Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / Ōtākaro flows through the centre of the city, with an urban park located along its banks. The city's territorial authority population is 394,700 people, and includes a number of smaller urban areas as well as rural areas. The population of the urban area is 383,200 people. Christchurch is the second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand, after Auckland. Christchurch is the major urban area of an emerging sub-region known informally as Greater Christchurch. Notable smaller urban areas within this sub-region include Rangiora and Kaiapoi in Waimakariri District, north of the Waimakariri River, and Rolleston and Lincoln in Selwyn District to the south.
Archaeological evidence has indicated that people, probably the Māori who would later form the Kāi Tahu iwi, first settled in Christchurch in about 1250. Basing themselves around the Ōtakaro river, a civilisation flourished for 600 years before European arrival.