{| class="float-right" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="1" style="border:none; background:#f3f3f3;"
|- style="background-color:#fff;"
! colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" |
{| border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"
|<font size="+1">Hastings District Council</font><br />
|}
|-
! colspan="2" | Karte
|- style="background-color:#fff;"
! colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | 200px
|- align="center"
! colspan="2" | Basisdaten
|- style="background-color:#fff;"
| Name in Māori: || Heretaunga
|- style="background-color:#fff;"
| | [[Hawke’s Bay
|- style="background-color:#fff;"
| Einwohner: || 71.100 <small>(2004)</small>
|- style="background-color:#fff;"
| | 5.218 [[Quadratkilometer|km²
|- style="background-color:#fff;"
| Bevölkerungsdichte: || 13,6 Einwohner/km²
|- style="background-color:#fff;"
| Hauptstadt: ||Hastings-City
|- style="background-color:#fff;"
| Adresse der <br />Stadtverwaltung: || 207 Lyndon Rd East<br />Private Bag 9002<br />Hastings
|- style="background-color:#fff;"
| Internet: || [http://www.hastingsdc.govt.nz/ hastingsdc.govt.nz]
|- style="background-color:#fff;"
| E-Mail: || [mailto:council@hdc.govt.nz council@hdc]
|-
! colspan="2" | Sonstiges
|- style="background-color:#fff;"
| Einwohner<br />Hastings-City: || 61.700 <small>''(2005)''</small>
|}

'''Hastings''' ist eine Stadt auf der neuseeländischen Nordinsel und mit 61.700 Einwohnern größter Ort und Verwaltungssitz des ''Hastings-Distrikts''. Im landesweiten Vergleich liegt Hastings auf Rang 13 und bildet zusammen mit Napier den fünftgrößten Ballungsraum Neuseelands mit ca. 120.000 Einwohnern.

== Geographie ==
thumb|250px|left|Das Stadtzentrum von Hastings
Das Gebiet des Hastings-Distrikts befindet sich direkt in der Heretaunga-Ebene. Somit ist der Distrikt größtenteils flach und ohne größere geographische Besonderheiten.

Der Napier.

Die Stadt liegt etwa 19 Kilometer vom Meer entfernt.

=== Klima ===
Hastings ist mit einem freundlichen, milden und sonnigen Klima gesegnet. Der Ort kann durchschnittlich über 2200 Sonnenstunden im Jahr aufweisen und der jährliche Niederschlag beträgt nur 800 mm. Hastings ist eine der wärmsten Städte Neuseelands und hat mit der durchschnittlichen Januar-Temperatur von 26 °C die höchste ganz Neuseelands (zum Vergleich: Alexandra 23.5 °C, Christchurch 22.5 °C). Weil die Stadt nicht so nahe am Wasser liegt wie zum Beispiel Napier, hat auch die kalte Meeresluft keinen großen Einfluss auf die Stadt und die westlichen Teile des Distrikts.

Bei der Hitzewelle im Jahr 1973 soll der landesweite Hitze-Rekord von 42,4 °C erreicht worden sein, was aber nicht offiziell bestätigt werden kann, da in Hastings erst im Jahr 2003 eine Wetterstation installiert wurde.

== Geschichte ==
thumb|250px|Warren Hastings
Ab 1867 verpachteten die Māori etwa 70 km² an den Weißen Thomas Tanner, der das Land zusammen mit anderen Leuten, genannt die "12 Apostel", ab 1870 für 371 £ pro km² an europäische Einwanderer verkaufte. 

Gegründet wurde die Stadt in den 1850er Jahren unter dem Namen ''Hicksville''. Der Namensgeber, Francis Hicks, war einer der ersten Siedler der Stadt. Er und seine Nachkommen waren zum Teil maßgeblich am Aufbau der Stadt beteiligt, indem sie Land - nun schon zu einem Preis von 13.800 £/km² - an Siedler verkauften oder Grundstücke für den Bahnhof freigaben. Um dem politischen Trend der damaligen Zeit zu folgen, machte sich die Familie Hicks dafür stark, Hicksville - wie auch Napier (nach Clive (nach Robert Clive) - nach einem britischen Politiker oder Soldaten, der sich um das koloniale britische Empire bemühte, zu benennen. Schließlich wurde ''"Hicksville'"" nach Warren Hastings in ''"Hastings"'' umbenannt.

{{Infobox Settlement
|name=Hastings
|native_name=Heretaunga <small>(Maori)</small>
|total_type=Territorial
|image_map={{Location map
 |New Zealand transparent
 |label=Hastings
 |lat_dir=S | lat_deg=39 | lat_min=39
 |lon_dir=E | lon_deg=176 | lon_min=50
 |position=right
 |width= 180
 |float=center
 |caption=
}}
|subdivision_type= Country
|subdivision_name= 
|subdivision_type1= Region
|subdivision_name1= Hawke's Bay
|subdivision_type2= Territorial authority
|subdivision_name2= Hastings District
|leader_name=Lawrence Yule
|leader_title=Mayor
|area_total_km2=5229
|population_total=77500
|population_density_km2=auto
|population_urban=61700
|postal_code_type= Postcode(s)
|postal_code=4120, 4122
|website= http://www.hastingsdc.govt.nz
}}

'''Hastings''' is the administrative centre of the Hastings District in the Hawke's Bay Region of the North Island of New Zealand. Hastings is located inland from the City of Napier.

thumb|200px|left|Hastings Town Square
Less than twenty kilometres separate the centres of Hastings City and Napier, and as such the two are often called ''"The Twin Cities"'' or ''"The Bay Cities"''. The population of the urban area of Napier-Hastings is 119,600.  This makes the area's population comparable to that of Dunedin on the South Island.

In local government terms, however, the two are considerably different. While Napier has a City Council, Hastings City's council lost its '''city''' status in 1989 when it was amalgamated with Clive, a set of other villages and a rural hinterland to form the '''Hastings District'''. This has given Hastings much the larger population of the two centres, with a 2001 population of 73,428.

The Hastings District is made up of three main centres: Hastings city, Flaxmere and Havelock North. These main centres are surrounded by thirty-eight rural settlements including Clive and Bridge Pā. Hastings District covers an area of 5,229 square kilometres (2,018 square miles) and has 1.8% of the population of New Zealand, ranking it fourteenth in size out of the seventy-four territorial authorities.

Since the merger of the surrounding and satellite settlements, Hastings has grown to become the largest urban area in gridiron city planning system, crisscrossed by the railway line running northeast-southwest and the main east-west artery, Heretaunga Street, which also links the city with its suburban centres of Havelock North and Flaxmere.

Many Hastings residents work in the city, and the area is populated by middle-to-upper income families in some suburbs and areas, and then middle-to-lower income families in other areas, especially towards Camberley and Flaxmere.

==History==
right|thumb|Warren Hastings
The £1 10s an acre (£371 per km²).

Many local people firmly believe that Hastings was originally named Hicksville, after Francis Hicks, who bought a 100-acre block of land, which now contains the centre of Hastings, from Thomas Tanner. However, this story is apocryphal. The original name of the location which was to become the town centre was Karamu. In 1871, the New Zealand Government decided to route the new railway south of Napier through a notional Karamu junction in the centre of the Heretaunga Plains. This location was on Francis Hicks's land. The decision on the railway route was based largely on two reports by Charles Weber, the provincial engineer and surveyor in charge of the railway. Karamu junction was re-named Hastings in 1873. (On 7 June 1873, the ''Hawke's Bay Herald'' reported: "The name of the new town is to be Hastings. We hear it now for the first time.") Exactly who chose the name has been disputed, although Thomas Tanner claimed that it was him (see ''Hawke's Bay Herald'' report 1 February 1884) and that the choice was inspired by his reading the trial of Warren Hastings. In any event, the name fitted well with other place names in the district (Napier, Havelock and Clive), which were also named after prominent figures in the history of British India. {Boyd, M.B. (1984) ''City of the Plains - A History of Hastings'', Victoria University Press for the Hastings City Council, pp.16-21}     

The first train took the twelve-mile trip from Napier to Hastings in 1874.

A big jump in the local economy occurred when Edward Newbigin opened a brewery in 1881. By the next year, there were 195 freeholders of land in the town.

Vineyards and fruit growing were the first industries for Hastings. With around six hundred people, the town was incorporated as a borough on 20 October 1886.

In 1918, nearly 300 people died of a flu epidemic that swept Hawke's Bay.

Electricity came to Hastings in 1919.

Ninety-three people were killed in Hastings by the Hawke's Bay earthquake of 3 February 1931, which destroyed or damaged almost every building in the town.

During Allied troops were billeted at the Army, Navy and Air Force (ANA) Club, and in private homes. One hundred and fifty members belonging to sixteen different local clubs packed supplies to be sent to allied soldiers.

In 1954, Hastings was the first city in New Zealand to introduce fluoridation of its water supply.[http://www.moh.govt.nz/moh.nsf/0/AB32B58A8D61D9DACC256F47007C32BB] The intention was to compare the effect on tooth decay with that in the unfluoridated city of Napier over a ten year period. The study was criticised for its methodology and results, and remains controversial. [http://www.fannz.org.nz/text/potted_history_nz.htm]

==Geography==

Situated on the fertile alluvial Heretaunga Plains, Hastings is rather flat with no natural landmarks aside from the few rivers and streams which wind through the outer suburbs. The local area is very productive, with orchards, farms and vineyards. Commonly referred to as the 'Fruit Bowl of New Zealand', the main industries are largely agricultural, with food processing plants and canneries being major local employers. Honey is also a well-known local product. A common New Zealand brand, 'Wattie's' (part of the Heinz-Watties group), is known for its ''Wattie's Tomato Sauce'.

Hastings has a Mediterranean in). It is one of the country's warmest annually and the hottest place in summer with New Zealand's highest January maximum average of 26°C (79°F): Alexandra has 23.5°C (74°F) and Christchurch 22.5°C (73°F). Because of its location 15&nbsp;km (9 miles) inland, the sea breeze does not tend to have the same effect on Hastings' climate as it does on Napier. It is not uncommon for the temperature to be over 30°C (86°F) on summer days. Hastings received an official weather station only in 2003, so high temperature readings prior to that are disputed. Some unofficial estimates show that it may have reached the national record of 42.4°C (108.3°F) during the 1973 heatwave. In winter, maximum highs of 17°C (59°F) are frequent, and occasionally the temperature will exceed 20°C (68°F) with northwest winds. Hastings' Mediterranean climate brings dry weather which means humidity is low for farmers but often causes droughts in summer. Thunderstorms are occasional in Hastings, but usually bring heavy rain and hail, sometimes large, which is damaging to nearby orchards.

==Tourism==
Hastings is quite historic and is very welcoming of tourists, but due to its perceived lack of landmarks and its close proximity to the more picturesque Napier, with which it shares its Art Deco architectural theme, it is not the region's major tourist destination. However, to beat the heat, Hastings does have Hawke's Bay's largest amusement park, a water park called 'Splash Planet', which replaced 'Fantasyland' near the turn of the millennium. This is a massive attraction in Hastings and draws many people.

Hastings suffered similar to Napier in the FL, USA. Sadly, as commerce has improved in Hastings of late, resulting in the skyrocketing of land prices, many of these historic buildings are being demolished and replaced with modern, multi-storey office buildings.

Scheduled airline services to Hawkes Bay operate through Napier Airport, though Hastings Aerodrome for private planes is nearby.