Timaru District is a

local government district The districts of England (also known as local authority districts or local government districts to distinguish from unofficial city districts) are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government. As the st ...

on New Zealand's

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

, administered by the Timaru District Council. It is part of the larger

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 fo ...

Geography

The Timaru District is located on the east coast of the South Island and stretches inland as far as the

Main Divide The Southern Alps (; officially Southern Alps / Kā Tiritiri o te Moana) is a mountain range extending along much of the length of New Zealand's South Island, reaching its greatest elevations near the range's western side. The name "Souther ...

. The district has a population of

Timaru Timaru (; mi, Te Tihi-o-Maru) is a port city in the southern Canterbury Region of New Zealand, located southwest of Christchurch and about northeast of Dunedin on the eastern Pacific coast of the South Island. The Timaru urban area is home to ...

is the main town. The next biggest towns in order are

Temuka Temuka is a town on New Zealand's Canterbury Plains, 15 kilometres north of Timaru and 142 km south of Christchurch. It is located at the centre of a rich sheep and dairy farming region, for which it is a service town. It lies on the north ...

, Geraldine and Pleasant Point. Smaller settlements include

Arundel Arundel ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Arun District of the South Downs, West Sussex, England. The much-conserved town has a medieval castle and Roman Catholic cathedral. Arundel has a museum and comes second behind much large ...

Cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

, Orari and

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

. The Timaru District Library has branches situated in Timaru, Temuka and Geraldine.

Demographics

Timaru District covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². Timaru District had a population of 46,296 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 2,364 people (5.4%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 3,426 people (8.0%) 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 19,119 households. There were 22,812 males and 23,481 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.97 males per female. The median age was 44.8 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 8,289 people (17.9%) aged under 15 years, 7,596 (16.4%) aged 15 to 29, 20,280 (43.8%) aged 30 to 64, and 10,128 (21.9%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 90.4% European/Pākehā, 9.1% Māori, 1.9% Pacific peoples, 4.4% Asian, and 1.9% 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 objected to giving their religion, 48.4% had no religion, 40.8% were Christian, 0.7% were Hindu, 0.2% were Muslim, 0.3% were Buddhist and 1.8% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 4,887 (12.9%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 9,597 (25.3%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $30,300, compared with $31,800 nationally. 5,415 people (14.2%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 18,456 (48.6%) people were employed full-time, 5,751 (15.1%) were part-time, and 951 (2.5%) were unemployed.

History

Timaru has its origins in a sheep station, ''The Levels'', run by George Rhodes. In 1868, residents petitioned for the town to be established as a borough, and the Timaru Borough Council was proclaimed in 1868.

Economy

Venture Timaru is the regional development and tourism organisation.

References

External links

Timaru District Council website

Timaru District Tourism website
{{Cities and districts of New Zealand 1989 establishments in New Zealand