Te Kao is a village on the

Aupouri Peninsula The Aupouri Peninsula is a tombolo at the northern tip of the North Island of New Zealand. It projects between the Tasman Sea to the west and the Pacific Ocean to the east. It constitutes the northern part of the Far North District, incorporat ...

of Northland, New Zealand.

Te Aupōuri Te Aupōuri is the second northernmost Māori iwi (tribal group), located north of Kaitaia, Northland, New Zealand, a region known as the Te Hiku o te Ika. The iwi is one of the six Muriwhenua iwi of the far north of the North Island. Te Reo ...

are

mana whenua In New Zealand, tangata whenua () is a Māori term that literally means "people of the land". It can refer to either a specific group of people with historical claims to a district, or more broadly the Māori people as a whole. Etymology Accordi ...

(tribe with traditional authority over a territory) over Te Kao and the surrounding district, and it is the principal settlement of the

iwi 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 ...

(tribe). Te Aupōuri's Post-Settlement Governance Entity, Te Runanga Nui o Te Aupōuri, has an office at Te Kao, along with the iwi's

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 ...

and urupa.

State Highway 1 The following highways are numbered 1. For roads numbered A1, see list of A1 roads. For roads numbered B1, see list of B1 roads. For roads numbered M1, see List of M1 roads. For roads numbered N1, see list of N1 roads. For roads numbere ...

passes through the district.

Cape Reinga , type =Cape , photo = Cape Reinga, Northland, New Zealand, October 2007.jpg , photo_width = 270px , photo_alt = , photo_caption = , map = New Zealand , map_width = 270px ...

is 46 km to the north, and

Houhora Houhora is a locality and harbour on the east side of the Aupouri Peninsula of Northland, New Zealand. It is north of Kaitaia. Waihopo, Te Raupo, Pukenui, Raio and Houhora Heads are associated localities on the southern shores of the harbour. S ...

is 24 km to the south. The Aupouri Forest and Ninety Mile Beach are to the west. The New Zealand

Ministry for Culture and Heritage The Ministry for Culture and Heritage (MCH; ) is the department of the New Zealand Government responsible for supporting the arts, culture, built heritage, sport and recreation, and broadcasting sectors in New Zealand and advising government on ...

gives a translation of "the dried

kūmara The sweet potato or sweetpotato (''Ipomoea batatas'') is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the bindweed or morning glory family, Convolvulaceae. Its large, starchy, sweet-tasting tuberous roots are used as a root vegetable. The young shoot ...

" for . The athlete Te Houtaewa, of

, started his legendary run along Ninety Mile Beach at Te Kao.

Demographics

Te Kao is in an SA1 statistical area which covers and includes the area between the mouth of

Parengarenga Harbour Parengarenga Harbour is a natural harbour close to the northernmost point on the North Island of New Zealand. Located at the northern end of the Aupouri Peninsula, it extends inland for over 10 kilometres, almost severing the northern tip of t ...

and Tauwhia Stream. The SA1 area is part of the larger North Cape statistical area. The SA1 statistical area had a population of 225 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 54 people (31.6%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 9 people (4.2%) 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 75 households, comprising 120 males and 105 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.14 males per female. The median age was 30.5 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 57 people (25.3%) aged under 15 years, 54 (24.0%) aged 15 to 29, 75 (33.3%) aged 30 to 64, and 36 (16.0%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 22.7% European/Pākehā, 92.0% Māori, 9.3% Pacific peoples, and 1.3% Asian. People may identify with more than one ethnicity. Of those people who chose to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 20.0% had no religion, 45.3% were Christian and 29.3% had Māori religious beliefs. Of those at least 15 years old, 9 (5.4%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 36 (21.4%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $20,000, compared with $31,800 nationally. 6 people (3.6%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 66 (39.3%) people were employed full-time, 18 (10.7%) were part-time, and 9 (5.4%) were unemployed.

Marae

Pōtahi Marae, near the centre of Te Kao, is the traditional meeting place for

, and includes the wharehui (meeting house) ''Waimirirangi'' and wharekai (dining hall) '' Te Rongopātūtaonga''. In October 2020, the Government committed $220,442 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 the marae, creating 9 jobs.

Education

Te Kura o Te Kao is a coeducational full primary (years 1–8) school with a roll of students as of The school started as Te Kao Native School in 1881. It became Te Kao Area School, providing education up to seventh form, but with few secondary students it changed to become a primary school in 1999. The school celebrated its 125th anniversary during Labour Weekend in 2006. It became a designated character school at the start of 2019, and extended to include years 9 and 10 in 2020.

Notes

{{Far North District Far North District Populated places in the Northland Region