Welcome to Invercargill!
Invercargill, the most southerly city in New Zealand, was built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and its wide streets and century-old buildings give the visitor a unique feeling of stepping back in time to when business was conducted in a more sedate and considered manner and the streets were (figuratively) paved with Central Otago gold. Invercargill is the main center of the Southland region and the service city for the farms of the fertile Southland plains. It is also the most westerly city in New Zealand, due to the South Island's southwest and northeast axis.
Invercargill (Māori: Waihōpai) is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. The city lies in the heart of the wide expanse of the Southland Plains on the Oreti or New River some 18 km north of Bluff, which is the southernmost town in the South Island. It sits amid rich farmland that is bordered by large areas of conservation land and marine reserves, including Fiordland National Park covering the south-west corner of the South Island and the Catlins coastal region.
Many streets in the city, especially in the centre and main shopping district, are named after rivers in Great Britain, mainly Scotland. These include the main streets Dee and Tay, as well as those named after the Tweed, Forth, Tyne, Esk, Don, Ness, Yarrow, Spey and Eye rivers.
The 2018 census showed the population was 54,204, up 2.7% on the 2006 census number and up 4.8% on the 2013 census number.