Kai Iwi is a rural community west of

Whanganui Whanganui (; ), also spelled Wanganui, is a city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest navigable waterway. Whangan ...

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 ...

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 ...

. It lies close to SH 3, approximately halfway between Whanganui and Waitotara. The population centre is at Kai Iwi Beach, also called Mowhanau. The area was settled by Europeans in the 1880s. Other than farming, the community's largest industry is its honey factory, which was founded in 2003.Kai Iwi Honey
website.

Demographics

Kai Iwi is defined by Statistics New Zealand as a rural settlement and covers . It is part of the wider Mowhanau statistical area, which covers . The population of Kai Iwi was 141 in 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 6 (4.4%) since the 2013 census, and a decrease of 27 (-16.1%) since the 2006 census. There were 78 males and 63 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.24 males per female. Ethnicities were 135 people (95.7%) European/Pākehā, and 21 (14.9%) Māori (totals add to more than 100% since people could identify with multiple ethnicities). Of the total population, 24 people (17.0%) were under 15 years old, 21 (14.9%) were 15–29, 68 (48.2%) were 30–64, and 27 (19.1%) were over 65.

Mowhanau statistical area

The Mowhanau statistical area, which also covers Maxwell, had a population of 1,293 at the

, a decrease of 9 people (-0.7%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 135 people (11.7%) 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 492 households. There were 663 males and 627 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.06 males per female. The median age was 44.9 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 273 people (21.1%) aged under 15 years, 174 (13.5%) aged 15 to 29, 648 (50.1%) aged 30 to 64, and 198 (15.3%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 92.1% European/Pākehā, 14.2% Māori, 0.9% Pacific peoples, 2.1% Asian, and 1.9% other ethnicities (totals add to more than 100% since people could identify with multiple ethnicities). The proportion of people born overseas was 12.1%, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people objected to giving their religion, 53.6% had no religion, 38.7% were Christian, 0.2% were Hindu, 0.2% were Muslim, 0.2% were Buddhist and 1.4% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 189 (18.5%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 177 (17.4%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $34,800, compared with $31,800 nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 570 (55.9%) people were employed full-time, 198 (19.4%) were part-time, and 18 (1.8%) were unemployed.

Marae

Kai Iwi has three

marae A ' (in New Zealand Māori, Cook Islands Māori, Tahitian), ' (in Tongan), ' (in Marquesan) or ' (in Samoan) is a communal or sacred place that serves religious and social purposes in Polynesian societies. In all these languages, the term a ...

, affiliated with Ngāti Iti and the

Ngā Rauru Ngā Rauru (also ''Ngā Rauru Kītahi'') is a Māori iwi in the South Taranaki region of New Zealand. In the 2006 census, 4,047 Māori claimed affiliation to Ngā Rauru, representing 12 hapu. History Early history The early history of Ngā Rauru ...

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 ...

Ngāti Pūkeko 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 ...

: Te Aroha Marae and Te Kotahitanga meeting house; Kai Iwi Marae and Awhakaueroa meeting house; and Taipake Marae and Taipake meeting house. In October 2020, the Government committed $522,926 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 Te Ihupuku Marae, Waipapa Marae and Te Aroha Marae, creating 92 jobs.

Education

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

References

{{Whanganui District Whanganui District Populated places in Manawatū-Whanganui