Location in New Zealand.

The town in 1977.

Overlooking Oban and Halfmoon Bay.

Oban is the principal settlement on Stewart Island/Rakiura, the southernmost inhabited island of the New Zealand archipelago. Oban is located on Half Moon Bay (sometimes used as an alternative name for the town), on Paterson Inlet. It has aircraft connections with Invercargill and a ferry service to Bluff.

The settlement was named for Oban in Scotland,^[1] likely due to the strong influence Scottish settlers had in the south of early colonial New Zealand.

According to the March 2001 New Zealand Census of Population and Dwellings the island's permanent resident population was 387 at that time, a decrease of 30 since 1996. Approximately 80% of these live in Oban.^{[citation needed]} Newer estimates put the population at about 400, and the island has received a moderate boost of commerce and some millions in government funding since tourism increased markedly after the opening of the Rakiura National Park.^[2]

[edit] References

Coordinates: 46°54′S 168°08′E / 46.9°S 168.133°E / -46.9; 168.133

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