Omihi or Ōmihi is a rural community in the Hurunui District of the

Canterbury Region Canterbury ( mi, Waitaha) is a region of New Zealand, located in the central-eastern South Island. The region covers an area of , making it the largest region in the country by area. It is home to a population of The region in its current f ...

, on New Zealand's South Island. It is located 21km north-east of Amberley. Translated from

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 ...

, it means place of (''Ō'') greeting, wailing or lamentation (''mihi''). European settlers began farming the area in the late 19th century. The Omihi settlement includes a school and a community hall, which is used for a range of functions. The settlement has a war memorial obelisk, featuring the names of ten local men who died in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and five local men who died in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Demographics

The Omihi statistical area, which also includes

Waipara Waipara is a small town in north Canterbury, New Zealand, on the banks of the Waipara River. Its name translates to "Muddy Water", ''wai'' meaning water and ''para'' meaning mud. It is at the junction of state highways 1 and 7, 60 kilometre ...

and

Greta Valley Greta Valley is a town in North Canterbury, 83 km north of Christchurch, New Zealand. It was named after the River Greta in Yorkshire by local runholders Sir Charles Clifford and Sir Frederick Weld in the 1850s, but it is to the east ...

, covers . It had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². Omihi had a population of 1,242 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 45 people (3.8%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 48 people (4.0%) 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 486 households. There were 660 males and 579 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.14 males per female. The median age was 45.6 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 231 people (18.6%) aged under 15 years, 162 (13.0%) aged 15 to 29, 639 (51.4%) aged 30 to 64, and 207 (16.7%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 95.2% European/Pākehā, 8.9% Māori, 0.7% Pacific peoples, 1.0% 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 10.6%, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people objected to giving their religion, 57.7% had no religion, 32.6% were Christian, 0.2% were Hindu, 0.2% were Buddhist and 1.2% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 162 (16.0%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 210 (20.8%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $31,000, compared with $31,800 nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 561 (55.5%) people were employed full-time, 189 (18.7%) were part-time, and 18 (1.8%) were unemployed.

Education

Omihi School is a co-educational state primary school for Year 1 to 8 students, with a roll of as of . The school was founded in 1900 with a roll of 31 and one classroom. The school was expanded between 1906 and 1911, and moved to a new position on the same site in 1948. It currently has two classrooms, an office block, a school house, a library and a swimming pool.

References

{{Hurunui District Populated places in Canterbury, New Zealand Hurunui District