36 Facts About Dunedin

Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago region.

Today Dunedin has a diverse economy which includes manufacturing, publishing, arts, tourism and technology-based industries.

Dunedin is noted for its vibrant music scene, as the 1980s birthplace of the Dunedin sound .

Dunedin reported penguins and seals in the vicinity, which led Australian, American and British sealers to visit from the beginning of the 19th century.

Name "Dunedin" comes from Dun Eideann, the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland.

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In 1852, Dunedin became the capital of the Otago Province, the whole of New Zealand from the Waitaki south.

In 1861 the discovery of gold at Gabriel's Gully, to the south-west, led to a rapid influx of people and saw Dunedin become New Zealand's first city by growth of population in 1865.

Dunedin remained the principal local source of the nation's development capital until the Second World War.

Between 1881 and 1957, Dunedin was home to cable trams, being both one of the first and last such systems in the world.

The term "The Dunedin sound" was coined to describe the 1960s-influenced, guitar-led music which flourished at the time.

Dunedin has continued to refurbish itself, embarking on redevelopments of the art gallery, railway station and the Toitu Otago Settlers Museum.

Dunedin has flourishing niche industries including engineering, software engineering, biotechnology and fashion.

Dunedin is home to MTF, the nationwide vehicle finance company.

Dunedin has four public swimming pools: Moana Pool, Port Chalmers Pool, Mosgiel and St Clair Salt Water Pool.

Dunedin is situated at the head of Otago Harbour, a narrow inlet extending south-westward for some 15 miles.

Dunedin is home to Baldwin Street, which, according to the Guinness Book of Records, is the steepest street in the world.

Dunedin skyline is dominated by a ring of hills which form the remnants of a volcanic crater.

Dunedin has relatively low rainfall in comparison to many of New Zealand's cities, with usually only between 600 and 750 millimetres recorded per year.

In December 2014 Dunedin was designated as a UNESCO Creative City of Literature.

Dunedin's application was driven by a steering committee and an advisory board of writers, librarians and academics from a range of Dunedin institutions.

Dunedin is New Zealand's first city to be appointed to the Creative City network.

Dunedin Symphony Orchestra is a semi-professional orchestra based in Dunedin.

Dunedin lends its name to the Dunedin sound, a form of indie rock music which was created in the city in the 1980s.

Some Dunedin bands recorded on the Flying Nun Records label, based in Christchurch.

Dunedin has been home to bands since the end of the Dunedin sound era.

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Dunedin hosted the world's southernmost professional theatre company, the Fortune Theatre, based in the former Trinity Methodist Church, until it closed in 2018.

Dunedin has a substantial public art gallery, the Dunedin Public Art Gallery, in the Octagon.

Dunedin has three marae for Ngai Tahu, each with its own wharenui .

Flag of the city of Dunedin is a banner of arms in white and green and featuring the castle, lymphad, ram's head and wheat sheafs as on the coat of arms.

Dunedin is covered by two general electorates, Dunedin and Taieri, and one Maori electorate, Te Tai Tonga.

City in general is a stronghold of the New Zealand Labour Party, having won the Dunedin-based electorate seats continuously since the 1978 election.

In 1975, the NZBC was broken up with the Wellington and Dunedin studios taking over NZBC TV as Television One while Auckland and Christchurch studios launched Television Two .

Dunedin is home to 12 secondary schools: eight state and four state-integrated.

The main state highway in Dunedin is State Highway 1, which runs in a north to south-west direction through the middle of the city, connecting Dunedin with Invercargill to the south and Timaru and Christchurch to the north.

Dunedin is the northeastern terminus of the Southern Scenic Route, a tourist highway connecting Dunedin to Te Anau via The Catlins, Invercargill and Fiordland.

Dunedin City Council-owned operator Citibus was a major player until 2011 when Passenger Transport purchased Citibus from Dunedin City Holdings, and both companies were subsequently bought by Go Bus.