The King Country (Māori:Te Rohe Pōtae or Rohe Pōtae o Maniapoto) is a region of the western North Island of New Zealand. It extends approximately from the Kawhia Harbour and the town of Otorohanga in the north to the upper reaches of the Whanganui River in the south, and from the Hauhungaroa and Rangitoto Ranges in the east to near the Tasman Sea in the west. It comprises hill country, large parts of which are forested.
The term "King Country" dates from the New Zealand Wars of the 1860s, when colonial forces invaded the Waikato and forces of the Māori King Movement withdrew south of what was called the aukati, or boundary, a line of pa alongside the Puniu River near Kihikihi. Land behind the aukati remained native territory, with Europeans warned they crossed it under threat of death.
Government
The King Country per se is not an entity in local government. It forms part of two local government Regions, Waikato and Manawatu-Wanganui, and all or part of four districts: Otorohanga, Ruapehu, Taupo and Waitomo.
During World War I, in the British trenches at Passchendaele, an army private, Arthur Hamp (Tom Courtenay) is accused of desertion. He is to be defended at his trial by an officer, Captain Hargreaves (Dirk Bogarde). Hamp had been a volunteer at the outbreak of the war and was the sole survivor of his company but then decided to 'go for a walk': he had contemplated walking to his home in London but after more than 24 hours on the road, he's picked up by the Military Police and sent back to his unit to face court-martial for desertion.
Hargreaves is initially impatient with the simple-minded Hamp but comes to identify with his plight. Following testimony from an unsympathetic doctor (Leo McKern) (whose solution to all ailments is to prescribe laxatives), Hargreaves is unable to persuade the court to consider the possibility that Hamp may have been suffering from shell shock. He is found guilty, but the court's recommendation for mercy is overruled by higher command, who wish to make an example of Hamp to bolster morale in his division. He is shot by firing squad, but as he is not killed outright Hargreaves has to finish him off with a revolver. His family are informed that he has been killed in action.
King Country was a New Zealand parliamentary electorate. It existed from 1972 to 1996 and was represented by Jim Bolger of the National Party for those 24 years.
Population centres
Since the 1969 election, the number of electorates in the South Island was fixed at 25, with continued faster population growth in the North Island leading to an increase in the number of general electorates. There were 84 electorates for the 1969 election, and the 1972 electoral redistribution saw three additional general seats created for the North Island, bringing the total number of electorates to 87. Together with increased urbanisation in Christchurch and Nelson, the changes proved very disruptive to existing electorates. In the South Island, three electorates were abolished, and three electorates were newly created. In the North Island, five electorates were abolished, two electorates were recreated, and six electorates were newly created (including King Country).
The King Country electorate was formed from area that previously belonged to the Waimarino and Waitomo electorates, which were both abolished. The King Country electorate covered a largely rural area with a dispersed population. It has no cities. The largest towns are Otorohanga and Te Kuiti.
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