This dataset is the definitive version of the annually released regional council boundaries as at 1 January 2023 as defined by regional councils and/or Local Government Commission, and maintained by Stats NZ (the custodian). This version contains 16 regional councils and area outside region (Chatham Islands Territory).

​

This dataset is the definitive version of the annually released regional council boundaries as at 1 January 2023 as defined by regional councils and/or Local Government Commission, and maintained by Stats NZ (the custodian). This version contains 16 regional councils and area outside region (Chatham Islands Territory). The annual boundaries are used for the full calendar year from 1 January. The annual update may have no changes from the previous release.

​

The regional council is the top tier of local government in New Zealand. Regional councils are defined under schedule 2, part 1 of the Local Government Act 2002. They were established in November 1989 after the abolition of the 22 local government regions. Regional council boundaries must coincide with meshblock boundaries under schedule 3, clause 17 of the Local Government Act 2002.

​

Regional council boundaries are based largely on water catchments, such as rivers, lakes, and harbours. The seaward boundary of the regions is the 12 mile (19.3km) New Zealand territorial limit. In determining regions, consideration was also given to regional communities of interest, natural resource management, land use planning, and environmental matters.

​

There are 16 regions which cover every territorial authority in New Zealand, with the exception of the Chatham Islands Territory (included in 99 Area Outside Region). Five regions are administered as unitary authorities, which function as both regional council and territorial authority. These unitary authorities are Auckland Council, Nelson City Council, and Gisborne, Tasman, and Marlborough District Councils. The Chatham Islands Council also performs some of the functions of a regional council but is not strictly a unitary authority. Unitary authorities act as regional councils for legislative purposes. Regional councils are responsible for administrating many environmental and transport matters, such as land transport planning and harbour navigation and safety.

​

Some regional council boundaries are coterminous with territorial authority boundaries, but there are several exceptions. An example is Taupo District, which is geographically split between four regions, although most of its area falls within the Waikato Region. Where territorial authorities straddle regional council boundaries, the affected area is statistically defined by complete regional councils. In general, however, regional councils contain complete territorial authorities.

​

Auckland Council unitary authority was formed in 2010, under the Local Government (Tamaki Makarau Reorganisation) Act 2009, replacing the Auckland Regional Council and seven territorial authorities.

​

Regional councils are defined at meshblock level. Statistical area 1 and statistical area 2 geographies nest within regional council boundaries.

​

Numbering

The standard classification of regional council is a flat classification and contains 17 categories (including ‘99 Area Outside Region’).

​

Generalised version

This generalised version has been simplified for rapid drawing and is designed for thematic or web mapping purposes.

​

Macrons

Names are provided with and without tohutō/macrons. The column name for those without macrons is suffixed ‘ascii’.

​

Digital data

Digital boundary data became freely available on 1 July 2007.

​

To download geographic classifications in table formats such as CSV please use Ariā

Refer to the current geographies boundaries table for a list of all current geographies and recent updates.

This dataset is the definitive version of the annually released regional council boundaries as at 1 January 2025, as defined by the regional councils and/or Local Government Commission and maintained by Stats NZ, clipped to the coastline. This clipped version has been created for cartographic purposes and so does not fully represent the official full extent boundaries. This version contains 16 regional councils and area outside region (Chatham Islands Territory).

The regional council is the top tier of local government in New Zealand. Regional councils are defined under schedule 2, part 1 of the Local Government Act 2002. They were established in November 1989 after the abolition of the 22 local government regions. Regional council boundaries must coincide with meshblock boundaries under schedule 3, clause 17 of the Local Government Act 2002.

Regional council boundaries are based largely on water catchments, such as rivers, lakes, and harbours. The seaward boundary of the regions is the 12 mile (19.3km) New Zealand territorial limit. In determining regions, consideration was also given to regional communities of interest, natural resource management, land use planning, and environmental matters.

There are 16 regions which cover every territorial authority in New Zealand, with the exception of the Chatham Islands Territory (included in 99 Area Outside Region). Five regions are administered as unitary authorities, which function as both regional council and territorial authority. These unitary authorities are Auckland Council, Nelson City Council, and Gisborne, Tasman, and Marlborough District Councils. The Chatham Islands Council also performs some of the functions of a regional council but is not strictly a unitary authority. Unitary authorities act as regional councils for legislative purposes. Regional councils are responsible for administrating many environmental and transport matters, such as land transport planning and harbour navigation and safety.

Some regional council boundaries are coterminous with territorial authority boundaries, but there are several exceptions. An example is Taupo District, which is geographically split between four regions, although most of its area falls within the Waikato Region. Where territorial authorities straddle regional council boundaries, the affected area is statistically defined by complete regional councils. In general, however, regional councils contain complete territorial authorities.

Auckland Council unitary authority was formed in 2010, under the Local Government (Tamaki Makarau Reorganisation) Act 2009, replacing the Auckland Regional Council and seven territorial authorities.

Regional councils are defined at meshblock level. Statistical area 1 and statistical area 2 geographies nest within regional council boundaries.

​

Numbering

The standard classification of regional council is a flat classification and contains 17 categories (including ‘99 Area Outside Region’).

​

Clipped Version

This clipped version has been created for cartographic purposes and so does not fully represent the official full extent boundaries.

​

High-definition version

This high definition (HD) version is the most detailed geometry, suitable for use in GIS for geometric analysis operations and for the computation of areas, centroids and other metrics. The HD version is aligned to the LINZ cadastre.

​

Macrons

Names are provided with and without tohutō/macrons. The column name for those without macrons is suffixed ‘ascii’.

​

Digital data

Digital boundary data became freely available on 1 July 2007.

​

Further information

To download geographic classifications in table formats such as CSV please use Ariā

For more information please refer to the Statistical standard for geographic areas 2023.

Contact: geography@stats.govt.nz

This dataset is the definitive set of regional council boundaries for 2022 as defined by the Local Government Commission and/or regional councils themselves but maintained by Stats NZ (the custodian). The regional council is the top tier of local government in New Zealand. There are 16 regional councils in New Zealand (defined by Part 1 of Schedule 2 of the Local Government Act 2002). Eleven are governed by an elected regional council, while five are governed by territorial authorities (the second tier of local government), who also perform the functions of a regional council and are known as unitary authorities. These unitary authorities are Auckland Council, Nelson City Council, and Gisborne, Tasman, and Marlborough District Councils. The Chatham Islands Council also performs some of the functions of a regional council, but is not strictly a unitary authority. Unitary authorities act as regional councils for legislative purposes. Regional councils are responsible for administrating many environmental and transport matters, such as land transport planning and harbour navigation and safety.Regional councils were established in 1989 after the abolition of the 22 local government regions. The Local Government Act 2002 requires the boundaries of regions to conform, as far as possible, to one or more water catchments. When determining regional boundaries, the Local Government Commission considered regional communities of interest when selecting which water catchments to include in a region. It also considered factors such as natural resource management, land use planning, and environmental matters. Some regional council boundaries are coterminous with territorial authority boundaries, but there are several exceptions. An example is Taupo District, which is geographically split between four regions, although most of its area falls within the Waikato Region. Where territorial authorities straddle regional council boundaries, the affected area is statistically defined by complete regional councils. In general, however, regional councils contain complete territorial authorities. Auckland Council unitary authority was formed in 2010, under the Local Government (Tamaki Makarau Reorganisation) Act 2009, replacing the Auckland Regional Council and seven territorial authorities.The seaward boundary of any coastal regional council is the twelve-mile New Zealand territorial limit.Regional councils are defined at meshblock level. Statistical area 1 and statistical area 2 geographies nest within regional council boundaries.Names are provided with and without tohutō/macrons. The column name for those without macrons is suffixed ‘ascii’.Digital boundary data became freely available on 1 July 2007._Item Page Created: 2023-05-31 04:57 Item Page Last Modified: 2025-04-05 20:44Owner: steinmetzt_NIWARegional Council Boundaries (gen)No data edit dates availableFields: REGC2022_V1_00,REGC2022_V1_00_NAME,REGC2022_V1_00_NAME_ASCII,LAND_AREA_SQ_KM,AREA_SQ_KM

Important Note: This item is in mature support as of January 2024 and will retire in January 2025. When you need the most recent boundary layer please use this item. When you need the boundaries for a specific year, please use this item and set a filter on the required year.Topicality: 01-01-2020Projection: New Zealand Transverse Mercator (NZTM)This layer is based on the dataset REGC2020_V1_00_clipped retrieved from Stat NZ. It contains the major released version of the annually released regional council boundaries as at 1 January 2020, clipped to the coastline. This clipped version contains 16 regional councils and has been created for map creation/cartographic purposes and does not fully represent the official full extent boundaries.The official dataset can be found on https://datafinder.stats.govt.nz.This layer contains the Regional Council name and code and the total area and the total land area in square kilometers. The layer is further generalised by Eagle Technology for improved performance on the web, therefore it doesn't fully represent the official boundaries.This layer is offered by Eagle Technology (Official Esri Distributor). Eagle Technology offers services that can be used in the ArcGIS platform. The Content team at Eagle Technology updates the layers on a regular basis and regularly adds new content to the Living Atlas. By using this content and combining it with other data you can create new information products quickly and easily.If you have any questions or comments about the content, please let us now at livingatlas@eagle.co.nz

Topicality: 01-01-2025Projection: New Zealand Transverse Mercator (NZTM)This layer contains the latest set of regional council boundaries as defined by regional councils and/or Local Government Commission, and maintained by Stats NZ (the custodian).The regional council is the top tier of local government in New Zealand. Regional councils are defined under schedule 2, part 1 of the Local Government Act 2002. They were established in November 1989 after the abolition of the 22 local government regions. Regional council boundaries must coincide with meshblock boundaries under schedule 3, clause 17 of the Local Government Act 2002.Regional council boundaries are based largely on water catchments, such as rivers, lakes, and harbours. The seaward boundary of the regions is the 12 mile (19.3km) New Zealand territorial limit. In determining regions, consideration was also given to regional communities of interest, natural resource management, land use planning, and environmental matters.This layer gets updated yearly with the latest boundary data.A layer with the full archive of the data for all the available years is available here.For information about the fields in this dataset go to the Data tab.The layer is further generalised by Eagle Technology for improved performance on the web, therefore it doesn't fully represent the official boundaries.The official dataset can be found on https://datafinder.stats.govt.nz.This layer is offered by Eagle Technology (Official Esri Distributor). Eagle Technology offers services that can be used in the ArcGIS platform. The Content team at Eagle Technology updates the layers on a regular basis and regularly adds new content to the Living Atlas. By using this content and combining it with other data you can create new information products quickly and easily.If you have any questions or comments about the content, please let us now at livingatlas@eagle.co.nz

The region is the top tier of local government in New Zealand. There are 16 regions of New Zealand (Part 1 of Schedule 2 of the Local Government Act 2002). Eleven are governed by an elected regional council, while five are governed by territorial authorities (the second tier of local government) who also perform the functions of a regional council and thus are known as unitary authorities. These unitary authorities are Auckland Council, Nelson City Council, Gisborne, Tasman, and Marlborough District Councils. The Chatham Islands Council also perform some of the functions of a regional council, but is not strictly a unitary authority. Unitary authorities act as regional councils for the purposes of a wide range of Acts and regulations. Regional council areas are based on water catchment areas. Regional councils are responsible for the administration of many environmental and public transport matters.Regional Councils were established in 1989 after the abolition of the 22 local government regions. The local government act 2002, requires the boundaries of regions to confirm as far as possible to one or more water catchments. When determining regional boundaries, the local Government commission gave consideration to regional communities of interest when selecting water catchments to included in a region. It also considered factors such as natural resource management, land use planning and environmental matters. Some regional boundaries are conterminous with territorial authority boundaries but there are many exceptions. An example is Taupo District, which is split between four regions, although most of its area falls within the Waikato Region. Where territorial local authorities straddle regional council boundaries, the affected area have been statistically defined in complete area units. Generally regional councils contain complete territorial authorities. The unitary authority of the Auckland Council was formed in 2010, under the Local Government (Tamaki Makarau Reorganisation) Act 2009, replacing the Auckland Regional Council and seven territorial authorities.The seaward boundary of any costal regional council is the twelve mile New Zealand territorial limit. Regional councils are defined at meshblock and area unit level.Regional Councils included in the 2013 digital pattern are:Regional Council CodeRegional Council Name01Northland Region02Auckland Region03Waikato Region04Bay of Plenty Region05Gisborne Region06Hawke's Bay Region07Taranaki Region08Manawatu-Wanganui Region09Wellington Region12West Coast Region13Canterbury Region14Otago Region15Southland Region16Tasman Region17Nelson Region18Marlborough Region99Area Outside RegionAs at 1stJuly 2007, Digital Boundary data became freely available.Deriving of Output FilesThe original vertices delineating the meshblock boundary pattern were digitised in 1991 from 1:5,000 scale urban maps and 1:50,000 scale rural maps. The magnitude of error of the original digital points would have been in the range of +/- 10 metres in urban areas and +/- 25 metres in rural areas. Where meshblock boundaries coincide with cadastral boundaries the magnitude of error will be within the range of 1–5 metres in urban areas and 5 - 20 metres in rural areas. This being the estimated magnitude of error of Landonline.The creation of high definition and generalised meshblock boundaries for the 2013 digital pattern and the dissolving of these meshblocks into other geographies/boundaries were completed within Statistics New Zealand using ESRI's ArcGIS desktop suite and the Data Interoperability extension with the following process: 1. Import data and all attribute fields into an ESRI File Geodatabase from LINZ as a shapefile2. Run geometry checks and repairs.3. Run Topology Checks on all data (Must Not Have Gaps, Must Not Overlap), detailed below.4. Generalise the meshblock layers to a 1m tolerance to create generalised dataset. 5. Clip the high definition and generalised meshblock layers to the coastline using land water codes.6. Dissolve all four meshblock datasets (clipped and unclipped, for both generalised and high definition versions) to higher geographies to create the following output data layers: Area Unit, Territorial Authorities, Regional Council, Urban Areas, Community Boards, Territorial Authority Subdivisions, Wards Constituencies and Maori Constituencies for the four datasets. 7. Complete a frequency analysis to determine that each code only has a single record.8. Re-run topology checks for overlaps and gaps.9. Export all created datasets into MapInfo and Shapefile format using the Data Interoperability extension to create 3 output formats for each file. 10. Quality Assurance and rechecking of delivery files.The High Definition version is similar to how the layer exists in Landonline with a couple of changes to fix topology errors identified in topology checking. The following quality checks and steps were applied to the meshblock pattern:Translation of ESRI Shapefiles to ESRI geodatabase datasetThe meshblock dataset was imported into the ESRI File Geodatabase format, required to run the ESRI topology checks. Topology rules were set for each of the layers. Topology ChecksA tolerance of 0.1 cm was applied to the data, which meant that the topology engine validating the data saw any vertex closer than this distance as the same location. A default topology rule of “Must Be Larger than Cluster Tolerance” is applied to all data – this would highlight where any features with a width less than 0.1cm exist. No errors were found for this rule.Three additional topology rules were applied specifically within each of the layers in the ESRI geodatabase – namely “Must Not Overlap”, “Must Not Have Gaps” and “"Area Boundary Must Be Covered By Boundary Of (Meshblock)”. These check that a layer forms a continuous coverage over a surface, that any given point on that surface is only assigned to a single category, and that the dissolved boundaries are identical to the parent meshblock boundaries.Topology Checks Results: There were no errors in either the gap or overlap checks.GeneralisingTo create the generalised Meshblock layer the “Simplify Polygon” geoprocessing tool was used in ArcGIS, with the following parameters:Simplification Algorithm: POINT_REMOVEMaximum Allowable Offset: 1 metreMinimum Area: 1 square metreHandling Topological Errors: RESOLVE_ERRORSClipping of Layers to CoastlineThe processed feature class was then clipped to the coastline. The coastline was defined as features within the supplied Land2013 with codes and descriptions as follows:11- Island – Included12- Mainland – Included21- Inland Water – Included22- Inlet – Excluded23- Oceanic –Excluded33- Other – Included.Features were clipped using the Data Interoperability extension, attribute filter tool. The attribute filter was used on both the generalised and high definition meshblock datasets creating four meshblock layers. Each meshblock dataset also contained all higher geographies and land-water data as attributes. Note: Meshblock 0017001 which is classified as island, was excluded from the clipped meshblock layers, as most of this meshblock is oceanic. Dissolve meshblocks to higher geographiesStatistics New Zealand then dissolved the ESRI meshblock feature classes to the higher geographies, for both the full and clipped dataset, generalised and high definition datasets. To dissolve the higher geographies, a model was built using the dissolver, aggregator and sorter tools, with each output set to include geography code and names within the Data Interoperability extension. Export to MapInfo Format and ShapfilesThe data was exported to MapInfo and Shapefile format using ESRI's Data Interoperability extension Translation tool. Quality Assurance and rechecking of delivery filesThe feature counts of all files were checked to ensure all layers had the correct number of features. This included checking that all multipart features had translated correctly in the new file.

Merge of Department of Statistics Meshblock Level 1 boundaries and Topo Coastline, plus Chatham Islands to give a better map of the land area for each Territorial Local Authority (TLA). Unitary Authorities are also clipped for their TLA role. TLA boundaries are MHWS which is not mapped in the Cadastral database and is only approximate using the 1:50,000 coastline and island borders, but it is better than the generalised meshblocks. Reloaded to fix topology error that merged Kapiti and Porirua.

Boundaries of Territorial Local Authorities, including Tauranga, Western Bay of Plenty, Whakatane, Opotiki, Kawerau, Taupo and Rotorua.

Include Bay of Plenty Regional Council Boundary.

A map book shows the regional council and the local council council boundaries in the Bay of Plenty.

A subset of NationalMap consisting of Regional Council Administrative Boundaries. These are the largest administration units as legally defined by government. They are released annually on the 1st of January to coincide with the update of meshblocks, but there are not always changes from the previous classification.

Regional Councils were established in November 1989 after the abolition of the 22 local government regions. The Local Government Act 2002 requires the boundaries of regions to conform as far as possible to one or more water catchments. When determining regional boundaries, the Local Government Commission gave consideration to regional communities of interest when selecting water catchments to be included in a region. It also considered factors such as natural resource management, land use planning and environmental matters.

Regional councils are defined at meshblock and area unit level. The seaward boundaries of the Regional Councils are the outer limits of the territorial sea of New Zealand (12 mile limit).

Regional councils cover every territorial authority in New Zealand with the exception of Chatham Islands Territory. Generally regional councils contain complete territorial authorities. Where territorial authorities straddle regional council boundaries, the affected area has been statistically defined in complete area units.

This dataset contains the annually released regional council boundaries for 2021 as defined by the regional councils and/or Local Government Commission and maintained by Stats NZ (the custodian), clipped to coastline. This clipped version has been created for map creation/cartographic purposes and so does not fully represent the official full extent boundaries.

The regional council is the top tier of local government in New Zealand. There are 16 regional councils in New Zealand (defined by Part 1 of Schedule 2 of the Local Government Act 2002). Eleven are governed by an elected regional council, while five are governed by territorial authorities (the second tier of local government), who also perform the functions of a regional council and are known as unitary authorities.

Auckland Council unitary authority was formed in 2010, under the Local Government (Tamaki Makarau Reorganisation) Act 2009, replacing the Auckland Regional Council and seven territorial authorities.The seaward boundary of any coastal regional council is the twelve-mile New Zealand territorial limit. Regional councils are defined at meshblock and statistical area 2

Names are provided with and without tohutō/macrons. The name field without macrons is suffixed ‘ascii’.

This generalised version has been simplified for rapid drawing and is designed for thematic or web mapping purposes.

Digital boundary data became freely available on 1 July 2007.

Topicality: 01-01-2025Projection: New Zealand Transverse Mercator (NZTM)This layer contains the archive of regional council boundaries as defined by regional councils and/or Local Government Commission, and maintained by Stats NZ (the custodian).The regional council is the top tier of local government in New Zealand. Regional councils are defined under schedule 2, part 1 of the Local Government Act 2002. They were established in November 1989 after the abolition of the 22 local government regions. Regional council boundaries must coincide with meshblock boundaries under schedule 3, clause 17 of the Local Government Act 2002.Regional council boundaries are based largely on water catchments, such as rivers, lakes, and harbours. The seaward boundary of the regions is the 12 mile (19.3km) New Zealand territorial limit. In determining regions, consideration was also given to regional communities of interest, natural resource management, land use planning, and environmental matters. This layer get updated yearly with the latest boundary data. You can use this layer when you need any year of boundary data in your map. By setting a filter on the dataset year you can filter on specific year of the dataset.For information about the fields in this dataset go to the Data tab.The layer is further generalised by Eagle Technology for improved performance on the web, therefore it doesn't fully represent the official boundaries.If you only need the latest boundary data in your map you can use the current version of this dataset. All the current versions of Stats NZ Boundary layers can be found here.The official dataset can be found on https://datafinder.stats.govt.nz.This layer is offered by Eagle Technology (Official Esri Distributor). Eagle Technology offers services that can be used in the ArcGIS platform. The Content team at Eagle Technology updates the layers on a regular basis and regularly adds new content to the Living Atlas. By using this content and combining it with other data you can create new information products quickly and easily.If you have any questions or comments about the content, please let us now at livingatlas@eagle.co.nz

Important Note: This item is in mature support as of January 2024 and will retire in January 2025. When you need the most recent boundary layer please use this item. When you need the boundaries for a specific year, please use this item and set a filter on the required year.Topicality: 01-01-2018This layer is based on the dataset REGC2018_V1_00_clipped retrieved from Stat NZ. It contains the major released version of the annually released regional council boundaries as at 1 January 2018, clipped to the coastline. This clipped version contains 16 regional councils and has been created for map creation/cartographic purposes and does not fully represent the official full extent boundaries.The official dataset can be found on https://datafinder.stats.govt.nz.This layer contains the Regional Council name and code and the total area and the total land area in square kilometers. The layer is further generalised by Eagle Technology for improved performance on the web, therefore it doesn't fully represent the official boundaries.This layer is offered by Eagle Technology (Official Esri Distributor). Eagle Technology offers services that can be used in the ArcGIS platform. The Content team at Eagle Technology updates the layers on a regular basis and regularly adds new content to the Living Atlas. By using this content and combining it with other data you can create new information products quickly and easily.If you have any questions or comments about the content, please let us now at livingatlas@eagle.co.nz

A subset of the NationalMap dataset consisting of Territorial Authority Administrative Boundaries. These are the second largest administration units after Regional Council areas.

Multiple TAs can occur within one Regional council area, and each TA will include multiple area units, meshblocks and postcodes. For Unitary Authorities the seaward boundary is the outer limits of the territorial sea of New Zealand (12 mile limit).

A territorial authority is defined under the Local Government Act 2002 as a city council or district council.

Territorial authorities are defined at meshblock and area unit level. The Territorial Authority boundaries and classification are released annually on the 1st of January, and on occasion mid year, but there are not always changes from the previous classification.

This dataset is the definitive set of annually released territorial authority boundaries for 2020 as defined the territorial authorities and/or Local Government Commission and maintained by Stats NZ (the custodian). This version contains 68 categories.

A territorial authority is defined under the Local Government Act 2002 as a city or a district council. There are 67 territorial authorities in New Zealand. Some territorial authority boundaries are coterminous with regional council boundaries but there are several exceptions. An example is Taupo District, which is split between four regions, although most of its area falls within the Waikato Region. Territorial authorities are defined at meshblock, statistical area 1 (SA1) and statistical area 2 (SA2) levels.

Names are provided with and without tohutō/macrons. The name field without macrons is suffixed ‘ascii’.

This generalised version has been simplified for rapid drawing and is designed for thematic or web mapping purposes.

Digital boundary data became freely available on 1 July 2007.

This dataset is the definitive version of the annually released regional council boundaries for 2021 as defined by the regional councils and/or Local Government Commission, and maintained by Stats NZ (the custodian).

​

The regional council is the top tier of local government in New Zealand. There are 16 regional councils in New Zealand (defined by Part 1 of Schedule 2 of the Local Government Act 2002). Eleven are governed by an elected regional council, while five are governed by territorial authorities (the second tier of local government), who also perform the functions of a regional council and are known as unitary authorities.

Auckland Council unitary authority was formed in 2010, under the Local Government (Tamaki Makarau Reorganisation) Act 2009, replacing the Auckland Regional Council and seven territorial authorities.The seaward boundary of any coastal regional council is the twelve-mile New Zealand territorial limit. Regional councils are defined at meshblock and statistical area 2

Names are provided with and without tohutō/macrons. The name field without macrons is suffixed ‘ascii’.

This generalised version has been simplified for rapid drawing and is designed for thematic or web mapping purposes.

Digital boundary data became freely available on 1 July 2007.

Important Note: This item is in mature support as of January 2024 and will retire in January 2025. When you need the most recent boundary layer please use this item. When you need the boundaries for a specific year, please use this item and set a filter on the required year.Topicality: 01-01-2021Projection: New Zealand Transverse Mercator (NZTM)This layer is based on the dataset REGC2021_V1_00_clipped retrieved from Stats NZ. It contains the major released version of the annually released regional council boundaries as at 1 January 2021, clipped to the coastline. This clipped version contains 16 regional councils and has been created for map creation/cartographic purposes and does not fully represent the official full extent boundaries.This layer shows the data for 2021. If you would like to use the layer that gets updated yearly with the latest boundary data, you can use this item.All the boundary layers can be found here.All the boundary layers that are updated yearly can be found here.The official dataset can be found on https://datafinder.stats.govt.nz.This layer contains the Regional Council name and code and the total area and the total land area in square kilometers. The layer is further generalised by Eagle Technology for improved performance on the web, therefore it doesn't fully represent the official boundaries.This layer is offered by Eagle Technology (Official Esri Distributor). Eagle Technology offers services that can be used in the ArcGIS platform. The Content team at Eagle Technology updates the layers on a regular basis and regularly adds new content to the Living Atlas. By using this content and combining it with other data you can create new information products quickly and easily.If you have any questions or comments about the content, please let us now at livingatlas@eagle.co.nz

This dataset is the definitive version of the annually released territorial authority boundaries as at 1 January 2023 as defined by territorial authorities and/or Local Government Commission, and maintained by Stats NZ (the custodian). This version contains 67 territorial authorities, excluding ‘area outside territorial authority’.

​

Territorial authorities are the second tier of local government in New Zealand, below regional councils. They are defined under schedule 2, part 1 of the Local Government Act 2002 as city councils or district councils. Territorial authorities were established in 1989 when 205 territorial local authorities were replaced by 75 territorial authorities. Territorial boundaries must coincide with meshblock boundaries under schedule 3, clause 17 of the Local Government Act 2002.

​

There are 67 territorial authorities: 12 city councils, 53 district councils, Auckland Council, and Chatham Islands Council. Five territorial authorities (Auckland Council, Nelson City Council, and the Gisborne, Tasman, and Marlborough district councils) also perform the functions of a regional council and are therefore unitary authorities. The Chatham Islands Council performs some regional council functions.

​

Some territorial authority boundaries are coterminous with regional council boundaries but there are several exceptions. An example is Taupo District, which is split between four regions, although most of its area falls within the Waikato Region. When defining the boundaries of territorial authorities, the Local Government Commission bases considerable weight on the ‘community of interest’.

​

Territorial authorities are defined at meshblock level. Statistical area 1, statistical area 2 and statistical area 3 geographies nest within territorial authority boundaries.

​

Maintenance

Local government boundaries may be changed through the Local Government Act 2002, an Act of Parliament, or a natural process such as the middle line of a river changing its natural course.

​

The Territorial Authority classification is released annually on 1 January to coincide with the update of meshblocks, but there are not always changes from the previous classification.

​

1989:

New Zealand’s local government structural arrangements were significantly reformed by the Local Government Commission in 1989. Prior to reformation there were 205 territorial local authorities: 28 cities, 78 boroughs, 67 counties, 31 districts, and 1 town district, as well as a multitude of ad-hoc authorities such as pest control boards, drainage boards, catchment boards, and domain and reserve boards.

​

These were replaced by 74 territorial local authorities, 15 of which were cities and 58 districts. The exception was Chatham Islands County which retained its county status.

​

1990:

Invercargill was proclaimed a city.

​

1992:

Nelson-Marlborough Regional Council was abolished by a Local Government Amendment Act. Kaikoura District was transferred to the Canterbury Region. Nelson City, and Tasman and Marlborough districts became unitary authorities.

​

1995:

The Chatham Islands County was dissolved and reconstituted by a specific Act of Parliament as the "Chatham Islands Territory", with powers similar to those of territorial authorities and some functions similar to those of a regional council. This included the addition of territorial sea, a coastal buffer extending to twelve nautical miles from the coastline.

​

1995:

Tasman District boundary extended to align with the Tasman Region boundary at the 12-mile limit.

​

1998:

Not Applicable category changed to Area Outside Territorial Authority

​

2004:

Tauranga District changed to Tauranga City.2006:Banks Peninsula District merged into Christchurch City as a result of a Local Government Commission decision following a 2005 referendum.

​

2010:

Auckland Council established under the Local Government (Tamaki Makaurau Reorganisation) Act 2009. Rodney District, North Shore City, Waitakere City, Auckland City, Manukau City, Papakura District, and Franklin District territorial councils, and the Auckland Regional Council, were abolished to become a unitary authority known as the Auckland Council. The area now consists of one city council (with statutory provision for three Māori councillors), 13 wards, and 21 local boards.

​

2015:

Wanganui District Council name changed to Whanganui District Council effective 1 December 2015.

​

2020:

Otorohanga District Council name amended to Ōtorohanga District Council.

​

Opotiki District Council name amended to Ōpōtiki District Council.

​

Both changes were under schedule 2 of the Local Government Act 2002 and effective 17 January 2020.

​

2021:

A local government reorganisation transferred land between two territorial authorities, Western Bay of Plenty District and Tauranga City. The changes took effect on 19 February 2021 under schedule 3 of the Local Government Act 2002. Refer to the New Zealand Gazette notice for further details.

​

Numbering

The territorial authority classification is a flat classification. Territorial authorities are given a unique three-digit code. The classification contains 68 categories (including ‘999 – Area Outside Territorial Authority’).

​

Generalised version

This generalised version has been simplified for rapid drawing and is designed for thematic or web mapping purposes.

​

Macrons

Names are provided with and without tohutō/macrons. The column name for those without macrons is suffixed ‘ascii’.

​

Digital data

Digital boundary data became freely available on 1 July 2007.

​

To download geographic classifications in table formats such as CSV please use Ariā