Demographics of New Zealand Demographics of New Zealand The demographics of New Zealand encompass the gender, ethnic, religious, geographic, and economic backgrounds of the million people living in New Zealand. New Zealanders, informally known as "Kiwis", predominantly live in urban areas on the North Island. The five largest cities are Auckland (with one-third of the country's population), Christchurch (in the South Island, the largest island of the New Zealand archipelago), Wellington, Hamilton and Tauranga. Few New Zealanders live on New Zealand's smaller islands. Waiheke Island (near Auckland) is easily the most populated smaller island with residents, while Great Barrier Island, the Chatham and Pitt
Wellington Region originally settled the region knew it as "Te Upoko o te Ika a Māui", meaning "the head of Māui's fish". Legend recounts that Kupe discovered and explored the region in about the tenth century. The region was settled by Europeans in 1839 by the New Zealand Company. Wellington became the capital of Wellington Province upon the creation of the province in 1853, until the Abolition of the Provinces Act came into force on 1 Nov 1876. Wellington became capital of New Zealand in 1865, the third capital after Russell and Auckland. The region occupies the southern tip of the North