Ōwhata is a semi-rural suburb of

Rotorua Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. The city lies on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authority encompass ...

in the

Bay of Plenty The Bay of Plenty ( mi, Te Moana-a-Toi) is a region of New Zealand, situated around a bight of the same name in the northern coast of the North Island. The bight stretches 260 km from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runawa ...

region of New Zealand's

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, 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 , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

. In 2015, it had the highest house sales of any suburb in Rotorua. The New Zealand

Ministry for Culture and Heritage The Ministry for Culture and Heritage (MCH; ) is the department of the New Zealand Government responsible for supporting the arts, culture, built heritage, sport and recreation, and broadcasting sectors in New Zealand and advising government on ...

gives a translation of "place of the elevated stage" for .

Marae

The local Ōwhata or Hinemoa Marae and is a meeting place for the

Ngāti Whakaue Ngāti Whakaue is a Māori iwi, of the Te Arawa confederation of New Zealand. The tribe lives in the Rotorua district and descends from the Arawa waka. The Ngāti Whakaue village Ōhinemutu is within the township of Rotorua. Ngāti Whakaue tra ...

hapū In Māori and New Zealand English, a ' ("subtribe", or "clan") functions as "the basic political unit within Māori society". A Māori person can belong to or have links to many hapū. Historically, each hapū had its own chief and normally opera ...

of Ngāti Korouateka and Ngāti te Roro o te Rangi. It includes the Tūtanekai meeting house. In October 2020, the Government committed $4,525,104 from the

Provincial Growth Fund Shane Geoffrey Jones (born 3 September 1959) is a New Zealand politician. He served as a New Zealand First list MP from 2017 to 2020 and was previously a Labour list MP from 2005 to 2014. Jones was a cabinet minister in the Fifth Labour Gove ...

to upgrade the marae and nine others, creating an estimated 34 jobs.

Demographics

Ōwhata covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². Ōwhata had a population of 6,216 at the

2018 New Zealand census Eighteen or 18 may refer to: * 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19 * one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018 Film, television and entertainment * ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the sho ...

, an increase of 720 people (13.1%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 777 people (14.3%) since the

2006 census 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

. There were 2,022 households, comprising 2,991 males and 3,225 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.93 males per female, with 1,575 people (25.3%) aged under 15 years, 1,128 (18.1%) aged 15 to 29, 2,580 (41.5%) aged 30 to 64, and 933 (15.0%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 62.0% European/

Pākehā Pākehā (or Pakeha; ; ) is a Māori term for New Zealanders primarily of European descent. Pākehā is not a legal concept and has no definition under New Zealand law. The term can apply to fair-skinned persons, or to any non-Māori New Ze ...

, 45.9%

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

, 5.3% Pacific peoples, 7.3%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, and 1.7% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity. The percentage of people born overseas was 15.0, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 51.9% had no religion, 33.3% were

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

, 3.0% had Māori religious beliefs, 1.6% were

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

, 0.3% were

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

, 0.5% were

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

and 1.8% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 699 (15.1%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 945 (20.4%) people had no formal qualifications. 519 people (11.2%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 2,208 (47.6%) people were employed full-time, 678 (14.6%) were part-time, and 264 (5.7%) were unemployed.

Education

Owhata School is a coeducational primary school for year 1–6 students with a roll of . Mokoia Intermediate is a co-educational state intermediate school, with a roll of .

Rotorua Lakes High School Rotorua Lakes High School, commonly known as Lakes High, or simply Lakes, is a state school educating boys and girls from Year 9 to Year 13. It is situated in Owhata, in the eastern suburbs of Rotorua, New Zealand, and draws many of its students f ...

is a co-educational state secondary school, with a roll of .

References

{{Rotorua District Suburbs of Rotorua Populated places on Lake Rotorua