Te Puna is a rural community near

Tauranga Tauranga () is a coastal city in the Bay of Plenty region and the fifth most populous city of New Zealand, with an urban population of , or roughly 3% of the national population. It was settled by Māori late in the 13th century, colonised by ...

in the

Bay of Plenty The Bay of Plenty ( mi, Te Moana-a-Toi) is a region of New Zealand, situated around a bight of the same name in the northern coast of the North Island. The bight stretches 260 km from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runawa ...

region of New Zealand's

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 ...

. It is located on State Highway 2, north of

Bethlehem Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital o ...

and south of

Katikati Katikati is a town in New Zealand (North Island) located on the Uretara Stream near a tidal inlet towards the northern end of Tauranga Harbour, 28 kilometres south of Waihi and 40 kilometres northwest of Tauranga. State Highway 2 passes through ...

. The local Te Puna Quarry has been redeveloped by volunteers into a park. Te Puna has three

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 ...

belonging to the

Ngāti Ranginui Ngāti Ranginui is a Māori iwi (tribe) in Bay of Plenty, New Zealand. Its rohe (tribal area) extends from Waihi in the north, to the Kaimai Range in the west, to south of Te Puke in the south, and to Tauranga in the east. The rohe does not exten ...

hapū In Māori and New Zealand English, a ' ("subtribe", or "clan") functions as "the basic political unit within Māori society". A Māori person can belong to or have links to many hapū. Historically, each hapū had its own chief and normally opera ...

of Pirirākau: Paparoa Marae and Werahiko meeting house, Poutūterangi Marae and Takurua meeting house, and Tutereinga Marae and meeting house. Former National Party leader

Todd Muller Todd Michael Muller (; born 23 December 1968) is a New Zealand politician who served as the Leader of the New Zealand National Party and the Leader of the Opposition from 22 May to 14 July 2020. Muller entered Parliament at the 2014 general el ...

was raised in Te Puna in the 1970s, where his parents started a

kiwifruit Kiwifruit (often shortened to kiwi in North American, British and continental European English) or Chinese gooseberry is the edible berry of several species of woody vine A vine (Latin ''vīnea'' "grapevine", "vineyard", from ''vīnum'' ...

orchard. He attended Te Puna Primary School. He entered parliament at the 2014 general election as the MP for

, and was National Party leader and the

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

from 22 May to 14 July 2020.

Demographics

Te Puna statistical area, which includes Motuhoa Island and Te Puna West, covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². Te Puna statistical area had a population of 2,262 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 249 people (12.4%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 258 people (12.9%) 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 744 households, comprising 1,161 males and 1,101 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.05 males per female. The median age was 45.2 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 435 people (19.2%) aged under 15 years, 375 (16.6%) aged 15 to 29, 1,110 (49.1%) aged 30 to 64, and 342 (15.1%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 74.3% 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 ...

, 32.5%

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 ...

, 1.9% 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 0.9% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity. The percentage of people born overseas was 13.4, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 43.4% had no religion, 43.5% 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 ...

, 4.2% had Māori religious beliefs, 0.3% 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 ...

, 0.7% 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 1.3% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 396 (21.7%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 225 (12.3%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $36,400, compared with $31,800 nationally. 399 people (21.8%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 933 (51.1%) people were employed full-time, 369 (20.2%) were part-time, and 54 (3.0%) were unemployed.

Education

Te Puna School is a co-educational state primary school for Year 1 to 8 students, with a roll of as of .

References

{{Western Bay of Plenty District Western Bay of Plenty District Populated places in the Bay of Plenty Region Populated places around the Tauranga Harbour