description
Taranaki is situated on the west
coast of the North Island, surrounding the volcanic
peak. The large bays north-west and south-west of Cape
Egmont are prosaically named the North Taranaki Bight
and the South Taranaki Bight.
Satellite picture of Mount Taranaki or Mount Egmont from
the NASA Earth Observatory, showing the nearly-circular
Egmont National Park surrounding it. New Plymouth is the
grey area on the northern coast.Mount Taranaki or Mount
Egmont—Te Maunga O Taranaki—is the dominant feature of
the province, being the second-tallest mountain in the
North Island. Māori legend says that Taranaki previously
lived with the Tongariro, Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu
mountains in the central North Island but fled to its
current location after a battle with Tongariro.
A near-perfect cone, Taranaki last erupted in the
mid-18th century. The mountain and its immediate
surrounds form Egmont National Park.
Dawson Falls, TaranakiAlthough Māori had called the
mountain Taranaki for many centuries Captain James Cook
re-named it Egmont after the Earl of Egmont, recently
retired First Lord of the Admiralty, who had encouraged
his expedition. The official name is "Mount Taranaki or
Mount Egmont".
The region has an area of 7258 km² and a population
(2001) of 102,858. Just under half live in the city of
New Plymouth, located on the northern coast. Other
centres include Waitara, Inglewood, Stratford, Opunake,
Eltham, Hawera, and Patea the southern most town.
The region has had a strong Māori presence for
centuries. The local iwi (tribes) include Ngati Mutunga,
Ngati Ruanui, Taranaki, Te Ati Awa, Nga Rauru and Ngati
Tama.
Colourful volcanic slopes of TaranakiThe province is
exceptionally fertile, thanks to generous rainfall and
the rich volcanic soil. Dairy farming predominates, with
the milk factory just outside Hawera being the second
largest in the Southern Hemisphere. There are also oil
and gas deposits in the region, both on- and off-shore.
The Maui gas field off the south-west coast provides
most of New Zealand's gas supply as well as supporting
two methanol plants (one formerly a synthetic-petrol
plant called the Gas-To-Gasolene plant) near Waitara.
More fuel and fertilizer is produced from a well-complex
at Kapuni. However, the Maui field is being depleted
sooner than expected, leading to increased efforts to
find further reserves.
The way the land mass projects into the Tasman Sea with
northerly, westerly and southerly exposures results in
many excellent surfing and windsurfing locations, some
of them considered world-class. |
