South Waikato District

South Waikato is a district in the Waikato region in the North Island of New Zealand.

Geography

The district is located centrally in the North Island. It is bordered to the north by the Matamata - Piako District, in the north- east by the Western Bay of Plenty District, and on the east by the Rotorua District. The southern boundary is formed by the Taupo District, while connecting to the east of Otorohanga District and the Waipa District.

To the west of the district there are broad meadows, while the south and especially the east is dominated by forest land. The western boundary of the district is mostly New Zealand's longest river, the Waikato River, which was dammed in several places to generate electricity. This resulted in different reservoirs, now largely serve as recreational areas.

Population

The administrative headquarters of the district, Tokoroa is, with more than 14,000 inhabitants, according to Hamilton, the second largest city in the region and by far largest town in South Waikato. Other major settlements are Putaruru with about 3700 inhabitants, Tirau with nearly 800 residents as well as the much smaller Arapuni.

Economy

The mainstay of the economy is cattle breeding in the northwest, and forestry in the southeast of the district. The whole area is very conveniently located, since the three largest towns are all on New Zealand's most important highway connection, the State Highway 1 (SH 1), lie. For tourists is particularly interesting is the "Talking Poles Trail ", where mainly in downtown Tokoroa about 20 carved wooden figures, all of which were drawn up by various artists (see image ).