Ruatoria

Ruatoria is a place in the region of Gisborne on the North Island of New Zealand. It is the second largest city in the sparsely populated region, and had the Census 2006 756 permanent residents.

The place is located 130 km north of the city of Gisborne and 30 kilometers south-west of East Cape. The main economic activities are agriculture and forestry. Attempts of oil mining in the 1920s proved to be uneconomical.

Since 1925 Ruatoria began to displace the place Tuparoa as the main urban center of the East Coast. This was due to the reliable transport connections of Ruatoria by the State Highway 35, which then led as the main road through the town. However, Tuparoa had neither constantly usable roads still a usable in all weather port.

Ruatoria is home to the local rugby team, East Coast Rugby Football Union.

Ruatoria in the culture of the Māori

The designation for the place of Māori is Te - rua -a- Torea. On the site there is a saying of the local iwi, Ngati Porou relates:

" Ko te Maunga Hikurangi, Ko Waiapu te Awa, Ko Ngati Porou te Iwi. "

" Hikurangi is the mountain Waiapu is the river, Ngati Porou is the Iwi. "

Ruatoria was the birthplace of Moana Nui a Kiwa - Ngarimu, the first Māori, who was awarded the Victoria Cross.

Swell

• Place in the Gisborne Region