The town of Pauanui (a

Māori language Māori (), or ('the Māori language'), also known as ('the language'), is an Eastern Polynesian language spoken by the Māori people, the indigenous population of mainland New Zealand. Closely related to Cook Islands Māori, Tuamotuan, and ...

name meaning "big

pāua Pāua is the Māori name given to three New Zealand species of large edible sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs which belong to the family Haliotidae (in which there is only one genus, ''Haliotis''), known in the United States and Austral ...

(abalone)") is on the east coast of the

Coromandel Peninsula The Coromandel Peninsula ( mi, Te Tara-O-Te-Ika-A-Māui) on the North Island of New Zealand extends north from the western end of the Bay of Plenty, forming a natural barrier protecting the Hauraki Gulf and the Firth of Thames in the we ...

in the

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 ...

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 ...

. It lies at the mouth of the

Tairua River The Tairua River is located on the Coromandel Peninsula in the North Island of New Zealand. It flows north and then northeast for a total of from its source in the Coromandel Range to the west of Whangamatā, passing through the town of Hik ...

on its south bank, directly opposite the larger town of

Tairua The town of Tairua is on the east coast of the Coromandel Peninsula in the North Island of New Zealand. It lies at the mouth of the Tairua River on its north bank and on the small Paku Peninsula. Tairua is a Māori name which translates litera ...

. The two settlements are 30 kilometres east of

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

. Several islands lie off the mouth of the river, notably

Slipper Island Slipper Island (Māori: ''Whakahau'') is located to the east of the Coromandel Peninsula in New Zealand's North Island and southeast of the town of Pauanui. History Approximately 18,000 years ago during the Last Glacial Maximum when sea level ...

to the southeast and the

Aldermen Islands The Aldermen Islands are a small group of rocky islets to the southeast of Mercury Bay in the North Island of New Zealand. They are located off the coast of the Coromandel Peninsula, east of the mouth of the Tairua River. The islands were nam ...

20 kilometres to the East. The area is a popular holiday destination, with an estimated summer holiday maker population of over 15,000. Pauanui is known as New Zealand's holiday destination for the elite and wealthy. It is approximately a one-hour 50 minute drive from

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

- New Zealand's most populous city. The settlement has an airstrip used by recreational light-aircraft pilots and is noted for

game fishing Game fish, sport fish or quarry refer to popular fish pursued by recreational anglers, and can be freshwater or saltwater fish. Game fish can be eaten after being caught, or released after capture. Some game fish are also targeted commerciall ...

diving Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), a ...

surfing Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suitabl ...

and its excellent beach. The area was developed in the late 1960s with a focus on families and included features that were first of their kind in New Zealand, such as red-coloured roads to improve the visibility of pedestrians.

Demographics

Pauanui covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². Pauanui Airfield Right Within The Village 01

Pauanui had a population of 1,005 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 180 people (21.8%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 204 people (25.5%) 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 501 households, comprising 486 males and 519 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.94 males per female. The median age was 63.1 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 96 people (9.6%) aged under 15 years, 84 (8.4%) aged 15 to 29, 372 (37.0%) aged 30 to 64, and 456 (45.4%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 94.6% 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 ...

, 5.7%

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 ...

, 0.6% Pacific peoples, 2.4%

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 2.7% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity. The percentage of people born overseas was 18.2, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 48.4% had no religion, 43.0% 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 ...

, 0.9% 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 ...

, 0.3% 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 2.1% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 120 (13.2%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 168 (18.5%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $29,700, compared with $31,800 nationally. 138 people (15.2%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 291 (32.0%) people were employed full-time, 135 (14.9%) were part-time, and 3 (0.3%) were unemployed.

References

External links

1:50,000 map
{{Authority control Thames-Coromandel District Populated places in Waikato