Chatham Island | |
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Information | |
Country | ![]() |
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Area | 920 km² |
Population | 600 hab. () |
Density | 0,65 inhab./km² |
Spindle | UTC 12:45 |
Location | |
![]() 43 ° 55 ′ 5 ″ S 176 ° 29 ′ 31 ″ W | |
Chatham Island is an island located 800 km east of the New Zealand.
Understand
Geography
Chatham Island is located in the center of the Chatham Islands archipelago of which it is the largest island with 900 km2. It has roughly the shape of a "T" 35 kilometers long framing two large bays open to the South Pacific Ocean: to the east, Hanson Bay and to the west, Petre Bay, the largest. Between these two bays is an isthmus about ten kilometers wide, the center of which is occupied by the Te Whanga lagoon, the largest body of water on the island and the archipelago. This lagoon of 180 km2 of area collects a large part of the small waterways of the island and communicates with the ocean by a pass in the south of Hanson Bay. The north and south of the island are hilly and culminate at 299 meters of altitude to an unnamed hill located in the extreme south of the island.
The main village of the island and the archipelago is Waitangi located at the end of Waitangi Bay which constitutes the southern end of Petre Bay. This village, which has most of the commercial infrastructure and public services, is linked by road to other dwellings scattered throughout the rest of the island as well as to the airport in the north of the island.
History
Chatham Island, like the rest of the archipelago, is likely discovered and colonized by Polynesians from the more northern islands or the Māori of New Zealand.
It was rediscovered in 1791 by the Europeans when British Captain William R. Broughton approached him aboard HMS Chatham and took possession for the benefit of UK.
A second wave of Māori immigration from New Zealand arrived in Chatham Island in the early 19th century.
To go
By plane
- 1 Chatham Islands Airport (IATA : CHT, ICAO: NZCI, Chatham Islands / Tuuta Airport) (20 km north-northeast of Waitangi)
Airline company | Destinations |
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![]() | AKL Auckland, CHC Christchurch, WLG Wellington and thePitt Island (Pitt Island, Rangi Aotea) by Cessna 206 |
last updated: Nov 2019