35-807: The Ōhura River is a river of the western North Island of New Zealand. It flows southward from its source close to the town of Ōhura , and flows into the Whanganui River . In July 2020, the name of the river was officially gazetted as Ōhura River by the New Zealand Geographic Board . This article about a river in Manawatū-Whanganui is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . North Island The North Island ( Māori : Te Ika-a-Māui [tɛ i.kɐ ɐ mɑː.ʉ.i] , lit. 'the fish of Māui', officially North Island or Te Ika-a-Māui or historically New Ulster )
70-561: A Māori-language newspaper published on 8 February 1893. It contained the dedication on the front page, " He perehi tenei mo nga iwi Maori, katoa, o Aotearoa, mete Waipounamu ", meaning "This is a publication for the Māori tribes of the North Island and the South Island". After the adoption of the name New Zealand ( anglicised from Nova Zeelandia ) by Europeans, one name used by Māori to denote
105-653: A book called Polynesian Mythology and Ancient Traditional History of the New Zealand Race . In a reference to Māui , the culture hero , Grey's translation from the Māori reads as follows: Thus died this Maui we have spoken of; but before he died he had children, and sons were born to him; some of his descendants yet live in Hawaiki , some in Aotearoa (or in these islands); the greater part of his descendants remained in Hawaiki, but
140-422: A few of them came here to Aotearoa . The use of Aotearoa to refer to the whole country is a post-colonial custom. Before the period of contact with Europeans, Māori did not have a commonly used name for the entire New Zealand archipelago . As late as the 1890s the name was used in reference to the North Island ( Te Ika-a-Māui ) only; an example of this usage appeared in the first issue of Huia Tangata Kotahi ,
175-610: A referendum on the same change, is needed". In September 2021, Te Pāti Māori started a petition to change the name of New Zealand to Aotearoa. The petition reached 50,000 signatures in two days. In September 2021, Hobson's Pledge , a lobby group that opposes specific rights for Māori (led by former leader of the National Party Don Brash ), initiated a petition to eradicate "Aotearoa" from official use. Hobson's Pledge spokespersons Casey Costello and Don Brash called on Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to publicly affirm that
210-626: A whole. During the Last Glacial Period when sea levels were over 100 metres lower than present day levels, the North and South islands were connected by a vast coastal plain which formed at the South Taranaki Bight . During this period, most of the North Island was covered in thorn scrubland and forest , while the modern-day Northland Peninsula was a subtropical rainforest . Sea levels began to rise 7,000 years ago, eventually separating
245-459: Is in the North Island", "my mother lives in the North Island". Maps, headings, tables, and adjectival expressions use North Island without "the". According to Māori mythology , the North and South Islands of New Zealand arose through the actions of the demigod Māui . Māui and his brothers were fishing from their canoe (the South Island) when he caught a great fish and pulled it right up from
280-593: Is not known. The word can be broken up as: ao ('cloud', 'dawn', 'daytime' or 'world'), tea ('white', 'clear' or 'bright') and roa ('long'). It can also be broken up as Aotea , the name of one of the migratory canoes that travelled to New Zealand, and roa ('long'). The most common literal translation is 'long white cloud', commonly lengthened to 'the land of the long white cloud'. Alternative translations include 'long bright world' or 'land of abiding day', possibly referring to New Zealand having longer summer days in comparison to those further north in
315-469: Is one of the two main islands of New Zealand , separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait . With an area of 113,729 km (43,911 sq mi), it is the world's 14th-largest island , constituting 43% of New Zealand's land area. It has a population of 4,077,800 (June 2024), which is 76% of New Zealand's residents, making it the most populous island in Polynesia and
350-448: The 28th-most-populous island in the world. Twelve main urban areas (half of them officially cities) are in the North Island. From north to south, they are Whangārei , Auckland , Hamilton , Tauranga , Rotorua , Gisborne , New Plymouth , Napier , Hastings , Whanganui , Palmerston North , and New Zealand's capital city Wellington , which is located at the south-west tip of the island. The island has been known internationally as
385-612: The Anglican Church is divided into three cultural streams or tikanga (Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia), with the Aotearoa tikanga covering Māori-speaking congregations within New Zealand. In 2015, to celebrate Te Wiki o te Reo Māori (Māori Language Week), the Black Caps (the New Zealand national cricket team) played under the name Aotearoa for their first match against Zimbabwe . A petition initiated by David Chester
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#1732858333782420-478: The North Island for many years. The Te Reo Māori name for it, Te Ika-a-Māui , also has official recognition but it remains seldom used by most residents. On some 19th-century maps, the North Island is named New Ulster (named after Ulster province in northern Ireland) which was also a province of New Zealand that included the North Island. In 2009 the New Zealand Geographic Board found that, along with
455-573: The 2023 census, 63.1% of North Islanders identified as European ( Pākehā ), 19.8% as Māori , 10.6% as Pacific peoples , 19.3% as Asian , 1.9% as Middle Eastern/Latin American/African, and 1.1% as other ethnicities. Percentages add to more than 100% as people can identify with more than one ethnicity. Māori form the majority in three districts of the North Island: Kawerau (63.2%), Ōpōtiki (66.2%) and Wairoa (68.5%). Europeans formed
490-525: The North Island is provided by fifteen District Health Boards (DHBs) . Organised around geographical areas of varying population sizes, they are not coterminous with the Local Government Regions . Aotearoa Aotearoa ( Māori: [aɔˈtɛaɾɔa] ) is the Māori-language name for New Zealand . The name was originally used by Māori in reference only to the North Island , with
525-491: The Pacific Ocean. In some traditional stories, Aotearoa was the name of the canoe ( waka ) of the explorer Kupe , and he named the land after it. Kupe's wife Kuramārōtini (in some versions, his daughter) was watching the horizon and called "He ao! He ao!" ('a cloud! a cloud!'). Other versions say the canoe was guided by a long white cloud in the course of the day and by a long bright cloud at night. On arrival,
560-453: The South Island, the North Island had no official name. After a public consultation, the board officially named it North Island, or the aforementioned Te Ika-a-Māui, in October 2013. In prose, the two main islands of New Zealand are called the North Island and the South Island , with the definite article. It is also normal to use the preposition in rather than on , for example "Hamilton
595-437: The South Island, this is solely due to the North Island having higher natural increase (i.e. births minus deaths) and international migration; since the late 1980s, the internal migration flow has been from the North Island to the South Island. In the year to June 2020, the North Island gained 21,950 people from natural increase and 62,710 people from international migration, while losing 3,570 people from internal migration. At
630-462: The South Island, with the country's largest city, Auckland, and the capital, Wellington, accounting for nearly half of it. There are 30 urban areas in the North Island with a population of 10,000 or more: The sub-national GDP of the North Island was estimated at NZ$ 282.355 billion in 2021 (78% of New Zealand's national GDP). Nine local government regions cover the North Island and its adjacent islands and territorial waters. Healthcare in
665-475: The anthem is sung in Māori. Additionally, William Pember Reeves used Aotearoa to mean New Zealand in his history of the country published in 1898, The Long White Cloud Ao-tea-roa. Since the late 20th century Aotearoa is becoming widespread also in the bilingual names of national organisations, such as the National Library of New Zealand / Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa . The New Zealand province of
700-411: The circumnavigation of New Zealand. The maps described the North Island as " Ea Heinom Auwe " and " Aeheinomowe ", which recognises the "Fish of Māui" element. Another Māori name that was given to the North Island, but is now used less commonly, is Aotearoa . Use of Aotearoa to describe the North Island fell out of favour in the early 20th century, and it is now a collective Māori name for New Zealand as
735-418: The cloud formations which helped early Polynesian navigators find the country. Beginning in the late 20th century, Aotearoa has become widespread in the bilingual naming of national organisations and institutions. Since the 1990s, it has been customary for particular parties to sing the New Zealand national anthem, " God Defend New Zealand " (or "Aotearoa"), in both Māori and English, which further exposed
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#1732858333782770-447: The conclusion of the Otago gold rush in the 1860s, New Zealand's European population growth has experienced a steady 'Northern drift' as population centres in the North Island have grown faster than those of New Zealand's South Island. This population trend has continued into the twenty-first century, but at a much slower rate. While the North Island's population continues to grow faster than
805-476: The country as a whole was Niu Tireni , a respelling of New Zealand derived from an approximate pronunciation. The expanded meaning of Aotearoa among Pākehā became commonplace in the late 19th century. Aotearoa was used for the name of New Zealand in the 1878 translation of " God Defend New Zealand ", by Judge Thomas Henry Smith of the Native Land Court —this translation is widely used today when
840-648: The islands and linking the Cook Strait to the Tasman Sea . The North Island has an estimated population of 4,077,800 as of June 2024. The North Island had a population of 3,808,005 at the 2023 New Zealand census , an increase of 213,453 people (5.9%) since the 2018 census , and an increase of 570,957 people (17.6%) since the 2013 census . Of the total population, 733,893 people (19.3%) were aged under 15 years, 743,154 (19.5%) were 15 to 29, 1,721,427 (45.2%) were 30 to 64, and 609,534 (16.0%) were 65 or older. Ever since
875-590: The name to a wider audience. New Zealand English speakers pronounce the word with various degrees of approximation to the original Māori pronunciation, from / ˌ ɑː ə t eɪ ə ˈ r ɔː ə / [ˌɐːɘtæeɘˈɹoːɘ] at one end of the spectrum (nativist) to / ˌ eɪ ə t iː ə ˈ r oʊ ə / [ˌæeɘtiːɘˈɹɐʉɘ] at the other. Pronunciations documented in dictionaries of English include / ˌ eɪ ə t eɪ ə ˈ r oʊ ə / , / aʊ ˌ t eɪ ə ˈ r oʊ ə / , and / ˌ ɑː oʊ t iː ə ˈ r oʊ ə / . The original meaning of Aotearoa
910-432: The official name of the country is New Zealand, not Aotearoa New Zealand or Aotearoa. The petition also called on the prime minister to instruct all government departments to use the current official name only. Costello claimed that the name Aotearoa was not "culturally or historically recognised by Māori as the name of our country" while Brash claimed that the name New Zealand was an identity and brand that had been built over
945-531: The past 180 years. The petition gained over 115,000 signatures by February 2023. In September 2021, Winston Peters , leader of the New Zealand First Party launched a petition "Keep It New Zealand". Peters called Aotearoa a "name with no historical credibility". As of August 2022 the petition gained over 21,000 signatures. By early June 2022, Te Pāti Māori's petition to rename New Zealand "Aotearoa" had received over 70,000 signatures. On 2 June,
980-408: The petition was submitted before Parliament's committee. Party co-leader Rawiri Waititi argued that the proposed name change would recognise New Zealand's indigenous heritage and strengthen its identity as a Pacific country. Waititi objected to the idea of a referendum, claiming it would entrench the " tyranny of the majority ". National Party leader Christopher Luxon stated that renaming New Zealand
1015-465: The plurality in the Auckland region (49.8%) and are the majority in the remaining 39 districts. The proportion of North Islanders born overseas at the 2018 census were 29.3%. The most common foreign countries of birth were England (15.4% of overseas-born residents), Mainland China (11.3%), India (10.1%), South Africa (5.9%), Australia (5.5%) and Samoa (5.3%). The North Island has a larger population than
1050-480: The sea. While he was not looking, his brothers fought over the fish and chopped it up. This great fish became the North Island, and thus a Māori name for the North Island is Te Ika-a-Māui ("The Fish of Māui"). The mountains and valleys are believed to have been formed as a result of Māui's brothers' hacking at the fish. During Captain James Cook 's voyage between 1769 and 1770 , Tahitian navigator Tupaia accompanied
1085-496: The sign of land to Kupe's crew was the long cloud hanging over it. The cloud caught Kupe's attention and he said "Surely is a point of land". Due to the cloud which greeted them, Kupe named the land Aotearoa . It is not known when Māori began incorporating the name into their oral lore . Beginning in 1845, George Grey , Governor of New Zealand , spent some years amassing information from Māori regarding their legends and histories. He translated it into English, and in 1855 published
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1120-415: The significance of the name "Aotearoa" and that it is increasingly being used to refer to New Zealand. The committee also noted that there are references throughout legislation to both "Aotearoa" and "New Zealand" and that while not legislated, the use of bilingual titles throughout Parliament and government agencies is common. The final report stated, "at present we do not consider that a legal name change, or
1155-406: The whole country being referred to as Aotearoa me Te Waipounamu – where Te Ika-a-Māui means North Island, and Te Waipounamu means South Island . In the pre-European era, Māori did not have a collective name for the two islands. Several meanings for Aotearoa have been proposed; the most popular translation usually given is "land of the long white cloud", or variations thereof. This refers to
1190-542: Was a constitutional issue that would require a referendum. Māori Development Minister Willie Jackson expressed concerns that a potential name change would create branding issues for the country's tourism industry. A 1News –Colmar Brunton poll in September 2021 found that 58% of respondents wanted to keep the name "New Zealand", 9% wanted to change the name to "Aotearoa", and 31% wanted the joint name of "Aotearoa New Zealand". A January 2023 Newshub-Reid Research poll, showed
1225-644: Was presented to the parliament on 13 April 2018, requesting legislation to change the name of New Zealand to Aotearoa – New Zealand . A further petition initiated by Danny Tahau Jobe for a referendum on whether the official name of New Zealand should change to include Aotearoa , received 6,310 signatures. The petition was presented to Parliament by the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand co-leader Marama Davidson on 1 May 2019. The petitions were considered together by Parliament's Governance and Administration Select Committee which responded that it acknowledged
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