This MedLibrary.org supplementary page on Waikato Plains is provided directly from the open source Wikipedia as a service to our readers. Please see the note below on authorship of this content, as well as the Wikipedia usage guidelines. To search for other content from our encyclopedia supplement, please use the form below:
Related Sponsors
The Waikato Plains are a large area of low-lying land in the northwest of the North Island of New Zealand. The plains are the floodplains of the country's longest river, the Waikato.
The plains can be divided roughly into the Middle Waikato Plain, extending in all directions around the city of Hamilton, and the Lower Waikato Plain, to the east of the river's mouth. The two are broken by the rough, low-lying hills of the Hakarimata Range between Ngaruawahia and Huntly.
The region is heavily populated by New Zealand standards, with over 250,000 people in approximately 8000 km² area. Just under half of these live in Hamilton.
The plains are an area of very fertile land, which is intensively farmed. Dairy cattle, sheep, grain and maize are all farmed here, but it is dairy that is the staple of the local economy. The lower plain is also known for vineyards, and the middle plain has some of the southern hemisphere's top thoroughbred stables, notably around the towns of Cambridge and Matamata.
A considerable amount of the land is peaty, and some sections are undrained swamp. Several shallow riverine lakes lie at the southern end of the lower plain, notably Lake Waikare.
 |
This Waikato-related geography article is a stub. You can help by expanding it. |
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 12 April 2008, at 12:10.
Wikipedia Authorship and Review
Wikipedia content provided here is not reviewed directly by MedLibrary.org. Wikipedia content is authored by an open community of volunteers and is not produced by or in any way affiliated with MedLibrary.org.
Wikipedia Usage Guidelines
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article on "Waikato Plains".
The URL for this specific entry is:
All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details). Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.