List of former territorial authorities in New Zealand  This is a list of former territorial authorities in New Zealand. "Territorial authority" is the generic term used for local government entities in New Zealand. Local government has gone through three principal phases with different structures: the provincial era, from 1853 to 1876; the counties and boroughs system from 1876 until 1989; and the current system of regions, cities and districts. This article attempts to list all territorial authorities which have been disestablished. The original three provinces were established in 1841 by Royal Charter. The New Zealand Constitution Act 1846 reduced the number of provinces to two. The New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 re-divided New Zealand into six provinces, and four additional provinces emerged during the remainder of the Provincial Era. This era came to end with the Abolition of Provinces Act 1876. After New Zealand abolished its provinces in 1876, a system of counties similar to other countries' systems was instituted, lasting with little change (except mergers and other localised boundary adjustments) until 1989 when they were reorganised into district councils within a system of larger regions. The Local Government Act 1974 began the process of bringing urban, mixed, and rural councils into the same legislative framework. Substantial reorganisations under that Act resulted in a shake-up in 1989, which abolished all the counties except for the Chatham Islands County, which survived under that name for a further 6 years but then became a "Territory" under the "Chatham Islands Council". New Zealand formerly used the term borough to designate self-governing towns of more than 1,000 people, although 19th century census records show many boroughs with populations as low as 200. Prior to 1989, any borough with a population exceeding 20,000 could proclaim itself a city. As part of the restructuring, many provincial cities were combined with surrounding rural counties to form districts. For example, Hastings became a district, although its population is greater than nearby city Napier, which did not acquire any rural areas. The term city is still used informally for all large towns. Rotorua was a city from 1962 until 1979, when it amalgamated with Rotorua County to become Rotorua District. New Zealand's first city was Christchurch, proclaimed by royal charter in 1856. When the provinces were abolished in 1876, 63 counties were established to govern rural areas. There were subdivisions and amalgamations over the next 113 years, with as many as 129 counties existing at once.