Horowhenua District

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Horowhenua District is a territorial authority district on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand, administered by Horowhenua District Council. Located north of Wellington and Kāpiti, it stretches from slightly north of the town of Ōtaki in the south to just south of Himatangi in the north, and from the coast to the top of the Tararua Range. It is in the Manawatū-Whanganui local government region. The name Horowhenua is Māori for landslide.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Levin is the main town and the seat of the district council. Other towns include Foxton, Shannon and Tokomaru. The population of the district is Template:NZ population data 2018

History

Horowhenua County was established in 1885 from the southern part of Manawatu County. It stretched from the Manawatū River, Opiki and Tokomaru in the north, to Waikanae and the Waikanae River in the south.<ref name=archives_map>Template:Cite web</ref> The county offices were in Ōtaki until 1896, when they were moved to Levin.<ref name=archives_Horo/>

Horowhenua District was established in 1989 from a merger of Horowhenua County, Foxton Borough, Levin Borough and part of the first Manawatū District, as part of New Zealand local government reforms. The southern part of Horowhenua County – the Waikanae and Otaki areas – became part of Kāpiti Coast District.<ref name=archives_Horo>Template:Cite web</ref>

Populated places

Horowhenua District consists of the following towns, localities, settlements and communities (larger towns shown in bold):

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Kere Kere Ward:
- Foxton
- Foxton Beach
- Moutua
Levin Ward:
- Levin
- Weraroa
Miranu Ward:
- Makerua
- Mangaore
- Opiki
- Shannon
- Tokomaru

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Waiopehu Ward:
- Gladstone
- Heatherlea
- Hokio Beach
- Ihakara
- Koputaroa
- Kuku
- Makahika
- Manakau
- Muhunoa
- Muhunoa East
- Ōhau
- Poroutawhao
- Waikawa Beach
- Waitarere Beach

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Demographics

Horowhenua District covers Template:Convert<ref name="Area">Template:Cite web</ref> and had an estimated population of Template:NZ population data 2018 as of Template:NZ population data 2018 with a population density of Template:Decimals people per km².

Template:Historical populations Horowhenua District had a population of 36,693 in the 2023 New Zealand census, an increase of 3,432 people (10.3%) since the 2018 census, and an increase of 6,597 people (21.9%) since the 2013 census. There were 17,904 males, 18,660 females and 129 people of other genders in 14,418 dwellings.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 2.9% of people identified as LGBTIQ+. The median age was 45.5 years (compared with 38.1 years nationally). There were 6,624 people (18.1%) aged under 15 years, 5,838 (15.9%) aged 15 to 29, 15,090 (41.1%) aged 30 to 64, and 9,141 (24.9%) aged 65 or older.<ref name="Census 2023"/>

People could identify as more than one ethnicity. The results were 79.3% European (Pākehā); 27.7% Māori; 7.3% Pasifika; 4.9% Asian; 0.6% Middle Eastern, Latin American and African New Zealanders (MELAA); and 2.4% other, which includes people giving their ethnicity as "New Zealander". English was spoken by 96.8%, Māori language by 5.8%, Samoan by 1.9% and other languages by 6.5%. No language could be spoken by 2.0% (e.g. too young to talk). New Zealand Sign Language was known by 0.7%. The percentage of people born overseas was 15.0, compared with 28.8% nationally.

Religious affiliations were 31.2% Christian, 0.6% Hindu, 0.2% Islam, 1.3% Māori religious beliefs, 0.4% Buddhist, 0.6% New Age, 0.1% Jewish, and 1.0% other religions. People who answered that they had no religion were 56.3%, and 8.6% of people did not answer the census question.

Of those at least 15 years old, 2,904 (9.7%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, 16,785 (55.8%) had a post-high school certificate or diploma, and 9,531 (31.7%) people exclusively held high school qualifications. The median income was $31,700, compared with $41,500 nationally. 1,815 people (6.0%) earned over $100,000 compared to 12.1% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 12,774 (42.5%) people were employed full-time, 3,861 (12.8%) were part-time, and 996 (3.3%) were unemployed.<ref name="Census 2023">Template:Cite web</ref>

Individual wards
Name	Area (km²)	Population	Density (per km²)	Dwellings	Median age	Median income
Kere Kere General Ward	198.29	6,351	32	2,595	48.3 years	$31,400<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Miranui General Ward	299.82	3,444	11	1,236	35.9 years	$38,200<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Levin General Ward	19.64	18,735	954	7,119	41.6 years	$30,300<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Waiopehu General Ward	546.15	8,160	15	3,468	53.9 years	$33,400<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
New Zealand					38.1 years	$41,500

Land use

Much of the area was once an extensive wetland and the centre of a substantial flax industry. It has been progressively drained and converted to productive but flood-prone farmland, with a mixture of loam and peat based soils. Some parts of the wetland, particularly those around Lake Horowhenua are being returned to their former state as a conservation area, with the help of local Māori. One of the local tribal authorities is the Muaūpoko Tribal Authority.