Buller District is one of 53

districts of New Zealand A district in New Zealand is a territorial authority area governed by a district council as a second-tier of local government in New Zealand, below regional councils. They were formed as a result of the local government reforms in 1989. There are ...

, and is within the

West Coast Region The West Coast ( mi, Te Tai Poutini, lit=The Coast of Poutini, the Taniwha) is a region of New Zealand on the west coast of the South Island that is administered by the West Coast Regional Council, and is known co-officially as Te Tai Poutini. ...

. It covers Westport,

Karamea Karamea is a town on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It is the northernmost settlement of any real size on the West Coast, and is located northeast by road from Westport. Apart from a narrow coastal strip, the town of Karam ...

Reefton Reefton is a small town in the West Coast region of New Zealand, some 80 km northeast of Greymouth, in the Inangahua River valley. Ahaura is 44 km south-west of Reefton, Inangahua Junction is 34 km to the north, Maruia is 63 ...

and

Inangahua Junction Inangahua is a small settlement in the northwest of New Zealand's South Island. It consists of three settled areas: Inangahua Junction at the confluence of the Inangahua and Buller Rivers, north of Reefton and southeast of Westport; Inagahua L ...

. Buller District's overall land area is . The district is administered by the Buller District Council with the seat in Westport, in which 45% of the district's population live.

History

It is understood by the carbon dating of Umu (ovens) that the Maori people settled in this region some 700 years ago. The district takes its name from the Buller River, itself named for

Charles Buller Charles Buller (6 August 1806 – 29 November 1848) was a British barrister, politician and reformer. Background and education Born in Calcutta, British India, Buller was the son of Charles Buller (1774–1848), a member of a well-known Cor ...

, a Member of Parliament in the

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was a sovereign state in the British Isles that existed between 1801 and 1922, when it included all of Ireland. It was established by the Acts of Union 1800, which merged the Kingdom of Great B ...

(UK) and director of the

New Zealand Company The New Zealand Company, chartered in the United Kingdom, was a company that existed in the first half of the 19th century on a business model focused on the systematic colonisation of New Zealand. The company was formed to carry out the principl ...

, a UK-based company established in the early 19th century with a

royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, bu ...

supporting colonisation efforts of New Zealand. During the period 1853 to 1876, the current area of Buller District was administered as part of Nelson Province. With the Abolition of Provinces Act 1876, much of the current area of Buller District was administered in the newly created (January 1877) bodies of Buller County and

Inangahua County Inangahua County was one of the counties of New Zealand on the South Island. During the period 1853 to 1876, the area that would become Inangahua County was administered as part of Nelson Province. With the Abolition of Provinces Act 1876, I ...

. The Buller District was formed under the

1989 local government reforms The 1989 New Zealand local government reform was the most significant reform of local government in New Zealand in over a century. Some 850 local bodies were amalgamated into 86 local authorities, made up of regional and territorial levels. Backg ...

through the amalgamation of Buller County, Inangahua County and the Westport Borough Councils.

Population

Buller District covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². Buller District had a population of 9,591 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 ...

, a decrease of 882 people (−8.4%) since the 2013 census, and a decrease of 111 people (−1.1%) 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 4,398 households. There were 4,920 males and 4,674 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.05 males per female. The median age was 49.6 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 1,587 people (16.5%) aged under 15 years, 1,230 (12.8%) aged 15 to 29, 4,551 (47.5%) aged 30 to 64, and 2,223 (23.2%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 91.8% European/Pākehā, 11.2% Māori, 1.4% Pacific peoples, 2.4% Asian, and 2.3% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity. The percentage of people born overseas was 10.7, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people objected to giving their religion, 57.0% had no religion, 31.1% were Christian, 0.5% were Hindu, 0.1% were Muslim, 0.2% were Buddhist and 1.8% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 750 (9.4%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 2,400 (30.0%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $22,900, compared with $31,800 nationally. 783 people (9.8%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 3,231 (40.4%) people were employed full-time, 1,284 (16.0%) were part-time, and 300 (3.7%) were unemployed.

References

External links

Buller District Council
{{Cities and districts of New Zealand