Riwaka ( mi, Riuwaka) is a small settlement in the

Tasman District Tasman District () is a local government district in the northwest of the South Island of New Zealand. It borders the Canterbury Region, West Coast Region, Marlborough Region and Nelson City. It is administered by the Tasman District Council, ...

of 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 ...

. It lies beside

Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere Tasman Bay (; officially Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere), originally known in English as Blind Bay, is a large V-shaped bay at the north end of New Zealand's South Island. Located in the centre of the island's northern coast, it stretches along ...

, five kilometres north of

Motueka Motueka is a town in the South Island of New Zealand, close to the mouth of the Motueka River on the western shore of Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere. It is the second largest in the Tasman Region, with a population of as of The surrounding dis ...

, and close to the mouth of the

Riuwaka River The Riuwaka River, formerly known as the Riwaka River, is located in the Nelson region in the northwest of New Zealand's South Island. It flows for 20 kilometres, entering Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere close to the town of Riwaka, 10 kilometres no ...

. The land where the town is based was a swamp known as Tureauraki. Europeans first settled in Riwaka in May 1842. The Riwaka economy has been based around growing

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

and

hops Hops are the flowers (also called seed cones or strobiles) of the hop plant ''Humulus lupulus'', a member of the Cannabaceae family of flowering plants. They are used primarily as a bittering, flavouring, and stability agent in beer, to whi ...

Etymology

The settlement's name, ''Riwaka'', is a corruption of the

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 ...

name ''Riuwaka'', which derives from ''riu'' meaning ''bilge'' or ''interior'', and ''waka'' meaning ''canoe''. The name can be interpreted as ''the hull of the canoe''. The name of the nearby river was officially altered from ''Riwaka River'' to ''Riuwaka River'' in August 2014, following the

Treaty of Waitangi settlements Claims and settlements under the Treaty of Waitangi have been a significant feature of New Zealand politics since the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975 and the Waitangi Tribunal that was established by that act to hear claims. Successive governments ...

between

the Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...

and local

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 ...

Ngāti Rārua Ngāti Rārua are a Māori iwi (tribe) of the Tainui tribal confederation, descendants of the people who arrived in Aotearoa aboard the ''Tainui'' waka (canoe). Ngāti Rārua stem from the marriage of Rārua-ioio and Tū-pāhau and had their ...

and

Te Atiawa o Te Waka-a-Māui Te Atiawa o Te Waka-a-Māui is a Māori iwi (tribe) in the upper South Island of New Zealand. Its rohe (tribal area) extends from Golden Bay and Marlborough Sounds at the top of the South Island to Cape Campbell, St Arnaud and Westport. Marae ...

Demographics

Riwaka

Riwaka, comprising the SA1 statistical areas of 7022557, 7022560, 7022561, 7022562 and 7022566, covers . It had a population of 765 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 108 people (16.4%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 135 people (21.4%) 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 270 households. There were 396 males and 372 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.06 males per female, with 168 people (22.0%) aged under 15 years, 117 (15.3%) aged 15 to 29, 366 (47.8%) aged 30 to 64, and 111 (14.5%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 92.5% European/Pākehā, 14.1% Māori, 1.6% Pacific peoples, 2.0% Asian, and 2.7% other ethnicities (totals add to more than 100% since people could identify with multiple ethnicities). Although some people objected to giving their religion, 66.3% had no religion, 21.2% were Christian, 0.4% were Hindu, 0.4% were Buddhist and 3.5% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 96 (16.1%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 114 (19.1%) people had no formal qualifications. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 333 (55.8%) people were employed full-time, 96 (16.1%) were part-time, and 12 (2.0%) were unemployed.

Kaiteriteri-Riwaka statistical area

The larger Kaiteriteri-Riwaka SA2 statistical area includes

Mārahau Mārahau is a village in the Tasman District of the South Island of New Zealand, approximately north of Motueka. Its location on Tasman Bay and at the southern entrance of the Abel Tasman National Park makes it a popular holiday destination fo ...

and

Kaiteriteri Kaiteriteri is a town and seaside resort in the Tasman Region of the South Island of New Zealand. It is close to both Mārahau, the main gateway to Abel Tasman National Park, and the town of Motueka. Kaiteriteri is a small coastal town re ...

and covers . It had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². Kaiteriteri-Riwaka had a population of 1,761 at the

, an increase of 222 people (14.4%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 297 people (20.3%) since the

. There were 591 households. There were 915 males and 846 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.08 males per female. The median age was 44.5 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 297 people (16.9%) aged under 15 years, 273 (15.5%) aged 15 to 29, 888 (50.4%) aged 30 to 64, and 306 (17.4%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 90.5% European/Pākehā, 10.4% Māori, 4.9% Pacific peoples, 1.4% Asian, and 2.7% other ethnicities (totals add to more than 100% since people could identify with multiple ethnicities). The proportion of people born overseas was 23.7%, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people objected to giving their religion, 62.5% had no religion, 26.1% were Christian, 0.2% were Hindu, 0.5% were Buddhist and 3.4% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 240 (16.4%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 258 (17.6%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $29,000, compared with $31,800 nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 747 (51.0%) people were employed full-time, 279 (19.1%) were part-time, and 36 (2.5%) were unemployed.

Church

The Saint Barnabas

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

church is located on Main Road, Riwaka.

Education

Riwaka School is a co-educational state primary school for Year 1 to 8 students, with a roll of as of . The school, opened in 1848, is one of the oldest schools in New Zealand.

References

{{Tasman District Populated places in the Tasman District Populated places around Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere