Canterbury

Region on the eastern plains of South Island, New Zealand, bordered to the west by the Southern Alps and to the east by the Pacific Ocean; population (1996) 478,900. The capital is Christchurch. Wool is produced, sheep and cattle are raised, and wheat, fruits, and vines are grown. The chief ports are Lyttelton in the north, which exports coal, timber, dairy products, fish, wheat, and lentils, and Timaru in the south.

In the centre and south are the Canterbury Plains, sloping from the mountains to the coast, covering one quarter of Canterbury's area. The plains are formed from fertile alluvial soils, the product of numerous wide, braided rivers that drain the Southern Alps, and is the country's main wheat-producing area. In the north of the region are the Cheviot Hills, with the foothills of the Southern Alps to the west.