Wairarapa
Region of New Zealand
Summary
The Wairarapa is an unofficial region of New Zealand located in the south-eastern corner of the North Island, east of the cities of Wellington, Lower Hutt, Upper Hutt, and Palmerston North. The Wairarapa's northern boundary approximately matches the southern border of the former Hawke's Bay Province. Its eastern boundary is the coast from a location near Cape Turnagain, southward to Cape Palliser. The southern boundary is Palliser Bay, which sweeps from Cape Palliser to Turakirae Head. To the west, the region is bordered by the peaks of the Remutaka and Tararua Ranges.
Originally created by Cameron Dewe
6/14/2003, 1:18:29 AM
Modified
5/28/2026, 11:26:28 PM
Recent revisions
Moving [[:Category:Manawatū–Whanganui]] to [[:Category:Manawatū-Whanganui]] per [[Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Speedy]]
Moving [[:Category:Manawatū-Whanganui]] to [[:Category:Manawatū–Whanganui]] per [[Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Speedy]]
Reverted 2 edits by [[Special:Contributions/Luke67676767|Luke67676767]] ([[User talk:Luke67676767|talk]]) to last revision by Kbwc56
added new famous people!
Boundaries: Tidied up Te Ara's Ngati Kahungunu definition
Reference tidy-up, Te Ara
Reference tidy-up
Revised northern boundary footnote based on more close reading of the Waitangi Tribunal report. Notably, although they include the Ruahines in the western boundary, their map excludes all but a tiny sliver north of the Manawatu Gorge.
Added new section: Parks and reserves - merging with existing content about [[Pūkaha National Wildlife Centre]] and [[Wairarapa Dark Sky Reserve]]
Closely studying the map in Te Ara, I can see that the coastal boundary point is shown as the Waimata River mouth. The existing map in this article matches the map in Te Ara. I rewrote the footnote to include this information.
/* Rivers */ typo
/* Geography */ Adjusted page references in citation for Lee & Begg, 2002. This reference very precisely defines the main geographic areas, especially the Pahiatua Basin which extends northward beyond Norsewood
/* Rivers */ Begg, p6 confirms that the Pahiatua Basin includes the Mangahao
Waitangi Tribunal (2010) on page one is quite clear that the Wairarapa extends somewhat north of the Manawatu Gorge. This may be controversial. However, this is a reliable source. If it is accepted that Woodville is in the Wairarapa, then the western boundary includes at least a small part of the Ruahines
sub-edit
/* Geography */ The Wairarapa's northern boundary is not clearly defined, therefore the Manawatu Gorge is not necessarily its northern limit
A little more info about the northern boundary. I have aligned the introduction with the description in the Waitangi Tribunal report, Wairarapa ki Tararua. A key takeaway from the Waitangi Tribunal investigation: the northern boundary is not clearly defined.
/* Rivers */ subbing
/* Rivers */ Subbing
