About Christchurch New Zealand
With a population of approximately 370,000, Christchurch City is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand. Christchurch City is known as the "Garden City" because of its many beautiful parks, gardens and tree-lined streets.
Christchurch City was named after Christ Church, a college at the University of Oxford and was originally known as Christ Church. The name was abbreviated through common usage by the 1880s.
The city is located near the southern end of Pegasus Bay, and rests beside the banks of the Avon River and the Heathcote River. The city is bounded by the Waimakariri River to the north.
Founded in 1863, Hagley Park and the 75-acre Christchurch Botanic Gardens are located in the central city. Hagley Park is often used for sports such as cricket, netball, and rugby.
Christchurch Earthquakes
In September 2010, Christchurch City and the surrounding Canterbury region, were hit by a large 7.1 earthquake. This earthquake has been followed by many thousands of aftershocks, including several large destructive earthquakes. The earthquakes have leveled much of the Christchurch City CBD, and caused large amounts of destruction in the Eastern Suburbs.
Christchurch City is still attempting to recover from these blows, slowly pulling down the destroyed buildings and rebuilding. Some areas of the Eastern Suburbs have been "Red Zoned", which means that residents need to sell their houses to the council and move out, as the land is too unstable to rebuild there.
Find out more about the Christchurch earthquakes.
