INVERCARGILL New Zealand is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region.
It lies in the heart of the wide expanse of the Southland Plains on the Oreti or New River some 18 km north of Bluff, which is the southernmost town in the South Island.
It sits amid rich farmland that is bordered by large areas of conservation land and marine reserves, including Fiordland National Park covering the south-west corner of the South Island.

Many streets in the city, especially in the centre and main shopping district, are named after rivers in the United Kingdom, mainly Scotland. These include the main streets Dee and Tay, as well as those named after the Tyne, Esk, Don, Thames, Mersey, Ness, Yarrow, Spey, and Eye rivers.


This is a list of notable people who were born in Invercargill or who spent a significant part of their lives living in the region
- each name (at this link) is a link to a bio and some photos


Peter Arnett - NBC war correspondent

Oliver Bulleid - Railway locomotive designer and Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Southern Railway (Great Britain), born in Invercargill in 1882

Johnnie Checketts - Silver Star, Wingco and Spitfire Ace

Bill Crawford-Crompton - Silver Star, Air Vice Marshal and WW2 Commander and Ace

Geoffrey Cox Rhodes Scholar, Chief Intelligence Officer to General Freyberg in WWII, founded Britain's pioneering News at Ten on ITN.

Marton Csokas - actor

Dan Davin - author, editor

Corey Flynn - All Black

Ernest Godward - inventor of the spiral hairpin and the petrol economiser

Dene Halatau - West Tigers Utility in the NRL

Joseph Hatch - businessman, oil factor

Brigadier James Hargest; CBE, DSO & 2 bars, MC, ED, MP - New Zealand chief military officer for Southland and politician

Rowena Jackson - Royal Ballet prima ballerina

Jason Kerrison - Opshop singer/songwriter

Chris Knox - infamous (in NZ) alternative rock musician

Alex Lithgow - composer, musician, conductor

Bill Manhire - inaugural NZ poet laureate

Khan Manuel - Guitarist/Composer

Herbert James "Burt" Munro - inventor, motorcycle enthusiast, racer and under-1000 cc land speed record holder

Mils Muliaina - All Black

Harry Norris - A music director of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company

Anton Oliver - All Black

Herbert Pither - aviation legend of Southland,

Suzanne Prentice - musician

Boyce Richardson - journalist, author, filmmaker

Lesley Rumball - Former Silver Ferns Captain

Victor Spencer - last soldier to be executed in World War I, pardoned in 2005

Garfield Todd - Prime Minister of Rhodesia

Jeremy Waldron - prominent legal and political philosopher

Joseph Ward - Prime Minister of New Zealand

Jeff Wilson - All Black and Black Cap ("Double All Black")

Bob Yule - WWII fighter pilot