Granity is a small town on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island, 28 kilometres (17 mi) north-east of Westport on State Highway 67. Karamea is 68 kilometres (42 mi) further north. Squeezed between the often-tempestuous Tasman Sea to the west and steep forested cloud-shrouded mountains to the immediate east, the town is the largest in this sparsely populated part of New Zealand. Long known as a coal-mining town, the population has declined as the industry has waned. The population was 168 in the 2018 census, a decrease of 33 from 2013. Several neighbouring towns, such as Denniston, have become virtually ghost towns. In 1911 Granity's population was 589, 641 in 1921 and 547 in 1956. Granity had a railway station on the Westport-Ngākawau Line from 28 Feb1892 until 16 May 1982, though c