Riversdale is a small town in the

Southland region Southland ( mi, Murihiku) is New Zealand's southernmost region. It consists mainly of the southwestern portion of the South Island and Stewart Island/Rakiura. It includes Southland District, Gore District and the city of Invercargill. The r ...

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 ...

Geography

Riversdale is located between the

Hokonui Hills The Hokonui Hills, also known as ''The Hokonui Mountains'' or simply ''The Hokonui'', are a range of hills in central Southland, New Zealand. They rise to 600 metres above the surrounding Southland Plains, of which the hills mark a northern extre ...

and the

Mataura River The Mataura River is in the Southland Region of the South Island of New Zealand. It is long. Description The river's headwaters are located in the Eyre Mountains to the south of Lake Wakatipu. From there it flows southeast towards Gore, New ...

in the heart of the Waimea Plains, and is roughly equidistant between

Gore Gore may refer to: Places Australia * Gore, Queensland * Gore Creek (New South Wales) * Gore Island (Queensland) Canada * Gore, Nova Scotia, a rural community * Gore, Quebec, a township municipality * Gore Bay, Ontario, a township on Manitouli ...

and Lumsden on State Highway 94, the main road linking Gore with the tourist destination of

Milford Sound Milford Sound / Piopiotahi is a fiord in the south west of New Zealand's South Island within Fiordland National Park, Piopiotahi (Milford Sound) Marine Reserve, and the Te Wahipounamu World Heritage site. It has been judged the world's top tra ...

. In terms of climate, Riversdale has a temperate oceanic climate grading onto a continental climate more commonly found in

Central Otago Central Otago is located in the inland part of the Otago region in the South Island of New Zealand. The motto for the area is "A World of Difference". The area is dominated by mountain ranges and the upper reaches of the Clutha River and tributa ...

, with cold, wet winters and warm summers. The Riversdale region is one of the few areas in Southland prone to drought during the summer months.

Demographics

Riversdale is described as a rural settlement by Statistics New Zealand. It covers , and is part of the much larger Riversdale-Piano Flat statistical area. Riversdale had a population of 408 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 9 people (2.3%) since the 2013 census, and unchanged 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 168 households. There were 207 males and 201 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.03 males per female, with 78 people (19.1%) aged under 15 years, 63 (15.4%) aged 15 to 29, 174 (42.6%) aged 30 to 64, and 93 (22.8%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 89.0% European/Pākehā, 13.2% Māori, 1.5% Pacific peoples, 3.7% Asian, and 1.5% other ethnicities (totals add to more than 100% since people could identify with multiple ethnicities). Although some people objected to giving their religion, 47.1% had no religion, 47.1% were Christian and 0.7% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 30 (9.1%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 93 (28.2%) people had no formal qualifications. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 165 (50.0%) people were employed full-time, 51 (15.5%) were part-time, and 6 (1.8%) were unemployed.

Riversdale-Piano Flat

Riversdale-Piano Flat statistical area covers and also includes

Waikaia Waikaia, formerly known as Switzers, is a town in the Southland region of New Zealand's South Island. From 1909 until 1959, it was the terminus of the Waikaia Branch railway. The population in the 2013 census was 99, unchanged from the previo ...

. It had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². Riversdale-Piano Flat had a population of 1,374 at the

, an increase of 33 people (2.5%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 75 people (5.8%) since the

. There were 540 households. There were 735 males and 639 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.15 males per female. The median age was 36.5 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 303 people (22.1%) aged under 15 years, 249 (18.1%) aged 15 to 29, 606 (44.1%) aged 30 to 64, and 216 (15.7%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 92.1% European/Pākehā, 10.5% Māori, 1.1% Pacific peoples, 3.7% Asian, and 1.1% other ethnicities (totals add to more than 100% since people could identify with multiple ethnicities). The proportion of people born overseas was 10.3%, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people objected to giving their religion, 48.3% had no religion, 44.8% were Christian, 0.2% were Hindu and 0.7% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 129 (12.0%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 246 (23.0%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $39,900, compared with $31,800 nationally. 189 people (17.6%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 642 (59.9%) people were employed full-time, 186 (17.4%) were part-time, and 24 (2.2%) were unemployed.

Railway

In 1880, the

Waimea Plains Railway The Waimea Plains Railway was a secondary railway line (not a branch line) that linked the towns of Lumsden and Gore in northern Southland, New Zealand. It skirted the Hokonui Hills, and operated as a through route between 31 July 1880 and 1 A ...

was opened; it linked Gore on the

Main South Line The Main South Line, sometimes referred to as part of the South Island Main Trunk Railway, is a railway line that runs north and south from Lyttelton in New Zealand through Christchurch and along the east coast of the South Island to Inverca ...

with Lumsden on the

Kingston Branch The Kingston Branch was a major railway line in Southland, New Zealand. It formed part of New Zealand's national rail network for over a century: construction began in 1864, Kingston was reached in 1878, and it closed in 1979. For much o ...

and passed through Riversdale. The line was an important economic link for many years, and the original Kingston Flyers that gave their name to today's Kingston Flyer tourist train in Kingston passed through Riversdale on their way to Gore or

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

from the 1890s through to Easter 1957. With the improvement of road transportation and changes in government regulations, the railway lost its profitability, and in 1971, most of the line was closed, including the section through Riversdale.

Education

Riversdale School is a state full primary school for years 1 to 8 with a roll of as of The school first opened in 1882.

References

{{Southland District Populated places in Southland, New Zealand