Manakau is a settlement situated in the

Horowhenua District Horowhenua District is a Districts of New Zealand, territorial authority district on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand, administered by Horowhenua District Council. Located north of Wellington and Kāpiti Coast District, Kāpiti, ...

, located at the boundary of the Manawatū-Whanganui and

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

regions of

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

North Island The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...

. It lies 8 km north of Ōtaki and 12 km south of Levin, and is connected to both via

State Highway 1 The following highways are numbered 1. For roads numbered A1, see list of A1 roads. For roads numbered B1, see list of B1 roads. For roads numbered M1, see List of M1 roads. For roads numbered N1, see list of N1 roads. For roads numbered S ...

, which skirts Manakau's western edge. The township is situated 5 km inland from the coast of the

Tasman Sea The Tasman Sea is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated between Australia and New Zealand. It measures about across and about from north to south. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman, who in 1642 wa ...

. In 1886, Manakau became the first place to have a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

on the newly completed Wellington-Manawatu railway line.McKinnon, M.
Horowhenua
" ''Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand'', 21 April 2015. Retrieved 21 April 2018. Although the line is now part of the

North Island Main Trunk The North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) is the main railway line in the North Island of New Zealand, connecting the capital city Wellington with the country's largest city, Auckland. The line is long, built to the New Zealand rail gauge of and ser ...

line, but the station itself has long been closed. Industries in the area include horticulture, and there are several plant nurseries in or close to the township. The name ''Manakau'' comes from 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 Co ...

words ''mana'' (prestige, authority) and ''kau'' (alone, sole). The name refers to an invasion of the district by notable tribal leader

Te Rauparaha Te Rauparaha ( – 27 November 1849) was a Māori rangatira, warlord, and chief of the Ngāti Toa iwi. One of the most powerful military leaders of the Musket Wars, Te Rauparaha fought a war of conquest that greatly expanded Ngāti Toa south ...

, who subdued the area on the strength of his prestige alone, with the local residents putting up no resistance. The streets are named after Māori members of Parliament.

Marae

Manakau has two

marae A ' (in Māori language, New Zealand Māori, Cook Islands Māori, Tahitian language, Tahitian), ' (in Tongan language, Tongan), ' (in Marquesan language, Marquesan) or ' (in Samoan language, Samoan) is a communal or sacred place that serves reli ...

, affiliated with local hapū from the

Ngāti Raukawa Ngāti Raukawa is a Māori iwi (tribe) with traditional bases in the Waikato, Taupō and Manawatū/ Horowhenua regions of New Zealand. In 2006, 29,418 Māori registered their affiliation with Ngāti Raukawa. History Early history Ngāti ...

iwi. Tūkorehe Marae and its meeting house of the same name are affiliated with the hapū of Ngāti Tūkorehe; Wehi Wehi Marae and its meeting house of the same name are affiliated with the hapū of Ngāti Wehi Wehi. In October 2020, the Government committed $482,108 from the

Provincial Growth Fund Shane Geoffrey Jones (born 3 September 1959) is a New Zealand politician and a member of the New Zealand House of Representatives for the New Zealand First party. Jones' political career began 2005 New Zealand general election, in 2005 as a l ...

to Ngāti Tūkorehe to upgrade its Tūkorehe Marae, creating 17.5 positions.

Demographics

Manakau is described by Statistics New Zealand as a rural settlement and covers . It had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². It is part of the wider Ōhau-Manakau statistical area. Manakau had a population of 426 at the

2018 New Zealand census The 2018 New Zealand census, which took place on Tuesday 6 March 2018, was the thirty-fourth national census in New Zealand. The population of New Zealand was counted as 4,699,755 – an increase of 457,707 (10.79%) over the 2013 census. Resu ...

, an increase of 93 people (27.9%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 84 people (24.6%) since the 2006 census. There were 174 households, comprising 204 males and 219 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.93 males per female, with 66 people (15.5%) aged under 15 years, 48 (11.3%) aged 15 to 29, 186 (43.7%) aged 30 to 64, and 120 (28.2%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 85.9% European/

Pākehā ''Pākehā'' (or ''Pakeha''; ; ) is a Māori language, Māori-language word used in English, particularly in New Zealand. It generally means a non-Polynesians, Polynesian New Zealanders, New Zealander or more specifically a European New Zeala ...

, 19.0%

, 1.4% Pasifika, 4.2% Asian, and 2.1% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity. Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 57.0% had no religion, 32.4% were

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

, 1.4% were

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

and 0.7% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 60 (16.7%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 72 (20.0%) people had no formal qualifications. 54 people (15.0%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 171 (47.5%) people were employed full-time, 63 (17.5%) were part-time, and 9 (2.5%) were unemployed.

Education

Manakau School is a co-educational state primary school for Year 1 to 8 students, with a roll of as of . The school was founded in 1888.

References

External links

* {{Horowhenua District Populated places in Manawatū-Whanganui Horowhenua District