Meeanee is a locality south of the city of Napier, in the

Hawke's Bay Region Hawke's Bay ( mi, Te Matau-a-Māui) is a local government region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region's name derives from Hawke Bay, which was named by Captain James Cook in honour of Admiral Edward Hawke. The region is ...

on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. It was named after the

Battle of Meeanee The Battle of Miani (or Battle of Meeanee, ) was a battle between forces of the Bombay Army of the East India Company, under the command of Charles James Napier, Charles Napier and the Baluch army of Talpur dynasty, Talpur Emir, Amirs of Sindh, ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

(now spelled ''Miani'', but the area has retained the older spelling), won by Sir Charles Napier, the city's namesake. Along with such locations as Clive and

Havelock North Havelock North ( mi, Te Hemo-a-Te Atonga) is a town in the Hawke's Bay region of the North Island of New Zealand, situated less than 2 km south-east of the city of Hastings. It was a borough for many years until the 1989 reorganisation of loca ...

, it is one of several places within Hawke's Bay to be named after events or people in Colonial India.

History

Meeanee was the only access inland to Taradale until the road was built in 1873, and was the site of a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Marist mission station from the 1850s. The priests introduced

viticulture Viticulture (from the Latin word for '' vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of '' Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ...

to the Hawke's Bay region, planting several vineyards and establishing the

Mission Estate Winery Mission Estate Winery is New Zealand's oldest surviving winemaking concern, first established in the Hawke's Bay in 1851 by French Catholic Marist missionaries for producing sacramental wine. It is one of the largest wineries in the Hawke's Ba ...

in 1851, New Zealand's oldest surviving winemaking concern. They also built St Mary's Church in 1863, which still stands but is now a privately owned restaurant and event venue.

Economy

Meeanee is located on the flat coastal plain south of Napier, and surrounded by farmland and apple orchards.

Demographics

The statistical area of Meeanee-Awatoto, which at 24 square kilometres is larger than this settlement, and also includes Te Awa and

Awatoto Awatoto is a coastal suburb area located near Napier, Hawke's Bay, New Zealand. The New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage gives a translation of "stream for hauling canoes" for ''Awatōtō''. Awatoto had a population of 309 at the 2013 ...

, had a population of 2,541 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 609 people (31.5%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 1,047 people (70.1%) 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 891 households. There were 1,293 males and 1,248 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.04 males per female. The median age was 43.7 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 471 people (18.5%) aged under 15 years, 399 (15.7%) aged 15 to 29, 1,221 (48.1%) aged 30 to 64, and 444 (17.5%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 87.5% European/Pākehā, 14.4% Māori, 3.1% Pacific peoples, 4.5% Asian, and 2.6% other ethnicities (totals add to more than 100% since people could identify with multiple ethnicities). The proportion of people born overseas was 15.0%, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people objected to giving their religion, 53.4% had no religion, 35.3% were Christian, 0.5% were Hindu, 0.1% were Muslim, 0.2% were Buddhist and 3.4% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 381 (18.4%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 327 (15.8%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $37,400, compared with $31,800 nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 1,137 (54.9%) people were employed full-time, 309 (14.9%) were part-time, and 60 (2.9%) were unemployed.

Education

Meeanee School is a co-educational Year 1-8 state primary school, with a roll of as of

References

{{reflist Suburbs of Napier, New Zealand