Eketāhuna is a small

rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are describ ...

settlement, in the south of the Tararua District and the

Manawatū-Whanganui Manawatū-Whanganui (; spelled Manawatu-Wanganui prior to 2019) is a region in the lower half of the North Island of New Zealand, whose main population centres are the cities of Palmerston North and Whanganui. It is administered by the Manawat ...

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 ...

. The town is located at eastern foot of the Tararua Ranges, 35 kilometres north of

Masterton Masterton ( mi, Whakaoriori), a large town in the Greater Wellington Region of New Zealand, operates as the seat of the Masterton District (a territorial authority or local-government district). It is the largest town in the Wairarapa, a r ...

and a similar distance south of

Palmerston North Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...

. It is situated on State Highway 2, on the eastern bank of the

Mākākahi River The Mākākahi River runs through the Manawatū-Whanganui region of the North Island of New Zealand. From its headwaters south of Eketāhuna it flows northwest alongside State Highway 2 for before feeding into the Mangatainoka River near Pa ...

. Eketāhuna has become synonymous with stereotypes of remote rural New Zealand towns, with New Zealanders colloquially referring to the town in the same way other English speakers refer to

Timbuktu Timbuktu ( ; french: Tombouctou; Koyra Chiini: ); tmh, label=Tuareg, script=Tfng, ⵜⵏⴱⴾⵜ, Tin Buqt a city in Mali, situated north of the Niger River. The town is the capital of the Tombouctou Region, one of the eight administrativ ...

. 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 "land on the sandbank" for ''Eketāhuna''. The name sounds like the

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...

sentence "I have a chicken" (), making it amusing to immigrant Afrikaans-speaking South Africans in New Zealand.

Geography

The corresponding Statistics New Zealand statistical area covers an area of 892.66 km². The Pukaha / Mount Bruce National Wildlife Centre is located to the south of the town.

History

Early settlement

Eketāhuna was settled in 1872, under the name Mellemskov. It was renamed soon after its founding.

Modern history

The population of Eketāhuna and the wider area has plummeted in the 21st century, dropping from 1,920 in 1996 to just 630 in 2013. On 20 January 2014, the town was the epicenter of the 2014 Eketāhuna earthquake. Measuring 6.2 on the Richter magnitude scale, the quake caused moderate damage all over the southern North Island. In July 2020, the name of the town was officially gazetted as Eketāhuna by the New Zealand Geographic Board.

Mayors

The Eketahuna Borough Council existed from 1907 until 1974 where it superseded by Eketahuna County Council which was later merged into Tararua District.

Demography

Eketāhuna is described by Statistics New Zealand as a rural settlement, which covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². It is part of the wider Nireaha-Eketahuna statistical area. Eketāhuna had a population of 504 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 (13.5%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 48 people (10.5%) 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 222 households, comprising 255 males and 249 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.02 males per female, with 81 people (16.1%) aged under 15 years, 87 (17.3%) aged 15 to 29, 234 (46.4%) aged 30 to 64, and 102 (20.2%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 85.1% 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 ...

, 31.5%

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 ...

, 2.4%

Pasifika Pasifika may refer to: *Pacific Islander people, indigenous peoples of the Pacific Islands **Pasifika New Zealanders, Pacific peoples living in New Zealand *Pacific islands, including Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia *The Pasifika Festival, an an ...

, 1.8%

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 1.8% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity. Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 52.4% had no religion, 30.4% 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 ...

, 1.8% had Māori religious beliefs, 1.2% 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 ...

and 3.6% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 33 (7.8%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 126 (29.8%) people had no formal qualifications. 21 people (5.0%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 156 (36.9%) people were employed full-time, 69 (16.3%) were part-time, and 36 (8.5%) were unemployed.

Nireaha-Eketāhuna

Nireaha-Eketāhuna statistical area covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². Nireaha-Eketāhuna had a population of 1,566 at the

, an increase of 114 people (7.9%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 69 people (4.6%) since the

. There were 597 households, comprising 816 males and 750 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.09 males per female. The median age was 37.7 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 366 people (23.4%) aged under 15 years, 261 (16.7%) aged 15 to 29, 726 (46.4%) aged 30 to 64, and 207 (13.2%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 89.8% European/

, 22.6%

, 1.1%

, 1.7%

, and 1.9% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity. The percentage of people born overseas was 8.8, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 57.7% had no religion, 28.0% were

, 1.5% had Māori religious beliefs, 0.4% were

, 0.2% 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 1.7% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 138 (11.5%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 291 (24.2%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $27,600, compared with $31,800 nationally. 108 people (9.0%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 594 (49.5%) people were employed full-time, 246 (20.5%) were part-time, and 60 (5.0%) were unemployed.

Economy

In 2018, 5.0% of the workforce worked in manufacturing, 6.1% worked in construction, 5.0% worked in hospitality, 1.4% worked in transport, 3.9% worked in education, and 6.4% worked in healthcare.

Transport

As of 2018, among those who commute to work, 46.4% drove a car, 3.2% rode in a car and 2.9% walked or jogged. No one commuted by public transport or cycled.

Education

Eketāhuna School is a co-educational state primary school for Year 1 to 8 students, with a roll of as of .

Notable people

Ellen Anderson Ellen Anderson (born November 25, 1959) is a Minnesota politician, and an advisor to former Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton. Anderson is a former member of the Minnesota Senate who represented District 66, which includes the northern portion of t ...

(1882–1978), district nurse in Eketāhuna * Tania Lineham, born 1966 in Eketāhuna. Royal Society of New Zealand, Science and Technology Teacher Fellowship in 1999 and the Prime Minister's Science Teacher Prize in 2015.

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Eketahuna Populated places in Manawatū-Whanganui Tararua District *