Map of Rolleston, New Zealand

Rolleston is a city in Canterbury, New Zealand, with a population of about 34,100. It lies at 43.5833°S, 172.3833°E. Rolleston is about 322 km (200 mi) southwest of Wellington, the capital. The nearest city on our map is Christchurch, 21 km to the east.

Rolleston at a glance

Where is Rolleston?

• The 24th largest city in New Zealand by recorded population.
• Located in the Southern and Eastern hemispheres.
• Daylight ranges from about 8 h 56 min on the shortest day to 15 h 26 min on the longest day (around 21 June and 21 December).

Cities near Rolleston

• Christchurch — 21 km east
• Nelson — 268 km north
• Dunedin — 295 km southwest
• Wellington — 322 km northeast
• Lower Hutt — 335 km northeast
• Porirua — 340 km northeast
• Upper Hutt — 349 km northeast
• Invercargill — 446 km southwest
• Palmerston North — 447 km northeast
• Whanganui — 462 km northeast

Largest cities in Canterbury

• Christchurch — 419,200

Largest cities in New Zealand

• Auckland — 1,547,200
• Christchurch — 419,200
• Wellington — 381,900
• Manukau City — 362,000
• Hamilton — 192,100
• Tauranga — 161,000
• Dunedin — 132,800
• Lower Hutt — 114,200
• Palmerston North — 90,500
• New Plymouth — 90,100

Map of New Zealand and all its cities →

Sources: place names, coordinates, populations and time zones from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0, data retrieved October 2026). Population figures are the latest values recorded in GeoNames; depending on the country they refer to the city proper, a municipality or a wider urban area, so they can differ from census or metro-area figures. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.