Gisborne is a city in northeastern New Zealand and the largest settlement in the Gisborne District (or Gisborne Region). It has a population of Gisborne District Council has its headquarters in the central city.

Etymology The Gisborne area was known in Māori as Tūranganui-a-Kiwa (the 'great standing place of Kiwa'), after Kiwa, who arrived on the waka Tākitimu, which landed at Gisborne. The original English language name for the settlement was Tūranga. It was renamed Gisborne in 1870, in honour of New Zealand Colonial Secretary William Gisborne, although he had no real connection with the area,“What is Gisborne called in te reo Maori?”. 1964. Retrieved 9 January 2024. to avoid confusion with Tauranga.

Early history

First arrivals The Gisborne region has been settled for over 700 years. For centuries, the region has been inhabited by the tribes of Te Whānau-a-Kai, Ngaariki Kaiputahi, Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki, Rongowhakaata, Ngāi Tāmanuhiri and Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti. They descend from the voyagers of the Te Ikaroa-a-Rauru, Horouta and Tākitimu waka.

East Coast oral traditions offer differing versions of Gisborne's establishment by Māori. One legend recounts that in the 14th century the great navigator Kiwa landed at the Tūranganui River first on the waka Tākitimu after voyaging to the region from Hawaiki and that Pāoa, captain of the waka Horouta, followed later. An alternative legend recounts that Kiwa waited so long for the Horouta canoe to arrive that he called its final landing place Tūranganui-a-Kiwa (the long waiting place of Kiwa).

A more popular version of events is that Horouta preceded Tākitimu. In 1931, Sir Āpirana Ngata stated that Horouta was the main canoe that brought the people to the East Coast and that Ngāti Porou always regarded Takitimu as "an unimportant canoe". Māori historian Rongowhakaata Halbert affirmed this account, stating that Paoa's crew on the Horouta were the first inhabitants of the East Coast after migrating from Ahuahu or Great Mercury Island. Paoa gave his name to various places across the region, most notably the Waipaoa River ().

During the 14th century, Māori tribes built fishing villages close to the sea and built pā on nearby hilltops.

Captain Cook landing

Gisborne's Kaiti Beach is the place where British navigator Captain James Cook made his first landing in New Zealand upon the Endeavour. Cook had earlier set off from Plymouth, England, in August 1768 on a mission bound for Tahiti. Once he had concluded his duties in Tahiti, Cook continued south to look for a large landmass or continent, before heading west. Young Nick's Head was thought to be the first piece of New Zealand land sighted by Cook's party, and so named because it was first observed by cabin boy Nicholas Young on 6 October 1769.

On 9 October, Cook came ashore on the eastern bank of the Tūranganui River, accompanied by a party of men. Their arrival was marred by misunderstanding and resulted in the death and wounding of nine Māori over four days. It was also on the banks of the Tūranganui River that first the township of Turanga, then the city of Gisborne, grew as European traders and whalers began to settle in the river and port area.

The landing site was commemorated by a monument in 1906, on the 137th anniversary of Cook's arrival. In 1964, the Gisborne committee of the New Zealand Historic Places Trust registered the land around the monument as a historic reserve, and in 1990 it was designated a National Historic Reserve and put under the care of the Department of Conservation.

In 2019, a memorial was erected by Ngāti Oneone on Titirangi, a local hill, to honour Te Maro, who was one of the first casualties of the arrival of the ship Endeavour.

European settlement and town growth Starting in the early 1830s, traders such as Captain John Harris and Captain George E. Read set up the first trading stations along the Tūranganui river and are attributed to the founding of the town. Over the next 30 years, many more European traders and missionaries migrated to the region. In 1868, the government bought 300 hectares of land for a town site. The town was laid out in 1870 and the name changed from Turanga to Gisborne, after the then colonial secretary, and to avoid confusion with Tauranga. In 1872, Gisborne's first public school was opened and its first newspaper, the Poverty Bay Standard was established. A town council was formed in 1877.

Geography

Gisborne is on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island, in the southern part of the Gisborne District and on the north side of Poverty Bay. The Poverty Bay flats encompass Gisborne city as well as surrounding areas Mākaraka, Matawhero and Ormond, where vineyards and farms predominate. Gisborne is flat towards the shoreline, but hilly and forested inland.

Gisborne boasts a large stretch of coastline encompassing the Waikanae and Midway, Kaiti, Sponge Bay, Wainui and Makorori white sand beaches, which are popular for swimming and surfing. Sometimes referred to as the 'City of Rivers', Gisborne sits at the convergence of the Waimata, Taruheru and Tūranganui rivers. The Tūranganui, only 1.2 kilometres long, is the shortest river in New Zealand.

Kaiti Hill (Titirangi), which sits directly above Cook's landing site, provides expansive views over the city and wider Poverty Bay. Many archaeological sites have been identified on Titirangi, including burial grounds, terraces, and middens. Titirangi Pā sits near the summit.

In the wider area surrounding Gisborne are two arboreta, Eastwoodhill, the National Arboretum of New Zealand at Ngatapa which spans over 130 hectares, and the smaller 50 hectare Hackfalls Arboretum at Tiniroto.

Until Samoa and Tokelau's dateline shift in December 2011, Gisborne claimed to be the first city on Earth to see the sun rise each day. However, this is now only accurate in New Zealand's summer months. Sunrise in Gisborne ranges from 5:36 am in early December to 7:26 am in late June.

Climate The region is sheltered by high country to the west. Gisborne enjoys a temperate oceanic climate (Cfb – Köppen climate classification) with warm summers and cool winters, temperatures rarely drop below 0 °C (32 °F) and occasionally rise above 30 °C (86 °F) with a yearly average of 2,200 sunshine hours. The annual rainfall varies from about near the coast to over in higher inland country. According to the NIWA dataset for 1981–2010 normals, Gisborne narrowly edged several other New Zealand cities to have the warmest summer maxima of official stations.

Winters are slightly cooler than more northerly areas, rendering that over the course of the calendar year, Gisborne is not the warmest station in the country. Even summer mean temperatures are lower than in northerly areas, despite the highs, due to the cooler nights. Despite this, yearly mean temperatures are still some way above average for New Zealand as a whole.

Demographics Stats NZ describes Gisborne as a large urban area, which covers . It had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km2.

Gisborne had a population of 36,912 in the 2023 New Zealand census, an increase of 2,268 people (6.5%) since the 2018 census, and an increase of 5,613 people (17.9%) since the 2013 census. There were 17,970 males, 18,846 females, and 96 people of other genders in 12,570 dwellings. 2.6% of people identified as LGBTIQ+. The median age was 36.4 years (compared with 38.1 years nationally). There were 8,109 people (22.0%) aged under 15 years, 7,077 (19.2%) aged 15 to 29, 15,465 (41.9%) aged 30 to 64, and 6,264 (17.0%) aged 65 or older.

People could identify as more than one ethnicity. The results were 57.5% European (Pākehā); 52.9% Māori; 6.2% Pasifika; 4.8% Asian; 0.9% Middle Eastern, Latin American and African New Zealanders (MELAA); and 1.9% other, which includes people giving their ethnicity as "New Zealander". English was spoken by 96.1%, Māori by 14.6%, Samoan by 0.4%, and other languages by 7.0%. No language could be spoken by 2.2% (e.g. too young to talk). New Zealand Sign Language was known by 0.4%. The percentage of people born overseas was 13.2, compared with 28.8% nationally.

Religious affiliations were 31.2% Christian, 0.7% Hindu, 0.3% Islam, 4.3% Māori religious beliefs, 0.4% Buddhist, 0.5% New Age, 0.1% Jewish, and 1.3% other religions. People who answered that they had no religion were 53.6%, and 8.0% of people did not answer the census question.

Of those at least 15 years old, 5,061 (17.6%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, 15,894 (55.2%) had a post-high school certificate or diploma, and 7,851 (27.3%) people exclusively held high school qualifications. The median income was $36,200, compared with $41,500 nationally. 1,935 people (6.7%) earned over $100,000 compared to 12.1% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was 13,689 (47.5%) full-time, 3,840 (13.3%) part-time, and 1,182 (4.1%) unemployed.

+Individual SA3 statistical areasName Area(km2) Population Density(per km2) Dwellings Median age Medianincome Lytton 0.86 1,431 459 615 68.3 years $28,800 Mangapapa 3.12 4,845 1,553 1,626 34.3 years $38,600 Riverdale 1.24 1,350 1,089 492 42.6 years $41,400 Gisborne Centre 10.89 2,940 371 1,146 37.2 years $36,800 Whataupoko 3.79 4,020 1,061 1,539 42.7 years $44,300 Te Hāpara 3.01 6,681 2,220 2,370 36.5 years $36,400 Elgin 1.04 2,745 2,639 855 32.6 years $32,600 Wainui-Okitu 6.20 2,004 323 729 42.2 years $52,600 Kaiti 6.20 8,217 1,325 2,442 32.8 years $32,400 Tamarau 1.11 2,676 2,411 759 30.1 years $32,400 New Zealand 38.1 years $41,500

Economy

The harbour was host to many ships in the past, and had developed as a river port to provide a more secure location for shipping compared with the open roadstead of Poverty Bay, which can be exposed to southerly swells. A meat works was sited beside the harbour and meat and wool were shipped from here. Now the harbour is the home of many smaller fishing boats as well as ships loading logs for export. In February 2018, the first grants from the Provincial Growth Fund included $2.3 million for the Gisborne port.

The city maintains a rural charm and is a popular holiday spot. Local industries include agriculture, horticulture, farming and forestry. Wine production is also valuable to the local economy.

Transport

Air Gisborne Airport serves as the domestic airport for the Gisborne District. Regular flights between Auckland and Wellington are serviced by Air New Zealand under the Link brand, while the smaller Air Napier provides services to Napier and Wairoa. For 25 years Sunair operated from Gisborne to Hamilton, Rotorua, Napier, Whakatāne, Tauranga, Palmerston North, Paraparaumu and Wellington but those services were suspended in 2022. In 2023 Sunair announced it would give Gisborne another chance with services from Hamilton and Tauranga.

Highways State Highway 2 connects Gisborne to Tauranga via Ōpōtiki and Whakatāne to the northwest, and to Napier and the rest of Hawke's Bay via Wairoa to the south. SH 2 travels towards Gisborne from the northwest from Te Karaka, a settlement 31 km northwest of Gisborne. SH 2 passes through Makaraka, a suburb on the outer fringes of Gisborne. It then crosses the Waipaoa River and makes its way south through Manutuke and Wharerata before it enters the Hawke's Bay Region towards Nūhaka, Wairoa, and eventually on to Napier.

State Highway 35 (part of the Pacific Coast Highway network) begins at a junction west of Gisborne with SH 2 just before SH 2 crosses the Waipaoa River on its way south to Manutuke. SH 35 borders Gisborne Airport to the south and enters Gisborne city on the southwestern fringes. It makes its way through the city out to the east, and continues up the coast, connecting Gisborne to the East Cape.

Public transport