Chatham Islands

Two Pacific islands (Chatham and Pitt), forming a county of South Island, New Zealand, lying 580 km/360 mi to the east; area 960 sq km/371 sq mi; population (1995 est) 790. The chief settlement is Waitangi. There is seal fishing, and cattle and sheep are raised. The chief export is wool.

Lyttleton is the nearest town on the mainland and links with New Zealand include a monthly shipping service and occasional air services. The islands were located in 1791 by the British sailor Lieutenant W R Broughton, who named them after the ship he was commanding at the time. The climate is colder than that of mainland New Zealand, but the soil is extremely fertile, with luxuriant growth of ferns and flax. A rare bird species which survives there is the Chatham Island robin, a type of flycatcher.