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Hokitika
borough, New Zealand
Hokitika, town on the west coast of South Island, New Zealand. It lies at the mouth of the Hokitika River, which rises in the Southern Alps and, fed by the Mungo, Whitcombe, and Kokatahi rivers, flows northward 40 miles (64 km) to Westland Bight of the Tasman Sea. A store was erected at the river mouth in 1864. Hokitika grew with the discovery of gold and reached a peak population of 50,000 in 1866 with the “Australian invasion” of miners. By 1868, when it was made a borough, the population was already in decline. Hokitika was once a port, but ...(100 of 211 words)