Local Authority Boundaries

This dataset is the definitive set of annually released territorial authority boundaries for 2020 as defined the territorial authorities and/or Local Government Commission and maintained by Stats NZ (the custodian). This version contains 68 categories.

A territorial authority is defined under the Local Government Act 2002 as a city or a district council. There are 67 territorial authorities in New Zealand. Some territorial authority boundaries are coterminous with regional council boundaries but there are several exceptions. An example is Taupo District, which is split between four regions, although most of its area falls within the Waikato Region. Territorial authorities are defined at meshblock, statistical area 1 (SA1) and statistical area 2 (SA2) levels.