 |
 |
The population of New Zealand is
over four million. Approximately seventy percent of
this population is of European heritage.
Europeans
born in New Zealand are all referred to as “Pakeha”
by the Maori.
They also use this term loosely for
people who are born in New Zealand that are
non-Maori.
Most New Zealanders from Europe are of British,
Dutch, and Irish ancestry. The Maori make up the 2nd
largest ethnic group in New Zealand.
The Maori
population who are of full or part Maori blood make
up over fourteen percent while those who are of
purely Maori descent are over seven percent. |
In the 1996-2001 censuses (which allowed various ethnic
affiliations), the population of Asian heritage people in
the country amounted to over six percent and had thus
overtaken the number of those who originated from the
Pacific Island. Immigration in New Zealand has set its mind
on increasing immigration in the country by approximately
one percent yearly.
Today, the largest single group to immigrate into New
Zealand is from the United Kingdom which amounts to thirty
percent of the immigrant population. But a large number of
migrants from other countries, particularly from East Asia,
are drawn into the country, changing the trend of
immigration each year.
The predominant religion in the country is Christianity but
almost forty percent have no religious membership.
|
|
The foremost
denominations of Christianity in New Zealand are
Presbyterian, Roman Catholic, Anglican, and
Methodist.
A significant number of NZ residents have affiliated
themselves with the Baptist, Pentecostal, and Mormon
churches. Among the Maori people, the Ratana church
is the more popular choice. A census on the
country’s religions shows that other significant
affiliations on the country include Buddhism,
Hinduism, and Islam. The society of New Zealand is
multicultural and diverse, with those of European
heritage making up the majority of the country’s
population. About fifteen percent of the population
are of Maori descent, three percent are Polynesian,
while the rest are made up of a wide array of ethnic
groups. South Africans, Dutch, Indians, and Chinese
are just some of those who have migrated over the years into
New Zealand. |
The largest city in New Zealand is Auckland and it is also
the largest Polynesian city in the world. It has a
population of more than 1.3 million people. Christchurch and
Wellington are the next largest cities in New Zealand with
about three hundred fifty thousand residents each. The
largest of the South Island cities is Christchurch.
It is projected that by the year 2059, the population of New
Zealand will amount to 4.5 million. After such time, the
population will begin to decline slowly due to the aging
population of the country.
Surveys recently conducted show that Auckland’s population
will continue to outdo the rest of nation and increase in
population in the succeeding decade is projected to increase
by over thirty percent. This projected growth is due in part
to the largeness of its centers and in part to the large
amount of migration from other countries as well as that of
from South to North Island.
|
|
