Waikato District

The Waikato District is located in the west of New Zealand's North Island in the same region. Administrative headquarters of the district is the place Ngaruawahia.

Geography

The Waikato district includes the city - district of Hamilton West, North and East. Furthermore, it is bordered on the south by the Waipa and the Otorohanga District, on the north by the Franklin District and on the east by the Hauraki District Matamata - Piako and the district. The natural border to the west is the Tasman Sea.

A large part of the district is dominated by the northern parts of the Waikato Plains, a fertile coastal plain. Towards the coast the terrain is somewhat hilly and forms part of the Hakarimata Range. An important geographic feature of the district is the Waikato River, which runs from southeast to northwest through the area and its banks form floodplains. In these meadows are also numerous lakes, the most important among them is the Lake Waikare which extends over an area of 34 km ².

Population

In addition to Ngaruawahia itself, in which about 4000 people live, there are other towns with more than 1,000 inhabitants: Huntly with over 7000, with 3100 and Raglan Te Kauwhata with almost 1100 inhabitants. For the North Island, the district is relatively sparsely populated, yet more than 1.5 million people live within a radius of 250 kilometers.

The proportion of Māori in the total population is 27.1 %, far higher than the national average of just under 15 %, but here there are less people from Asia and the Pacific Islands.

History

The first traces of human settlement date back to 1350, when the Māori of New Zealand from Hawaiki reached. About 500 years later, the first European settlers came to Waikato. By getting new immigrants Māori were under pressure and had to sell their land often involuntary. To stop this development and to unite the tribes, the Māori tribal leaders agreed on determining a common king. This henceforth resided in the town of Ngaruawahia.

Economy

The district is characterized mainly agricultural, although tourism, for example, in view of the many Māori events of the " royal family ", plays a significant role. In addition to forestry also coal is mined. In Huntly is a large coal power plant. Te Kauwhata is the center of viticulture in the district.