Ross is a small town located in the Westland District on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island, south-west of Hokitika and north-east of Hari Hari by road. History Ross was established in the 1860s, during the West Coast Gold Rush, and became an important centre for miners. At its largest, the town had around 2,500 inhabitants, but the population declined after local goldfields were depleted in the early 1870s. Quartz was occasionally mined on Mount Greenland, a nearby ridge, but little more gold was found until two miners discovered a large 3.1-kilogram nugget in 1909, which was later named the "Honourable Roddy Nugget", after Roderick McKenzie, the Minister for Mines at the time. From 1872 to the early 1900s a number of Chinese lived and worked in Ross, and a Chinese Miners' Memorial Garden on the shore of Ross Lake commemorates them. The settlement was originally called Jones Flat, but was also sometimes known as Georgetown and Totara. It was given the name Rosstown, which was shortened to Ross in about 1866, after George Ross, who was the Canterbury Provincial Council's treasurer at the time of the naming. Local government Following the abolition of Westland Province in 1876, Ross became part of Westland County. In 1878, Ross Borough was formed, with its own borough council and mayor, and remained in existence until 1972, when it merged back into Westland County. Since the local government reforms of 1989, Ross has been part of Westland District. Demographics Ross is defined by Statistics New Zealand as a rural settlement and covers . It is part of the wider Waitaha statistical area, which covers . The Ross settlement had a usual resident population of 285 at the 2018 New Zealand census, a decrease of 12 people (−4.0%) since the 2013 census, and a decrease of 6 people (−2.1%) since the 2006 census. Waitaha statistical area The Waitaha statistical area had a population of 450 at the 2018 New Zealand census, a decrease of 21 people (−4.5%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 12 people (2.7%) since the 2006 census. There were 213 households. There were 246 males and 204 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.21 males per female. The median age was 51.7 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 72 people (16.0%) aged under 15 years, 51 (11.3%) aged 15 to 29, 231 (51.3%) aged 30 to 64,