ocean Beach is a long sandy beach which runs along the Pacific Ocean coast of south Dunedin, New Zealand. It stretches for some three kilometres from Saint Clair in the southwest along the coast of Saint Kilda to the foot of Lawyer's Head in the east...

, parts of which (St Kilda Beach and Middle Beach) are within the suburb and form its major geographical feature. Saint Kilda's 2001 population was 5,904.

The suburb has fairly well-defined boundaries, having been a separate borough from 1875 until the time of local government restructuring in 1989. This borough was bounded by Forbury Road in the west, Bay View Road in the north, and Royal Crescent in the east, and at the time of its amalgamation into Dunedin City, was the most densely populated borough in New Zealand. Much of the borough's growth was between 1900 and 1930, during which time the population rose from around 1500 to 8000, slowly declining from that time to its current figure. Many of St Kilda's houses date from this period.

St Kilda was named for the Melbourne suburb by early property developer George Scott, who had arrived in New Zealand from Victoria in 1862. The area previously had the Maori name Whakaherekau.

St Kilda gave its name to a New Zealand electoral constituency

St Kilda (New Zealand electorate)

-Population centres:The electorate is in the southern suburbs of Dunedin, New Zealand, and was centered on the suburb of St Kilda.-History:The electorate was created in 1946, and was abolished in 1996 , when it was absorbed into the Dunedin South electorate.-Election results:-External links:...

 which covered much of southern Dunedin and the Otago Peninsula

Otago Peninsula

The Otago Peninsula is a long, hilly indented finger of land that forms the easternmost part of Dunedin, New Zealand. Volcanic in origin, it forms one wall of the eroded valley that now forms Otago Harbour. The peninsula lies south-east of Otago Harbour and runs parallel to the mainland for...

. This electorate existed from 1946 to 1993 (after which it was replaced by the new Dunedin South

Dunedin South

Dunedin South is a New Zealand Parliamentary electorate. It first existed from 1881–1890, then from 1905–1946 and was re-established for the introduction of MMP in 1996. A Labour Party stronghold, it has been represented by Clare Curran since the .-Area:...

 electorate), and was represented in turn by Fred Jones (Labour

New Zealand Labour Party

The New Zealand Labour Party is a New Zealand political party. It describes itself as centre-left and socially progressive and has been one of the two primary parties of New Zealand politics since 1935....

, 1946-1951), Sir James Barnes

James George Barnes

Sir James George "Jim" Barnes, MBE was a New Zealand politician of the National Party.Barnes attended Andersons Bay School and King Edward Technical College.-Military service:...

 (National

New Zealand National Party

The New Zealand National Party is the largest party in the New Zealand House of Representatives and in November 2008 formed a minority government with support from three minor parties.-Policies:...

, 1951-1957), Bill Fraser

William Fraser (New Zealand)

William Alex Fraser was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party.He represented the Dunedin electorate of St Kilda from 1957 to 1981, when he retired....

, (Labour, 1957-1981), and Michael Cullen (Labour, 1981-1993).

St Kilda is surrounded by the suburbs of St Clair, Forbury, Caversham

Caversham, New Zealand

Caversham is one of the older suburbs of the South Island New Zealand city of Dunedin. It is sited at the western edge of the city's central plain at the mouth of the steep Caversham Valley, which rises to the saddle of Lookout Point...

, South Dunedin

South Dunedin

South Dunedin is a major inner city suburb of the New Zealand city of Dunedin. It is located, as its name suggests, to the south of the city centre, on part of a large plain known locally simply as "The Flat". The suburb is a mix of industrial, retail, and predominantly lower-quality residential...

, Musselburgh

Musselburgh, New Zealand

Musselburgh is a residential suburb of the New Zealand city of Dunedin. It is located in the southeast of the city's urban area, southeast of the city's centre, and at the narrowest point of the isthmus which joins Otago Peninsula to the rest of the South Island . The suburb takes its name from...

 and Tainui. Other major streets in St Kilda include Prince Albert Road in the east (which contains most of the suburb's few shops), Queens Drive, Richardson Street and Victoria Road, the last of which runs along the southern shore, separated from the Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

 by wide high dunes. The Sir James Barnes Lookout is located close to the highest point of the dunes and commands views across the plain on which Saint Kilda lies and the surrounding parts of the city.

The streets of St Kilda form a grid pattern which is interrupted by a long crescent (Hargest Crescent), which runs around the original boundary of the city's main horse racing venue, Forbury Park (the park was reduced to its current size in 1909). The suburb also contains the Dunedin Ice Stadium

Dunedin Ice Stadium

The Dunedin Ice Stadium is an ice rink in Saint Kilda, Dunedin, New Zealand.The rink was constructed in 2004 inside the structure of the former Dunedin Stadium, which had been used for netball and basketball but had been largely superseded by The Edgar Centre as a venue for these sports...

, an Olympic-sized ice-skating rink and several sports fields, notably De Carle Park, Kettle Park, and Hancock Park. Chisholm Park Golf Course also lies partly within Saint Kilda. Saint Kilda has three pubs, a bowling green, tennis courts, and a badminton hall. Though it contains no secondary schools, the paired single-sex King's

King's High School, Dunedin

King's High School is a state single-sex boys' secondary school in Dunedin, New Zealand. It is located at the southern end of the city close to the boundary between the suburbs of South Dunedin, St. Clair and Forbury, next to the parallel single-sex girls' school, Queen's High School...

 and Queen's

Queen's High School, Dunedin

Queen's High School is a state single-sex girls' secondary school in Dunedin. It is located at the southern end of the city close to the boundary between the suburbs of St. Clair and Forbury, next to the parallel single-sex boys' school, King's, with which it shares some facilities....

 High Schools lie close to its northern edge.

St Kilda is also the home of the highly successful St Kilda Sentinel Brass Band, Pirates Rugby Club, Otago Model Engineering Society, Ocean Beach Railway

Ocean Beach Railway

The Ocean Beach Railway is a heritage railway that operates in Dunedin, New Zealand. It is located between John Wilson Drive in the suburb of Saint Kilda and sports grounds near Forbury Park Raceway, and runs parallel with the city's main beach, Ocean Beach...

, St Kilda Surf Lifesaving Club, Hot Rod Club and Ocean Beach scout group. Being mainly residential, there are few notable industries within the suburb, an exception being Wests

Wests (drink)

For the Australian rugby league club, see Wests TigersWests NZ is a manufacturer of soft drinks and cordials based in Dunedin, New Zealand. It is the oldest continuous manufacturer of soft drinks in New Zealand....

, a soft drink manufacturers located in Bay View Road.