14 Facts About Chatham Islands

Chatham Islands were uninhabited when the Moriori people arrived around 1500 CE and developed a peaceful way of life.

However, the sale failed and the Chatham Islands officially became part of the Colony of New Zealand in 1842; in 1863 the resident magistrate declared the Moriori released from slavery.

The Chatham Islands Council provides local administration – its powers resemble those of New Zealand's unitary authorities.

The Chatham Islands have their own time zone, 45 minutes ahead of the rest of New Zealand.

Islands sit on the Chatham Rise, a large, relatively shallowly submerged part of the Zealandia continent that stretches east from near the South Island.

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The Chatham Islands, which emerged only within the last four million years, are the only part of the Chatham Rise showing above sea level.

Chatham Islands are hilly, with coastal areas including cliffs, dunes, beaches, and lagoons.

Chatham Islands has a number of streams, including Te Awainanga and Tuku.

Chatham Islands have an oceanic climate characterised by a narrow temperature range and relatively frequent rainfall.

Chatham Islands are a breeding ground for huge flocks of seabirds and are home to a number of endemic birds, some of which are seabirds and others which live on the islands.

Much of the natural forest of these islands has been cleared for farming, but Mangere and Rangatira Chatham Islands are now preserved as nature reserves to conserve some of these unique flora and fauna.

Economy of the Chatham Islands, then dominated by the export of wool, suffered under the international depression of the 1880s, only rebounding with the building of fish freezing plants at the island villages of Owenga and Kaingaroa in 1910.

Until the 1990s, the Chatham Islands were in the Lyttelton electorate, but since then they have formed part of the Rongotai general electorate, which otherwise lies in south Wellington.

Chatham Islands were linked as part of the Rural Broadband Initiative in 2014, when satellite bandwidth was increased, and broadband is provided by Wireless Nation, though Farmside provide some coverage.