Christchurch - City of New Zealand

Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area. It is one third the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of Christchurch.

The river which flows through the centre of the city was named Avon at the request of the pioneering Deans brothers to commemorate the Scottish Avon, which rises in the Ayrshire hills near what was their grandfathers' farm and flows into the Clyde.

On cold winter nights, the surrounding hills, clear skies, and frosty calm conditions often combine to form a stable inversion layer above the city that traps vehicle exhausts and smoke from domestic fires to cause smog. While not as bad as smog in Los Angeles or Mexico City, Christchurch smog has often exceeded World Health Organisation recommendations for air pollution. The city has funding available to upgrade domestic home heating systems, and in order to limit air pollution has banned the use of open fires as of 1 January 2006. As of 2008, woodburners more than 15 years old are prohibited.

Christchurch is well-known for several very traditional schools of the English public school type, such as Christ's College, Shirley Boys' High School, St Andrew's, St. Bede's College, Villa Maria College, St. Margaret's College and Rangi Ruru Girls' School, but also has several less conventional schools such as Unlimited Paenga Tawhiti and Hagley Community College.

Christchurch is also the location of Burnside High School, well known for its specialist music programme, and the second largest school in New Zealand with 2,650 pupils. Cashmere High School at Rose Street is another large co-educational secondary school. In recent years, Papanui High School has undergone rapid growth to reach a similar size. Riccarton High School was one of the first state schools in the country to adopt a strong values base - the Riccarton Way.

Tertiary institutions

Canterbury University is a tertiary education provider for ChristchurchA number of tertiary education institutions have campuses in Christchurch, or in the surrounding areas.

University of Canterbury
Lincoln University
Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology
University of Otago Christchurch School of Medicine and Health Sciences

Archeological evidence found in a cave at Redcliffs in 1876 has indicated that the Christchurch area was first settled by moa-hunting tribes about 1250. Maori oral history relates that humans occupied the area around the year 1000. These first inhabitants were thought to have been followed by the Waitaha tribe, who are said to have migrated from the East coast of the North Island in the 16th century. Following tribal warfare, the Waitaha were dispossessed by the Ngati Mamoe tribe. They were in turn subjugated by the Ngai Tahu tribe, who remained in control until the arrival of European settlers.

Christchurch International Airport serves as the major base for the Italian and United States Antarctic programs as well as the New Zealand Antarctic programme. The International Antarctic Centre provides both base facilities and a museum and visitor centre focused upon current Antarctic activities. The United States Navy and latterly the United States Air National Guard, augmented by the New Zealand and Australian air forces, use Christchurch Airport as take-off for the main supply route to McMurdo and Scott Bases in Antarctica. The Clothing Distribution Center in Christchurch, has more than 140,000 pieces of extreme cold weather gear for issue to nearly 2,000 U.S. Antarctic Program participants in the 2007-08 season.