Otago

Otagois aregion of New Zealandin the south of theSouth Islandadministered by theOtago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately 32,000 square kilometres (12,000sqmi),making it the country's third largest local government region. The name "Otago" is an oldMāorisouthern dialect word (the North Island dialect equivalent is "Otakou"), introduced to the south by Europeans in the 1840s.The exact meaning of the term is disputed, with common translations being "isolated village" and "place of red earth", the latter referring to the reddish-ochre clay which is common in the area around Dunedin. Otagois also the old name of the European settlement on theOtago Harbour, established by theWeller Brothersin 1831, which lies close to the modern harbourside community ofOtakou. The place later became the focus of theOtago Association, an offshoot of theFree Church of Scotland, notable for its high-minded adoption of the principle that ordinary people, not the landowner, should choose the ministers.