North Island

North Island

Te Ika-a-Māui (Māori)
North Island
Geography
Location	Oceania
Coordinates	38°24′S 175°43′E / 38.400°S 175.717°E
Archipelago	New Zealand
Area	113,729 km2 (43,911 sq mi)
Area rank	14th
Highest elevation	2,797 m (9177 ft)
Highest point	Mount Ruapehu
Administration
New Zealand
ISO 3166-2:NZ	NZ-N
Regions	9
Territorial authorities	43
Largest settlement	Auckland (pop. 1,470,100)
Demographics
Population	3,896,200 (June 2020)
Pop. density	34.3/km2 (88.8/sq mi)

The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui,^[1] is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is 113,729 square kilometres (43,911 sq mi),^[2] making it the world's 14th-largest island. It has a population of 3,896,200 (June 2020),^[3] accounting for approximately 77% of the total residents of New Zealand.

Twelve main urban areas (half of them officially cities) are in the North Island. From north to south, they are Whangārei, Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Rotorua, Gisborne, New Plymouth, Napier, Hastings, Whanganui, Palmerston North, and New Zealand's capital city Wellington, which is located at the south-west tip of the island.

Naming and usage

Although the island has been known as the North Island for many years,^[4] in 2009 the New Zealand Geographic Board found that, along with the South Island, the North Island had no official name.^[5] After a public consultation, the board officially named the island North Island or Te Ika-a-Maui in October 2013.^[6]

In prose, the two main islands of New Zealand are called the North Island and the South Island, with the definite article.^[7] It is also normal to use the preposition in rather than on, for example "Hamilton is in the North Island", "my mother lives in the North Island".^[8] Maps, headings, tables, and adjectival expressions use North Island without "the".

Māori mythology

According to Māori mythology, the North and South Islands of New Zealand arose through the actions of the demigod Māui. Māui and his brothers were fishing from their canoe (the South Island) when he caught a great fish and pulled it from the sea. While he was not looking his brothers fought over the fish and chopped it up. This great fish became the North Island and thus a Māori name for the North Island is Te Ika-a-Māui ("The Fish of Māui").^[9] The mountains and valleys are believed to have been formed as a result of Māui's brothers' hacking at the fish. Until the early 20th Century, Aotearoa was an alternative Māori name for the North Island. In present usage, Aotearoa is a collective Māori name for New Zealand as a whole.

Economy

The sub-national GDP of the North Island was estimated at US$102.863 billion in 2003, 79% of New Zealand's national GDP.^[10]

Regions

Territorial authorities of the North Island

Nine local government regions cover the North Island and its adjacent islands and territorial waters.

• Northland
• Auckland
• Waikato
• Bay of Plenty
• Gisborne
• Taranaki
• Manawatū-Whanganui
• Hawke's Bay Region
• Wellington Region

Cities and towns

Map of the North Island showing some of its cities

The North Island has a larger population than the South Island, with the country's largest city, Auckland, and the capital, Wellington, accounting for nearly half of it.

There are 28 urban areas in the North Island with a population of 10,000 or more:

Changing geographic distribution of New Zealand's population

Ever since the conclusion of the Otago Goldrush in the 1860s, New Zealand's European population growth has experienced a steady 'Northern drift' as population centres in the North Island have grown faster than those of New Zealand's South Island. This population trend has continued into the twenty-first century, but at a much slower rate.

Historical population of the North Island and South Island, 1858-1916, (excluding Maori)

Maori were counted separately from Europeans in early censuses. In addition to the European population of 1,099,449, the 1916 census also records 49,771 Maori, which included 3,529 people with shared European and Maori ethnicity. The 1916 Census also records 12,797 people from the Cook Islands and other annexed islands, and 5 people with Moriori ancestry, for a grand total of 1,162,022 persons living in the Dominion of New Zealand.^[11]

Population of the North Island and South Island, 1996-2020

Demographics

Culture and identity

Healthcare

Healthcare in the North Island is provided by fifteen District Health Boards (DHBs). Organised around geographical areas of varying population sizes, they are not coterminous with the Local Government Regions.

Major geographic features

The North Island, in relation to the South Island

Bays and coastal features

• Bay of Islands
• Bay of Plenty
• Hauraki Gulf
• Hawke Bay
• Ninety Mile Beach
• North Taranaki Bight
• South Taranaki Bight

Lakes and rivers

• Lake Taupo
• Waikato River
• Whanganui River

Capes and peninsulas

• Coromandel Peninsula
• Northland Peninsula
• Cape Palliser
• Cape Reinga
• East Cape
• North Cape

Forests and national parks

Egmont National Park

Tongariro National Park

• Egmont National Park
• Tongariro National Park
• Waipoua Kauri Forest
• Whanganui National Park
• and many forest parks of New Zealand

Volcanology

• Mount Ruapehu
• Mount Taranaki
• Volcanic Plateau

Other

• Waitomo Caves
• Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu

See also

• List of islands of New Zealand

References

External links

• Media related to North Island, New Zealand at Wikimedia Commons
• North Island travel guide from Wikivoyage