The highest point (299 m (981 ft)) is on a plateau near the southernmost tip of Chatham Island, 1.5 km (7⁄8 mi) south of Lake Te Rangatapu.

[8] The plateau is dotted with numerous lakes and lagoons, flowing mainly from the island's nearby second-highest point, Maungatere Hill, at 294 m (965 ft).

[14] The Chatham Islands have an oceanic climate (Koppen: Cfb)[15] characterised by a narrow temperature range and relatively frequent rainfall.

[16] The climate is cool, wet and windy, with average high temperatures between 15 and 20 °C (59 and 68 °F) in summer, and between 5 and 10 °C (41 and 50 °F) in July (in the Southern Hemisphere winter).

Snowfall is extremely rare, the fall recorded near sea level in July 2015 marking the first such reading for several decades.

According to Marinov & McHugh (2010), the poor diversity is linked to harsh environmental conditions, such as generally low annual temperatures, constant strong winds and high acidity in the habitats where their larvae develop.

On Mangere and Rangatira Islands, which are now preserved as nature reserves to conserve some of the unique flora and fauna, livestock has been removed and native wildlife is recovering.

Following a misunderstanding, Broughton's men shot and killed a Moriori resident of Kaingaroa, named Torotoro (or Tamakororo).

[39] When it became clear that the visitors intended to stay, the Moriori withdrew to their marae at Te Awapatiki to meet and debate what to do about the Māori settlers.

A Moriori survivor recalled: "[The Māori] commenced to kill us like sheep... [We] were terrified, fled to the bush, concealed ourselves in holes underground, and in any place to escape our enemies.

[40] A Māori chief, Te Rakatau Katihe, said in the Native Land Court in 1870: "We took possession ... in accordance with our custom, and we caught all the people.

Ernst Dieffenbach, who visited the Chathams on a New Zealand Company ship in 1840, reported that the Moriori were the virtual slaves of Māori and were severely mistreated, with death being a blessing.

[39] In early May 1838 (some reports say 1839, but this is contradicted by ship records[44]) the French whaling vessel Jean Bart anchored off Waitangi to trade with the Māori.

When word of the incident reached the French naval corvette Heroine in the Bay of Islands in September 1838, it set sail for the Chathams, accompanied by the whalers Adele and Rebecca Sims.

The French arrived on 13 October and, after unsuccessfully attempting to entice some Ngāti Tama aboard, proceeded to bombard Waitangi.

The next morning about a hundred armed Frenchmen went ashore, burning buildings, destroying waka, and seizing pigs and potatoes.

Fighting was still in progress when the New Zealand Company ship Cuba arrived as part of a scheme to buy land for settlement.

The proposal was discussed by the directors, and the secretary of the company John Ward signed an agreement with Karl Sieveking of Hamburg on 12 September 1841.

[50] When a group of women were sent out to join them three years later, several marriages ensued; a few members of the present-day population can trace their ancestry back to those missionary families.

[citation needed] In 1865, the Māori leader Te Kooti was exiled on the Chatham Islands along with a large group of Māori rebels called the Hauhau, followers of Pai Mārire who had murdered missionaries and fought against government forces mainly on the East Coast of the North Island of New Zealand.

The rebel prisoners were paid one shilling a day to work on sheep farms owned by the few European settlers.

A flying-boat facility was built at Te Whanga Lagoon soon after and a flying boat service continued till 1966 when it was replaced with conventional aircraft.

[54] The Moriori have received recognition from the Crown and the New Zealand government and some of their claims against those institutions for the generations of neglect and oppression have been accepted and acted on.

Now that the primordial population, the Moriori, have been recognised to be former Māori—over the objections of some of the Ngāti Mutunga—they too share in the ancestral Māori fishing rights.

[63] Its facilities include a hospital with resident doctor, bank, several stores, engineering and marine services, and the main shipping wharf.

The Te Tai Tonga Māori electorate (currently held by Tākuta Ferris) includes the Chatham Islands; before the seats were reformed in 1996 the archipelago was part of Western Maori.

This economic mix has been stable for the past 50 years, as little infrastructure or population is present to engage in higher levels of industrial or telecommunications activity.

While freight generally arrives by ship (two days sailing time), the sea journey takes too long for many passengers, and is not always available.

In 1981, after many years of requests by locals and the imminent demise of the ageing Bristol Freighters, the construction of a sealed runway at Karewa, Tuuta Airport, allowed more modern aircraft to land safely.

Air Chathams operates twin turboprop ATR 72–500 aircraft (freight and passenger) and Fairchild Metroliners.