Waikaka is a town in

Southland, New Zealand 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 ...

. It was a gold-mining town in the 19th century, starting in 1867 when gold was found. Over

NZ£ The pound (symbol £, £NZ. for distinction) was the currency of New Zealand from 1840 until 1967, when it was replaced by the New Zealand dollar. Like the pound sterling, it was subdivided into 20 shillings (abbreviation s or /) each of 12 pen ...

1,000,000 equivalent of gold was eventually extracted from this location. The town was served by the Waikaka branch railway.

Demographics

Waikaka statistical area covers and also includes

Chatton Chatton is a village in Northumberland, in England. It is roughly to the east of Wooler. History Chatton has been occupied for many centuries. There has been a church on the site since the twelfth century. There is evidence of occupation in ...

and Mandeville. It had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². Waikaka had a population of 1,560 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 6 people (0.4%) 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 582 households. There were 840 males and 717 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.17 males per female. The median age was 39.0 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 348 people (22.3%) aged under 15 years, 252 (16.2%) aged 15 to 29, 762 (48.8%) aged 30 to 64, and 192 (12.3%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 90.0% European/Pākehā, 6.0% Māori, 0.4% Pacific peoples, 7.5% Asian, and 1.9% other ethnicities (totals add to more than 100% since people could identify with multiple ethnicities). The proportion of people born overseas was 12.5%, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people objected to giving their religion, 42.1% had no religion, 47.5% were Christian, 1.2% were Hindu, 0.2% were Muslim, 0.2% were Buddhist and 1.3% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 195 (16.1%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 246 (20.3%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $41,400, compared with $31,800 nationally. 198 people (16.3%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 771 (63.6%) people were employed full-time, 216 (17.8%) were part-time, and 15 (1.2%) were unemployed.

Education

Waikaka School is a full primary school for years 1 to 8 with a roll of students as of The school opened in 1883.

References

{{Gore District Populated places in Southland, New Zealand