Arapuni is a rural town centre on the

Waikato river The Waikato River is the longest river in New Zealand, running for through the North Island. It rises on the eastern slopes of Mount Ruapehu, joining the Tongariro River system and flowing through Lake Taupō, New Zealand's largest lake. It th ...

in the

South Waikato District South Waikato District is a Territorial authorities of New Zealand, local government district in the Waikato, Waikato Region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located between the cities of Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton to the north, Roto ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. The town sits next to the Arapuni Dam, a

hydroelectric dam Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...

Lake Arapuni Lake Arapuni is one of several artificial lakes formed as part of a hydroelectricity scheme on the Waikato River in the North Island of New Zealand. It is southeast of Hamilton, to the north of Mangaki ...

commissioned in 1929. The

Arapuni Power Station Arapuni Power Station is a hydroelectric power station on the Waikato River, in the North Island of New Zealand. It is owned and operated by Mercury Energy, and is the seventh and penultimate hydroelectric power station on the Waikato River. It i ...

consists of eight turbines which give a total output of 196 MW, the largest of the power stations on the Waikato river. The Arapuni hydro station is owned and operated by

Mercury Energy Mercury NZ Limited is a New Zealand electricity generation and multi-product utility retailer of electricity, gas, broadband and mobile telephone services. All the company's electricity generation is renewable. In August 2021, Mercury acquired ...

. 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 "blocked path" for ''Arapuni''. The

Arapuni Suspension Bridge The Arapuni Suspension Bridge is located just downstream from the Arapuni Power Station on the Waikato River in the South Waikato District of New Zealand. The suspension bridge in the bush-lined gorge was built in the mid-1920s to allow workers ...

below the dam is freely open to public. The name Arapuni derives from ''Ara'', meaning path and ''puni'', meaning blocked or covered, and translates as blocked or covered path.

Marae

The local Pōhara Marae is a meeting ground of the

Ngāti Raukawa Ngāti Raukawa is a Māori iwi with traditional bases in the Waikato, Taupo and Manawatu/Horowhenua regions of New Zealand. In 2006, 29,418 Māori registered their affiliation with Ngāti Raukawa. History Early history Ngāti Raukawa reco ...

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 Korokī and

Ngāti Mahuta Ngāti Mahuta is a sub-tribe (or hapū) of the Waikato tribe (or iwi) of Māori in the North Island of New Zealand. The territory (rohe) of Ngāti Mahuta is the Kawhia and Huntly areas of the Waikato region. History Ngāti Mahuta is descended f ...

, the

Ngāti Korokī Kahukura Ngāti Korokī Kahukura is a Māori people, Māori iwi of the Maungatautari area of the Waikato in New Zealand. It was formed by the coming together of two related hapū, Ngāti Korokī and Ngāti Kahukura. It has historic affiliations with Ngāti ...

hapū of

Ngāti Hourua Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, an ...

, and the

Waikato Tainui Waikato Tainui, Waikato or Tainui is a group of Māori ''iwi'' based in Waikato Region, in the western central region of New Zealand's North Island. It is part of the larger Tainui confederation of Polynesian settlers who arrived to New Zealand o ...

hapū of Ngāti Korokī and

Ngāti Raukawa ki Panehākua Waikato Tainui, Waikato or Tainui is a group of Māori '' iwi'' based in Waikato Region, in the western central region of New Zealand's North Island. It is part of the larger Tainui confederation of Polynesian settlers who arrived to New Zealand ...

. It features the

Rangiātea Rangiātea in New Zealand Māori culture and tradition, is considered to be simultaneously a physical place as well as a metaphysical place. The physical Rangiātea is somewhere in the Pacific Islands, possibly Ra'iātea Island in the Society Islan ...

meeting house. In October 2020, the Government committed $2,584,751 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 5 other Waikato Tainui marae, creating 69 jobs.

Demographics

Statistics New Zealand describes Arapuni as a rural settlement, which covers . The settlement is part of the larger Putāruru Rural statistical area. State houses at Arapuni Hydro Works

Arapuni had a population of 294 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 60 people (25.6%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 60 people (25.6%) 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 129 households, comprising 132 males and 159 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.83 males per female, with 51 people (17.3%) aged under 15 years, 54 (18.4%) aged 15 to 29, 144 (49.0%) aged 30 to 64, and 48 (16.3%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 90.8% 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 ...

, 19.4%

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 ...

, 5.1% Pacific peoples, and 6.1% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity. Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 57.1% had no religion, 26.5% 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 ...

, 1.0% had Māori religious beliefs, 1.0% 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 4.1% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 39 (16.0%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 54 (22.2%) people had no formal qualifications. 30 people (12.3%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 111 (45.7%) people were employed full-time, 42 (17.3%) were part-time, and 12 (4.9%) were unemployed.

References

{{South Waikato District South Waikato District Populated places in Waikato Populated places on the Waikato River