City Australia and Oceania
Christchurch
Christchurch is a big city in New Zealand. It sits on a wide, flat plain near the sea, with hills on one side.
Christchurch is the main city of New Zealand's South Island. Universalis says English settlers founded it in 1850 on the wide Canterbury Plains, a few kilometers from the east coast. Its port, Lyttelton, lies beyond the Port Hills. About 407,800 people lived in the Christchurch urban area in mid-2025.
Christchurch, the South Island's main city (Universalis), was founded in 1850 by English settlers on the Canterbury Plains, a few kilometers from the east coast. Stats NZ provisional estimate for 30 June 2025: 407,800 in the urban area, New Zealand's second-largest.
Photo: P. Stalder, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Discover Christchurch
Christchurch is a city in New Zealand. It is on the South Island.
It is the biggest city on that island.
Christchurch is the main city of the South Island of New Zealand. Universalis says it lies on the wide Canterbury Plains, a few kilometers from the east coast, and that English settlers founded it in 1850.
Stats NZ, New Zealand's statistics office, estimated 407,800 people in the Christchurch urban area on 30 June 2025, more than in any other New Zealand urban area except Auckland.
Universalis: the principal city of the South Island and New Zealand's second city, at the outlet of the Canterbury Plain a few kilometers from the east coast; founded in 1850 by English colonists; a grid-plan city around its central square.
Stats NZ estimates via City Population (Christchurch urban area, 30 June): 315,800 (1996), 350,300 (2006), 345,500 (2013), 372,500 (2018), 396,100 (2023), 407,800 (2025, provisional); rank 2 after Auckland (1,547,200).
- Country
- New Zealand (Canterbury region, South Island)
- People in the Christchurch urban area (provisional estimate, 30 June 2025)
- 407,800
- Rank
- New Zealand's second-largest urban area (2025 estimates)
- Founded
- 1850, by English settlers (Universalis)
A city on a plain below the mountains
This picture was taken from a hill. The city spreads out across flat land. Far away, there are mountains with snow on top.
This photo was taken from the Port Hills in September 2006. Large flat roofs, a railway line and green fields fill the front. Behind them, buildings and trees spread across the flat land, with a cluster of taller buildings in the middle, and snowy mountains rise far beyond. The city center may look different today.
Universalis says the city's homes, mostly houses with gardens, spread far across the plain.
Commons: 'Christchurch City (New Zealand) from the Port Hills', own work by P. Stalder, September 2006, GFDL and CC BY-SA 3.0 (also older CC BY-SA versions); categories: Cityscapes of Christchurch, 2006 in Christchurch.
Universalis: residential districts of detached houses with gardens spread widely across the plain and reach the first volcanic hills of Banks Peninsula. Wikidata: Hagley Park (Q1134612), a 164.6-hectare park, 1.30 km W of the city point.
- Photo
- Christchurch from the Port Hills, September 2006
- Hagley Park
- a 164.6-hectare park in Christchurch (Wikidata)
- University of Canterbury
- founded in 1873, with Gothic buildings in a park (Universalis)
A grid town from 1850
Christchurch was started in 1850 by people who came from England. Its streets were laid out in straight lines, like a checkerboard.
Universalis says English settlers founded Christchurch in 1850. The town was laid out as a grid of straight streets, like a checkerboard, around a central square that is still its heart.
The University of Canterbury was founded in 1873. Its Gothic-style buildings stand in a park, and Universalis says the university encouraged many high-technology companies to start in the city.
Universalis: founded in 1850 by English colonists; the square at the center of a checkerboard (grid) city remains its heart; the University of Canterbury, founded in 1873, spreads its Gothic buildings through a park and has encouraged the creation of many high-technology industries.
Stats NZ estimates via City Population (urban area): 324,800 (2001), 350,300 (2006), 345,500 (2013), 396,100 (2023).
- 1850
- founded by English settlers (Universalis)
- Street plan
- a grid around a central square (Universalis)
- 1873
- the University of Canterbury was founded (Universalis)
Tunnels to the port
Christchurch's ships use a port on the other side of some hills. Cars and trains go through tunnels to get there.
Christchurch's port is at Lyttelton, about 11 kilometers to the southeast, in a sheltered bay on the north side of the volcanic hills of Banks Peninsula. Universalis says road and railway tunnels run through the Port Hills to link the port with the city.
The port's trade in Universalis's account included wool, meat, dairy products, timber and grain going out, and fuel, fertilizer and steel coming in.
Universalis: Christchurch's outlet to the sea is the port of Lyttelton, 11 km southeast, at the head of a well-sheltered bay cut into the northern flank of the Banks volcanic massif; the port is linked to Christchurch by road and rail tunnels through the Port Hills; its freight was mainly exports of wool, meat, dairy products, timber and grain and imports of petroleum products, fertilizer, iron ore and steel.
Wikidata (from the city point Q79990): Port Hills (Q941581) 7.86 km SSE; Lyttelton Harbour/Whakaraupō (Q1879040) 12.01 km SE.
- Port
- Lyttelton, about 11 km southeast, in a sheltered bay (Universalis)
- Tunnels
- a road tunnel and a railway tunnel through the Port Hills (Universalis)
- Port Hills
- a range of hills about 7.9 km from the city's Wikidata point (Wikidata)
Mild summers and cool winters
Christchurch has warm summers and chilly winters. Summer comes in January there, and winter in July!
In the World Meteorological Organization's averages for Christchurch for 1981 to 2010, the average daily high is 22.6 °C in January and 10.9 °C in July. On July nights the average low is just 0.6 °C.
Christchurch gets about 594 millimeters of rain in a year. Every month gets between 35.9 and 64.7 millimeters; July is the wettest and January the driest.
WMO World Weather Information Service, Christchurch (43.47° S, 172.52° E; New Zealand National Meteorological Service), temperature and precipitation 1981–2010: mean daily maximum 10.9 °C (July) to 22.6 °C (January); mean daily minimum 0.6 °C (July) to 11.9 °C (January). Precipitation sums to 593.8 mm; July (64.7 mm) is the wettest month and January (35.9 mm) the driest. The table gives no rain-day counts.
- Average daily highs (WMO, Christchurch, 1981–2010)
- 10.9 °C (July) to 22.6 °C (January)
- Average daily lows (same table)
- 0.6 °C (July) to 11.9 °C (January)
- Rain in a year (sum of the monthly averages)
- about 594 mm
Universities, factories and farms
Christchurch has many factories. Students go to a big university there. The city has a very large park, too.
Universalis calls Christchurch New Zealand's second industrial center. Its factories have included food plants that freeze meat for export, and makers of textiles, glass and chemicals, and the university has helped high-technology companies grow.
The city also has room to play: Hagley Park covers 164.6 hectares, about the size of 230 soccer fields.
Universalis: the country's second industrial center: food industries (many meat-freezing plants for export), textiles, glass and chemical industries; the University of Canterbury has encouraged many high-technology industries.
Wikidata: University of Canterbury (Q432475), public research university, 4.45 km W of the city point; Hagley Park (Q1134612), 164.6 ha, 1.30 km W. A soccer field of about 0.71 ha (105 m by 68 m) fits about 230 times into 164.6 ha.
- Industry
- New Zealand's second industrial center, with food processing such as meat freezing (Universalis)
- University of Canterbury
- a public research university (Wikidata), founded 1873 (Universalis)
- Hagley Park
- 164.6 hectares (Wikidata)
Christchurch on the map
Find New Zealand on the globe. It has two big islands. Christchurch is on the east side of the bottom one.
Christchurch lies at about 43.5° south and 172.6° east, near the east coast of New Zealand's South Island.
Measured from the city's center point on Wikidata, Hagley Park is about 1.3 kilometers west, the University of Canterbury about 4.5 kilometers west, the Port Hills about 7.9 kilometers south-southeast and Lyttelton Harbour about 12 kilometers southeast.
Christchurch lies at about 43.53° S and 172.64° E (Wikidata point Q79990; the Natural Earth/sheet point is 0.66 km SW of it). From the Wikidata point: Hagley Park (Q1134612) 1.30 km W; University of Canterbury (Q432475) 4.45 km W; Port Hills (Q941581) 7.86 km SSE; Lyttelton Harbour/Whakaraupō (Q1879040) 12.01 km SE. The WMO station point (43.47° S, 172.52° E) is 11.57 km NW of the Wikidata point.
- Latitude
- about 43.5° south
- Longitude
- about 172.6° east
- Coast
- a few kilometers from the east coast of the South Island (Universalis)
Amazing facts
-
In Christchurch, January is summer and July is winter!
Christchurch is in the Southern Hemisphere, so in the WMO table January is its warmest month (22.6 °C average high) and July its coldest.
WMO table for Christchurch (1981–2010): mean daily maximum 22.6 °C in January, 10.9 °C in July.
-
To reach their port, cars and trains in Christchurch drive through tunnels under hills!
Universalis says road and railway tunnels through the Port Hills link Christchurch with its port at Lyttelton.
Universalis: the port of Lyttelton is linked to Christchurch by road and rail tunnels through the Port Hills.
-
Christchurch's streets were laid out like a checkerboard.
Universalis describes Christchurch as a checkerboard city, with a grid of streets around a central square.
Universalis: the square at the center of a 'cité en damier' (checkerboard city) is still its heart.
-
Christchurch has a park so big that hundreds of soccer games could be played in it at once!
Hagley Park covers 164.6 hectares, room for about 230 soccer fields.
Wikidata: Hagley Park, 164.6 ha; a 105 m by 68 m field is about 0.71 ha, so about 230 would fit.
Words to know
- plain
- a large area of flat land
- grid
- a pattern of straight streets that cross each other at right angles
- settler
- a person who moves to a new place to live and build a home
- urban area
- a city together with the built-up places that join onto it
- Southern Hemisphere
- the half of the Earth south of the equator, where January is summer
- tunnel
- a passage dug through a hill or under the ground for roads or railways
Discovery challenge
-
Christchurch is a city in which country?
Christchurch is the main city of the South Island of which country?
Christchurch, the principal city of the South Island, is in which country?
- New Zealand
- Australia
- Canada
Show the answer
New Zealand
New Zealand!
New Zealand.
New Zealand.
-
When was Christchurch started?
In which year did English settlers found Christchurch?
According to Universalis, in which year was Christchurch founded?
- 1850
- 1950
- 1750
Show the answer
1850
1850!
1850.
1850.
-
What is the name of Christchurch's port town?
Which port, about 11 kilometers away, serves Christchurch?
Universalis names which port, linked by tunnels through the Port Hills, as Christchurch's outlet to the sea?
- Lyttelton
- Dover
- Rotterdam
Show the answer
Lyttelton
Lyttelton!
Lyttelton.
Lyttelton.
-
Which month is warmest in Christchurch?
In the WMO table, which month has Christchurch's highest average daily high?
WMO table for Christchurch (1981–2010): which month has the highest mean daily maximum, 22.6 °C?
- January
- July
- April
Show the answer
January
January!
January.
January (22.6 °C).
-
What do Christchurch's cars and trains go through to reach the port?
What links Christchurch with its port through the Port Hills?
According to Universalis, how are Christchurch and Lyttelton linked through the Port Hills?
- Tunnels
- A canal
- A cable car
Show the answer
Tunnels
Tunnels!
Road and railway tunnels.
Road and rail tunnels.
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For parents & teachers
What children will learn
- Locate Christchurch on the Canterbury Plains of New Zealand's South Island.
- Explain why a city a few kilometers inland might use a port on the other side of hills.
- Describe a grid street plan and why planners like it.
- Read a Southern Hemisphere climate table where January is summer.
Recommended ages: 3 to 17 · About 15 minutes
Talk about it
- Why do you think the settlers laid out the streets in a grid?
- Why might people dig tunnels instead of building roads over hills?
- How would your year feel if summer came in January?
Try at home or in class
- Grid town: draw a town of straight streets around a central square, then plan where a park would go.
- Season swap: make two calendars, one for your town and one for Christchurch, and color the summer months.
- Park math: Hagley Park is 164.6 hectares. A hectare is 100 m by 100 m. Pace out 100 m outside and imagine 164 squares that size.
Key vocabulary: plain, grid, settler, urban area, Southern Hemisphere, tunnel
Where these facts come from
- Wikidata , Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)
- Natural Earth vector data , Natural Earth (NACIS) (Public domain)
- Christchurch , Encyclopædia Universalis
- New Zealand: Major Urban Areas and Urban Areas , City Population (Thomas Brinkhoff), from Stats NZ
- Christchurch: climatological information , World Meteorological Organization, World Weather Information Service
- File:Christchurch City.jpg (P. Stalder, September 2006) , Wikimedia Commons
- Wikimedia Commons , Wikimedia Foundation (Per file (public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA); see each media record)
Checked, not yet human-reviewed. Last updated November 1, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.