Chatham Islands

The Chatham Islands archipelago consists of about forty islands. It is located roughly 800 kilometres to the east of New Zealand, to which the islands belong.

First human inhabitation came from migrating Polynesian tribes, which settled on the islands approximately one thousand years ago. The name "Chatham Islands" comes from the ship HMS Chatham which landed on the 29th of November 1791 and claimed possession. Sealers[?] and whalers soon made the islands a centre of their activities.

The current population of about six to seven hundred individuals is of European (60%), Maori and Moriori[?] origin, the Moriori being the indigenous inhabitants.