Statistics New Zealand defines urban areas of New Zealand for statistical purposes (they have no administrative or legal basis). [1] The urban areas comprise cities, towns and other conurbations (an aggregation of urban settlements) of a thousand people or more. In combination, the urban areas of the country constitute New Zealand's urban population. [1] As of June 2023, the urban population made up 84.2% of New Zealand's total population.
The current standard for urban areas is the Statistical Standard for Geographic Areas 2018 (SSGA18), which replaced the New Zealand Standard Areas Classification 1992 (NZSAC92) in 2018. [2]
There are four classes of urban area under SSGA18:
Each urban area consists of one or more level-2 statistical areas (SA2s). Urban areas under SSGA18 do not cross territorial authority boundaries, with one exception (Richmond, which lies in the Tasman District but includes the Daelyn SA2 area from neighbouring Nelson City).
Statistics New Zealand also defines rural settlements with a population of 200 to 999 people or at least 40 dwellings. [3] [4] While these do not fit the standard international definition of an urban population, they serve to distinguish between true rural dwellers and those in rural settlements or towns. There are 402 rural settlements which combined have a population of 157,400 (3.0% of the total population).
In 2023, Stats NZ updated the 2018 standard for geographical areas with the new NZ Statistical standard for geographic areas 2023. While similar, the new standard has added a new geographical area (SA3), has upgraded Wanaka to a medium urban area, seven rural settlements to small urban areas and has created thirteen new rural settlements. [5] [6]
The following shows the urban areas as classified under SSGA18 (adjusted according to SSGA23 update). [7] [8]
Under the New Zealand Standard Areas Classification 1992 (NZSAC92), there are three classes of urban area: [9] [3]
The population figures shown are Statistics New Zealand's resident population estimates at June 2018. [10] For rankings in various criteria see the ranked list of New Zealand urban areas by population. Four main urban areas are subdivided into urban zones. The following cities are listed by location from north to south.
The population figures shown are Statistics New Zealand's resident population estimates at the June 2018. [10] The following towns are listed by location from north to south.
Original classification
No change
Edgecumbe is a town in the Bay of Plenty Region of the North Island of New Zealand, 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) to the west of Whakatāne and 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) south of the Bay's coast.
Postcodes in New Zealand consist of four digits, the first two of which specify the area, the third the type of delivery, and the last the specific lobby, RD number, or suburb. The present postcode system was introduced in New Zealand in June 2006, which, unlike the previous system, applies to all items of mail with effect from June 2008. In October 2008, New Zealand Post launched a 'remember your postcode' campaign, offering a $10,000 prize for remembering a postcode.
The Coromandel Peninsula on the North Island of New Zealand extends 85 kilometres (53 mi) north from the western end of the Bay of Plenty, forming a natural barrier protecting the Hauraki Gulf and the Firth of Thames in the west from the Pacific Ocean to the east. It is 40 kilometres (25 mi) wide at its broadest point. Almost its entire population lives on the narrow coastal strips fronting the Hauraki Gulf and the Bay of Plenty. In clear weather the peninsula is clearly visible from Auckland, the country's biggest city, which lies on the far shore of the Hauraki Gulf, 55 kilometres (34 mi) to the west. The peninsula is part of the Thames-Coromandel District and the Waikato Region.
Waihi Beach is a coastal town at the western end of the Bay of Plenty in New Zealand's North Island. It lies 10 kilometres to the east of the town of Waihi, at the foot of the Coromandel Peninsula. The main beach is 10 kilometres long. The town had a permanent population of 2,780 as of June 2023.
Whitianga is a town on the Coromandel Peninsula, in the Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island. The town is located on Mercury Bay, on the northeastern coast of the peninsula. The town has a permanent population of 6,440 as of June 2023, making it the second-largest town on the Coromandel Peninsula behind Thames.
Karekare is a small coastal settlement in West Auckland, New Zealand, sandwiched between the Waitākere Ranges and a large black sand surf beach.
Whiritoa is a small beach town on the Coromandel Peninsula, New Zealand between Whangamatā and Waihi Beach. It has a permanent population in the low hundreds, which swells to over a thousand during the New Year holiday period.
Leigh is a small coastal community in the north of the Auckland Region of New Zealand. It lies on the west side of Omaha Cove, a small inlet within Ōmaha Bay to the south of Cape Rodney. It is 13 km from Matakana, 21 km from Warkworth and approximately 92 km north of Auckland City.
Kaiwaka, known as "the little town of lights", is a settlement in Northland, New Zealand. The Kaiwaka River runs from the east through the area and joins with the Wairau River to form the Otamatea River, which drains into the Kaipara Harbour. State Highway 1 passes through Kaiwaka. Wellsford is 20 kilometres (12 mi) south, Brynderwyn is 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) north, and Whangārei, the closest city, is 60 kilometres (37 mi) to the north. The Mangawhai Heads are 18 kilometres (11 mi) northeast of Kaiwaka.
Mangawhai is a township at the south-west extent of the Mangawhai Harbour, or Mangawhai Estuary, in Northland, New Zealand. The adjacent township of Mangawhai Heads is 5 km north-east, on the lower part of the harbour. Kaiwaka is 13 km south-west, and Waipu is 20 km north-west of Mangawhai Heads.
Mangawhai Heads is a township in Northland, New Zealand. Waipu is 21 kilometres northwest, and Mangawhai is 5 kilometres southwest. Mangawhai Heads is on the north shore of the Mangawhai Harbour.
The New Classification Scheme for Chinese Libraries is a system of library classification developed by Lai Yung-hsiang since 1956. It is modified from "A System of Book Classification for Chinese Libraries" of Liu Guojun, which is based on the Dewey Decimal System.
The Bay of Plenty Times is the regional daily paper for the Bay of Plenty area, including Tauranga, in the North Island of New Zealand.
The Coromandel Gold Rushes on the Coromandel Peninsula and around the nearby towns of Thames and Waihi in New Zealand in the nineteenth century were moderately successful. Traces of gold were found about 1842. A small find was made near Coromandel in 1852; and a larger find in August 1867 when there was a modest rush. But Thames acquired a reputation for speculative holding of unworked ground despite regulations designed to check it, and some miners left for Queensland. Most of the gold was in quartz reefs rather than in more accessible alluvial deposits and had to be recovered from underground mines and extracted using stamping batteries.
Langs Beach is a locality on the shore of Bream Bay in the Whangarei District and Northland Region of New Zealand. It is about 5 km southeast of Waipu Cove and 10 km northwest of Mangawhai Heads.
Plummers Point is a rural settlement in the Western Bay of Plenty District and Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand's North Island. It is on a headland on the southern side of Tauranga Harbour, opposite Motuhoa Island, and between Mangawhai Bay and Te Puna Estuary. The East Coast Main Trunk forms its southern boundary.