Editing South Island (section)

==Culture==

=== Art ===

[[File:CoCAgallery.jpg|right|thumb|The [[Centre of Contemporary Art]] gallery in [[Christchurch]]]]
[[File:CanterburyCollegeChemistry gobeirne.jpg|thumb|Old Chemistry Building, Christchurch Arts Centre]]
The South Island has contributed to the Arts in New Zealand and internationally through highly regarded artists such as [[Nigel Brown]], [[Frances Hodgkins]], [[Colin McCahon]], [[Shona McFarlane]], [[Peter McIntyre (artist)|Peter McIntyre]] [[Grahame Sydney]] and [[Geoff Williams (painter)|Geoff Williams]].

The [[University of Canterbury]] School of Fine Arts was founded in 1950.

South Island Art Galleries include:
* [[Centre of Contemporary Art]]
* [[Christchurch Arts Centre]]
* [[Dunedin Public Art Gallery]]

===Language===

Parts of the South Island, principally [[Southland, New Zealand|Southland]] and the very southernmost areas of [[Otago]] near the border with Southland, are renowned for its people speaking what is often referred to as the "Southland burr", a [[Rhotic and non-rhotic accents|semi-rhotic]], Scottish-influenced [[dialect]] of the English language.

=== Media ===
[[File:AlliedPressBldg.jpg|thumb|[[Allied Press]] building in [[Dunedin]], home of Allied Press's flagship newspaper, the ''[[Otago Daily Times]]'']]
==== Newspapers ====
The South Island has ten daily newspapers and many weekly community newspapers. Major daily newspapers include the ''[[Ashburton Guardian]]'', the ''[[Greymouth Star]]'', ''[[The Marlborough Express]]'', ''[[The Nelson Mail]]'', the ''[[Oamaru Mail]]'', the ''[[Otago Daily Times]]'', ''[[The Press]]'', the ''[[Southland Times]]'', ''[[The Timaru Herald]]'', and the ''[[West Coast Times]]''. ''The Press'' and the ''Otago Daily Times'', serving mainly Christchurch and Dunedin respectively, are the South Island's major newspapers.

==== Television ====
The South Island has a few regional stations (either non-commercial public service or privately owned) that broadcast only in one region or city: [[45 South TV]], Mainland Television, [[Shine TV (New Zealand)|Shine TV]], and Visitor TV. These stations mainly broadcast free to air on [[UHF]] frequencies; however, some are carried on subscription TV. Content ranges from local news, access broadcasts, satellite sourced news, tourist information and Christian programming to music videos.

==== Radio stations ====
A large number of radio stations serve communities throughout the South Island; these include independent stations, but many are owned by organisations such as [[Radio New Zealand]], [[New Zealand Media and Entertainment]], and [[MediaWorks New Zealand]].

===Museums===
* [[Bluff Maritime Museum]]
* [[Canterbury Museum, Christchurch|Canterbury Museum]] (Temporarily closed for renovations<ref>{{cite news |title=Say goodbye to your favourite exhibits before museum closes for upgrade |url=https://www.odt.co.nz/star-news/star-south-today/say-goodbye-your-favourite-exhibits-museum-closes-upgrade |access-date=16 February 2024 |work=Star News |date=12 September 2022 }}</ref>)
* [[Ferrymead Heritage Park]]
* [[Nelson Provincial Museum]]
* [[Olveston (house)|Olveston House]]
* [[Otago Museum]]
* [[Otago Settlers Museum| Otago Settlers Museum: Toitū]]
* [[Royal New Zealand Air Force Museum]]
* [[Southland Museum and Art Gallery]]
* [[World of Wearable Art]]
* [[Yaldhurst Museum]]

===Religion===
{{Main|Religion in New Zealand}}

[[Anglicanism]] is strongest in [[Canterbury Region|Canterbury]] (the city of [[Christchurch]] having been founded as an Anglican settlement).

[[Catholicism]] still has a noticeably strong presence on the [[West Coast, New Zealand|West Coast]], and in [[Kaikōura]]. The territorial authorities with the highest proportion of Catholics are Kaikōura (where they are 18.4% of the total population), [[Westland District|Westland]] (18.3%), and [[Grey District|Grey]] (17.8%).

[[Presbyterianism]] is strong in the lower South Island – the city of [[Dunedin]] was founded as a Presbyterian settlement, and many of the early settlers in the region were Scottish Presbyterians. The territorial authorities with the highest proportion of Presbyterians are [[Gore, New Zealand|Gore]] (where they are 30.9% of the total population), [[Clutha District]] (30.7%), and [[Southland District|Southland]] (29.8%).

The first [[Muslim]]s in New Zealand were Chinese gold diggers working in the Dunstan gold fields of [[Otago]] in the 1860s. Dunedin's Al-Huda mosque is the world's southernmost,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://otagomusa.wordpress.com/download/ |title=Muslim University Students' Association website |publisher=Otagomusa.wordpress.com |date=28 May 2010 |access-date=12 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110101091154/http://otagomusa.wordpress.com/download/ |archive-date=1 January 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and the farthest from [[Mecca]].<ref>Distance between Mecca and Dunedin is 14,811.44&nbsp;kilometers according to http://www.geodatasource.com/distancecalculator.aspx {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101018120647/http://www.geodatasource.com/distancecalculator.aspx |date=18 October 2010 }}</ref>

===Law enforcement===

====Police====

[[File:Dunedin Central Police station.jpg|thumb|Dunedin Central Police station]]
[[File:NZ Police Mitsubishi Diamante in Dunedin.jpg|thumb|NZ Police [[Mitsubishi Diamante]] in Dunedin]]

The [[New Zealand Police]] is the primary [[law enforcement agency]] of New Zealand, including the South Island. Three [[decentralised]] Police Districts cover the entire South Island, with each being commanded by a [[Superintendent (police)|Superintendent]] and having a central station from which subsidiary and suburban stations are managed.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.police.govt.nz/district/index.html |title=New Zealand Police Districts |publisher=Police.govt.nz |access-date=12 November 2010 }}</ref> The Christchurch Police Communications Centre handles all emergency and general calls within the South Island.

The Tasman Police District covers 70,000&nbsp;kilometres{{clarify|date=August 2021 |reason=Why is this units of length? Should it be units of area?}} of territory, encompassing the northern and most of the western portion of the South Island. The West Coast alone spans the distance between [[Wellington]] and [[Auckland]]. There are 22 police stations in the Tasman District, with 6 being sole-charge – or one-person – stations. The Tasman Police District has a total of 302 sworn police officers and 57 civilian or nonsworn staff. Organisationally, the district has its headquarters in [[Nelson, New Zealand|Nelson]] and has three distinct Areas, each headed by an [[Inspector]] as its commander. The areas are [[Nelson, New Zealand|Nelson Bays]], [[West Coast, New Zealand|West Coast]] and [[Marlborough Region|Marlborough]].

The Canterbury Police District is based in [[Christchurch]] the largest city in the South Island and covers an area extending from the [[Conway River, New Zealand|Conway River]], (just south of [[Kaikōura]]), to the [[Waitaki River]], south of [[Timaru]].

The Southern Police District with its headquarters in [[Dunedin]] spans from [[Oamaru]] in the North through to [[Stewart Island]] in the far South covers the largest geographical area of any of the 12 police districts in New Zealand. The Southern District has three distinct Areas headed by Inspectors; Otago Rural, Southland and Dunedin.

====Correctional facilities====
Correctional facilities in the South Island are operated by the [[Department of Corrections (New Zealand)|Department of Corrections]] as part of the South Island Prison Region. [[Christchurch Prison]], also known as Paparua, is located in [[Templeton, New Zealand|Templeton]] a satellite town of [[Christchurch]]. It accommodates up to 780 minimum, medium, and high-security male prisoners. It was built in 1925, and also includes a youth unit, a self-care unit and the ''Paparua Remand Centre'' (PRC), built in 1999 to replace the old ''Addington Prison''. Christchurch Women's Prison, also located in [[Templeton, New Zealand|Templeton]], is a facility for women of all security classifications. It has the only maximum/medium security accommodation for women prisoners in New Zealand. It can accommodate up to 98 prisoners.

Rolleston prison is located in [[Rolleston, New Zealand|Rolleston]], another satellite town of [[Christchurch]]. It accommodates around 320 male prisoners of minimum to low-medium security classifications and includes ''Kia Marama'' a sixty-bed unit that provides an intensive 9-month treatment programme for male child sex offenders. Invercargill Prison, in [[Invercargill]], accommodates up to 172 minimum to low-medium security prisoners. Otago Corrections Facility is located near [[Milton, New Zealand|Milton]] and houses up to 335 minimum to high-medium security male prisoners.

==== Customs service ====
The [[New Zealand Customs Service]] whose role is to provide [[border control]] and protect the community from potential risks arising from [[international trade]] and travel, as well as collecting [[tariff|duties]] and taxes on imports to the country, has offices at [[Christchurch International Airport]], [[Dunedin]], [[Invercargill]], [[Lyttelton, New Zealand|Lyttelton]] and [[Nelson, New Zealand|Nelson]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.customs.govt.nz/contactUs.htm#paraTitle02 |title=Customs Service Offices – New Zealand |publisher=Customs.govt.nz |access-date=12 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100604223355/http://www.customs.govt.nz/contactUs.htm#paraTitle02 |archive-date=4 June 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Sport===
{{Main|Sport in New Zealand}}

[[File:Lineout.JPG|thumb|right|The [[Christchurch]] based [[Crusaders (rugby union)|Crusaders]] rugby team playing the Bulls from South Africa in the [[Super Rugby]] competition]]

Of the professional sports teams based in the South Island, the major spectator sports of [[rugby union in New Zealand|rugby union]] and [[cricket in New Zealand|cricket]] are particularly well represented. The [[Crusaders (rugby union)|Crusaders]] and [[Highlanders (rugby union)|Highlanders]] represent the upper and lower South Island respectively in rugby union's [[Super Rugby]] competition; and [[Canterbury representative rugby union team|Canterbury]], [[Otago Rugby Union|Otago]], [[Southland Rugby|Southland Stags]], [[Tasman Rugby Union|Tasman Makos]] all participate in provincial rugby's [[ITM Cup]]. At cricket, the South Island is represented by the [[Canterbury Wizards]], [[Central Stags]], and [[Otago Volts]] in the [[New Zealand first-class cricket championship|Plunket Shield]], [[New Zealand limited-overs cricket trophy|one day domestic series]], and the [[Super Smash (men's cricket)|Super Smash]].

As well as rugby union and cricket, the South Island also boasts representative teams in the domestic [[National Basketball League (New Zealand)|basketball]], soccer, [[New Zealand Ice Hockey League|ice hockey]], [[ANZ Championship|netball]], and [[NZRL Men's National Competition|rugby league]].

The [[North vs South rugby union match|North vs South match]], sometimes known as the Interisland match, is a longstanding rugby union fixture in New Zealand. The first game was played in 1897, the most recent one in 2020.<ref>
{{cite web |last1=Geenty |first1=Mark |title=North v South: Thriller goes South's way after absorbing battle of the playmakers |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/all-blacks/122677469/north-v-south-thriller-goes-souths-way-after-absorbing-battle-of-the-playmakers?rm=a |website=Stuff.co.nz |access-date=27 September 2020 |date=5 September 2020}}
</ref>

Christchurch hosted the [[1974 Commonwealth Games]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://my.christchurchcitylibraries.com/xth-commonwealth-games-1974/ |access-date=11 August 2019 |title=Xth British Commonwealth Games 1974 |publisher=[[Christchurch City Libraries]] }}</ref>