Whanganui District is one of the

districts of New Zealand A district in New Zealand is a territorial authority area governed by a district council as a second-tier of local government in New Zealand, below regional councils. They were formed as a result of the local government reforms in 1989. There are ...

. It includes the city of

Whanganui Whanganui (; ), also spelled Wanganui, is a city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest navigable waterway. Whangan ...

and surrounding areas.

Geography

Formerly spelled "Wanganui", the Whanganui District Council resulted from the amalgamation of Wanganui and Waitotara county councils and Wanganui City Council. The district has an area of 2,373 km². Much of the land in Whanganui District is rough hill country surrounding the valley of the

Whanganui River The Whanganui River is a major river in the North Island of New Zealand. It is the country's third-longest river, and has special status owing to its importance to the region's Māori people. In March 2017 it became the world's second natura ...

. A large proportion of this is within the

Whanganui National Park The Whanganui National Park is a national park located in the North Island of New Zealand. Established in 1986, it covers an area of 742 km2 bordering the Whanganui River. It incorporates areas of Crown land, former state forest and a numb ...

. In 2015 the New Zealand Geographic Board, at the request of the Wanganui District Council, changed the name of the district from Wanganui District to Whanganui District, bringing the name in line with the spelling of the river.

Demographics

Whanganui District covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². All but some people in the Whanganui District live in the city itself, meaning there are few prominent outlying settlements. A small but notable village is

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

. Whanganui District had a population of 45,309 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 3,156 people (7.5%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 2,673 people (6.3%) 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 18,057 households. There were 21,912 males and 23,397 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.94 males per female. The median age was 43.0 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 8,937 people (19.7%) aged under 15 years, 7,692 (17.0%) aged 15 to 29, 19,371 (42.8%) aged 30 to 64, and 9,309 (20.5%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 79.2% European/Pākehā, 26.3% Māori, 3.6% Pacific peoples, 4.1% Asian, and 1.7% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity. The percentage of people born overseas was 12.3, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people objected to giving their religion, 48.3% had no religion, 37.3% were Christian, 0.6% were Hindu, 0.3% were Muslim, 0.4% were Buddhist and 5.0% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 5,130 (14.1%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 8,427 (23.2%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $24,400, compared with $31,800 nationally. 3,300 people (9.1%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 15,159 (41.7%) people were employed full-time, 5,406 (14.9%) were part-time, and 1,866 (5.1%) were unemployed.

References

External links

Whanganui District Council
{{Cities and districts of New Zealand