About the Region

Southland is the southernmost region of New Zealand and straddles the 46th Parallel (46° South). Stewart Island lies at 47° South.

Land area: 3,035,577 ha (12.0% of New Zealand land area)
60% of the land area is taken up with National Parks and conservation lands
23% is intensively farmed
The balance is steeper hill country used for extensive pastoral farming or forestry
Agricultre, particularly pastoral sheep and dairy production, is the mainstay of the region's economy

Cool temperate climate with temperature regime similar to western parts of the UK
Mean daily temperature ranges from 14°C in January (summer) to 5°C in July (winter).
The average daily maximum temperature ranges from 18.6°C in January (summer) to 9.5°C in July (winter).
There can be around 80 days of ground frost in the winter months
1000mm of rainfall is fairly evenly spread throughout the year
Predominantly westerly winds with wind speed averaging 15-20km/hr
1600 hours of sunshine are reported annually
In the alpine areas and in Fiordland the climate is more extreme

Population 90,000 (2.3% of the New Zealand population)
- Invercargill 50,000
- Southland District 28,000
- Gore District 12,000
Below average population density (2.6 people per square kilometre compared to 15.0 people nationally)
Median age of 38.2 years
11.9% identify with the Maori ethnic group, compared to 14.6% nationally