Eketāhuna
Town in Manawatū-Whanganui, New Zealand / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Eketāhuna is a small rural settlement, in the south of the Tararua District and the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand's North Island.
Eketāhuna | |
---|---|
Coordinates: 40.647°S 175.704°E / -40.647; 175.704 | |
Country | New Zealand |
Region | Manawatū-Whanganui |
Territorial authority | Tararua District |
Ward |
|
Community | Eketāhuna Community |
Electorates | |
Government | |
• Territorial Authority | Tararua District Council |
• Regional council | Horizons Regional Council |
• Tararua Mayor | Tracey Collis |
• Wairarapa MP | Mike Butterick |
• Ikaroa-Rāwhiti MP | Cushla Tangaere-Manuel |
Area | |
• Total | 4.18 km2 (1.61 sq mi) |
Population (June 2023)[2] | |
• Total | 540 |
• Density | 130/km2 (330/sq mi) |
Time zone | UTC+12 (NZST) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+13 (NZDT) |
Postcode | 4900 |
Area code(s) | 06 |
The town is located at eastern foot of the Tararua Ranges, 35 kilometres north of Masterton and a similar distance south of Palmerston North. It is situated on State Highway 2, on the eastern bank of the Mākākahi River.[3]
Eketāhuna has become synonymous with stereotypes of remote rural New Zealand towns, with New Zealanders colloquially referring to the town in the same way other English speakers refer to Timbuktu.[4]
The New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage gives a translation of "land on the sandbank" for Eketāhuna.[5] The name sounds like the Afrikaans sentence "I have a chicken" (Afrikaans: Ek het 'n hoender), making it amusing to immigrant Afrikaans-speaking South Africans in New Zealand.[6]