
Last modified: 2020-09-19 by ian macdonald
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![[Hastings, New Zealand ]](../images/n/nz-hast.gif) image by Olivier Touzeau, 18 August 
2020
 image by Olivier Touzeau, 18 August 
2020See also:
Hastings District Council has 5,229 km2, with about 85,000 inhabitants. The 
  administrative center is the City of Hastings.
The flag of the Hastings 
  District Council consists of the horizontal logo on a grey-blue background.
  Valentin Poposki, 29 July 
2020
Hastings is a large urban area in the east of the North Island of New 
Zealand. It is informally known as the city of Hastings, although it lost its 
city status during a reorganisation of New Zealand's regional and district 
councils in the 1980s. It forms part of New Zealand's "twin cities" with its 
near neighbour, Napier. Napier lies on the coast of Hawke Bay (confusingly, the 
bay is Hawke Bay but the region is Hawke's Bay), the large semicircular 
indentation on the North Island east coast; Hastings lies about five miles 
inland from it. Hastings, like many other nearby towns, was named for a British 
colonial leader in 19th century India.
Along with Napier, Hastings was 
badly damaged during a large earthquake in 1931, which saw much of the centre of 
the city destroyed. As with Napier, the city was largely rebuilt in the 
prevailing Art Dec style, and both centres are still noted for their 1930s 
architecture.
The Hastings District includes all the former city of 
Hastings, as well as the towns of Havelock North, Flaxmere, and Clive. In total, 
the Hastings District has a population of around 80,000, of whom a little over 
half live within the main urban area. Major industries in the area include 
horticulture (particularly fruit orchards) and vineyards - Hastings is at the 
centre of one of New Zealand's main wine producing regions.
 
James Dignan, 19 August 2020