City Info
New Zealand | Christchurch

Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand with an estimated population of over 350,000. It is located on the edge of the Canterbury plains and is a major stepping off point for touring the South Island. Christchurch was established in 1850 by English settlers. Its English heritage shows in the older buildings, especially the Anglican Cathedral in the Square in the very centre of the city. The River Avon flows through the central city and disrupts the regular rectangular layout of the city streets.

The large number of public parks and well-developed residential gardens with many trees has given Christchurch the name of The Garden City. Hagley Park and the 30-hectare (75 acre) Christchurch Botanic Gardens, founded in 1863, are in the central city, with Hagley Park being a site for sports such as golf, cricket, netball, and rugby, and for open air concerts by local bands and orchestras. The city is known for its many live acts, has a professional symphony orchestra, and is the base of professional opera company, Southern Opera. There are usually buskers around the town square, and Christchurch also hosts the World Buskers Festival in January each year.

International tourism, especially foreign-student education, is a growing sector of the Christchurch economy, as is electronics and software development. Because of this there is a high concentration of cyber-cafes here, particularly in the tourist-friendly areas around the Square. English-as-a-second-language schools are also in abundance. The closeness of the ski-fields and other attractions of the Southern Alps, and hotels, a casino, and an airport that meet international standards make Christchurch a stopover destination for many tourists.

The agricultural industry has always been the economic core of Christchurch. The city has long had industry based on the surrounding farming country. In recent years, regional agriculture has diversified, with a thriving wine industry springing up at Waipara, and beginnings of new horticulture industries such as olive production and processing. The high quality local wine in particular has increased the appeal of Canterbury and Christchurch to tourists .In earlier years, Christchurch was one of the two heavy-engineering centres of New Zealand, with firms making steel work for bridges, tunnels, and hydro-electric dams in the early days of infrastructure work. Now manufacturing is mainly of light products. In the last few decades, technology-based industries have sprung up in Christchurch.

As you can see there are many opportunities for internships-4U to arrange an internship for you in Christchurch.