Stats NZ REGC2016_HD_Clipped is the high definition set of regional councilboundaries for 2016, clipped to the coastline for cartographic purposes, as defined by the Local Government Commission and/or regional councils themselves but maintained by Statistics New Zealand (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 local authorities straddle regional council boundaries, the affected area is statistically defined by complete Regional council s. 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 and regional council level.Digital boundary data became freely available on 1 July 2007. For further metadata, please refer to the metadata documents on the Stats NZ website: http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/Maps_and_geography/Geographic-areas/digital-boundary-files.aspx#metadata

TASUB2016_HD_Clipped is the high definition set of territorial authority subdivision boundaries for 2016, clipped to the coastline for cartographic purposes, as defined by the territorial authorities and Local Government Commission but maintained by Statistics New Zealand (the custodian).Subdivisions are set up under the Local Government Act 2002 and Local Electoral Act 2001. A subdivision is a division of a community or local board area for electoral purposes.Subdivisions are defined at meshblock level, and do not coincide with area units. A number of territorial authorities do not have subdivisions, and if they do, the subdivisions do not necessarily cover the whole territorial authority area. Subdivisions nest within community or local boards. Where a community or local board is divided into subdivisions all of the community or local board area must be included in a subdivision.Subdivisions are numbered based on their corresponding territorial authority. Each subdivision has a unique five-digit number. The first three digits refer to the territorial authority that the subdivision lies within. The following two digits are sequential, and represent the number of subdivisions within the territorial authority. For example, Southland District (073) has two subdivisions numbered 07301 and 07302. The rest of the district is not represented by a subdivision and is coded 07399 (Area Outside Subdivision).There was a large increase in the number of subdivisions between 2010 and 2011. This is due to the creation of the Auckland Council to replace Auckland Regional Council and seven territorial authorities in 2010. Twenty-one local boards were established, a number of which contain subdivisions. Digital boundary data became freely available on 1 July 2007.For further metadata, please refer to the metadata documents on the Stats NZ website: http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/Maps_and_geography/Geographic-areas/digital-boundary-files.aspx#metadata

UA2016_HD_Clipped is the high definition set of urban are boundaries for 2016, clipped to the coastline for cartographic purposes, as defined by Statistics New Zealand.Urban areas are statistically defined areas with no administrative or legal basis. Urban area populations are defined internationally as towns with populations of 1,000 or more. The urban area classification is designed to identify concentrated urban or semi-urban settlements without the distortions of administrative boundaries. Urban areas are made up of complete meshblocks and area units. Prior to 1992 only the main and secondary urban areas had unique two-digit codes. From 1992 onwards, the structure of the urban area classification was changed to three digits, with unique codes for Minor Urban Areas as well as Main and Secondary Urban AreasThere is a three-part hierarchical subdivision of urban areas into:main urban areassecondary urban areasminor urban areas.Main urban areas are very large urban areas centred on a city or major urban centre. Main urban areas have a minimum population of 30, 000 and are identified by codes between 001 and 100 – such as 020, Wellington. In the 2016 dataset, there are 26 main urban areas.Secondary urban areas were established at the 1981 Census of Population and Dwellings. They have a population between 10,000 and 29,999 and are centred on the large regional centres. Codes for secondary urban areas range between 101 and 200. In the 2016 dataset, there are 17 secondary urban areas. The remainder of the statistically defined urbanised population of New Zealand are in minor urban areas. Minor urban areas are urbanised settlements (outside main and secondary urban areas), centred around smaller towns with a population between 1,000 and 9,999. Codes for minor urban areas range between 201 and 500.Rural centres are also defined in the urban area field. Rural centres were established during the 1989 Review of Geostatistical Boundaries. Rural centres have no administrative or legal status, but are statistical units defined by complete area units. They have a population between 300 and 999. These are not termed urban under the standard international definition but identifying these settlements enables users to distinguish between rural dwellers living in true rural areas and those living in rural settlements or townships. The code for rural centres is 501.Digital boundary data became freely available on 1 July 2007.For further metadata, please refer to the metadata documents on the Stats NZ website: http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/Maps_and_geography/Geographic-areas/digital-boundary-files.aspx#metadata

Stats NZ MBHG2016_HD_Clipped is the definitive high definition set of the annually released meshblock pattern concorded to higher geographies, clipped to the coastline for cartographic purposes, as at 1 January 2016.

Stats NZ REGC2016_HD_Full is the definitive high definition set of regional council boundaries for 2016 as defined by the Local Government Commission and/or regional councils themselves but maintained by Statistics New Zealand (the custodian). T he 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 local authorities straddle regional council boundaries, the affected area is statistically defined by complete Regional council s. 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 and regional council level.Digital boundary data became freely available on 1 July 2007.For further metadata, please refer to the metadata documents on the Stats NZ website: http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/Maps_and_geography/Geographic-areas/digital-boundary-files.aspx#metadata

REGC2016_HD_Clipped is the high definition set of regional councilboundaries for 2016, clipped to the coastline for cartographic purposes, as defined by the Local Government Commission and/or regional councils themselves but maintained by Statistics New Zealand (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 local authorities straddle regional council boundaries, the affected area is statistically defined by complete Regional council s. 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 and regional council level.Digital boundary data became freely available on 1 July 2007.For further metadata, please refer to the metadata documents on the Stats NZ website: http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/Maps_and_geography/Geographic-areas/digital-boundary-files.aspx#metadata

Stats NZ TASUB2016_HD_Clipped is the high definition set of territorial authority subdivision boundaries for 2016, clipped to the coastline for cartographic purposes, as defined by the territorial authorities and Local Government Commission but maintained by Statistics New Zealand (the custodian).Subdivisions are set up under the Local Government Act 2002 and Local Electoral Act 2001. A subdivision is a division of a community or local board area for electoral purposes.Subdivisions are defined at meshblock level, and do not coincide with area units. A number of territorial authorities do not have subdivisions, and if they do, the subdivisions do not necessarily cover the whole territorial authority area. Subdivisions nest within community or local boards. Where a community or local board is divided into subdivisions all of the community or local board area must be included in a subdivision.Subdivisions are numbered based on their corresponding territorial authority. Each subdivision has a unique five-digit number. The first three digits refer to the territorial authority that the subdivision lies within. The following two digits are sequential, and represent the number of subdivisions within the territorial authority. For example, Southland District (073) has two subdivisions numbered 07301 and 07302. The rest of the district is not represented by a subdivision and is coded 07399 (Area Outside Subdivision).There was a large increase in the number of subdivisions between 2010 and 2011. This is due to the creation of the Auckland Council to replace Auckland Regional Council and seven territorial authorities in 2010. Twenty-one local boards were established, a number of which contain subdivisions. Digital boundary data became freely available on 1 July 2007.For further metadata, please refer to the metadata documents on the Stats NZ website: http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/Maps_and_geography/Geographic-areas/digital-boundary-files.aspx#metadata

REGC2016_HD_Full is the definitive high definition set of regional council boundaries for 2016 as defined by the Local Government Commission and/or regional councils themselves but maintained by Statistics New Zealand (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 local authorities straddle regional council boundaries, the affected area is statistically defined by complete Regional council s. 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 and regional council level.Digital boundary data became freely available on 1 July 2007.For further metadata, please refer to the metadata documents on the Stats NZ website: http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/Maps_and_geography/Geographic-areas/digital-boundary-files.aspx#metadata

CON2016_HD_Clipped is the high definition set of regional council constituency boundaries for 2016, clipped to the coastline for cartographic purposes, as defined by the regional councils and Local Government Commission but maintained by Statistics New Zealand (the custodian).Constituencies are established under the Local Electoral Act 2001 and result from the division of a region for electoral purposes.Constituencies are divisions of regional council areas. They are defined at meshblock level, and do not coincide with area units. They are created, based on population, to be the voting areas within councils. Constituencies are required to reflect communities of interest. Their boundaries, so far as is practicable, coincide with those of territorial authorities or wards. The boundaries of constituencies may be reviewed before each three-yearly local government election. Regional councils must review their representation arrangements at least once every six years. The provisions for such reviews are in the Local Government Act 2002. Constituencies are numbered based on their corresponding regional council. Each constituency has a unique four-digit code. The first two digits represent the regional council that the constituency lies within. The last two digits are sequential and represent the number of constituencies within a regional council. For example, the West Coast Regional Council (12) contains three constituencies, which are coded 1201, 1202, and 1203.Digital boundary data became freely available on 1 July 2007.For further metadata, please refer to the metadata documents on the Stats NZ website: http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/Maps_and_geography/Geographic-areas/digital-boundary-files.aspx#metadata

AU2016_HD_Clipped is the high definition set of area unit boundaries for 2016, clipped to the coastline for cartographic purposes,as defined by Statistics New Zealand.Area units are aggregations of adjacent meshblocks with coterminous boundaries to form a single unbroken surface area (land and/or water). Exceptions to this rule are some area units comprising collections of geographically related inlets and marinas. Area units are non-administrative areas intermediate in size between meshblocks and territorial authorities. In an urban location, an area unit is often a collection of city blocks, while in rural situations area units may be equated to localities or communities. Area units must either define or aggregate to define urban areas, rural centres, statistical areas, territorial authorities, and regional councils. Each area unit must be a single geographic entity with a unique name. The area unit pattern is revised once every five years in the year immediately before a census. There may also be changes in other years, in conjunction with local body boundary changes. Statistics New Zealand maintains a concordance file to ensure boundaries relating to earlier area unit patterns can also be generated.Digital boundary data became freely available on 1 July 2007.For full metadata, please refer to the metadata documents on the Stats NZ website: http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/Maps_and_geography/Geographic-areas/digital-boundary-files.aspx#metadata