Katana VentraIP

European New Zealanders

New Zealanders of European descent are mostly of British and Irish ancestry, with significantly smaller percentages of other European ancestries such as Germans, Poles,[2] French, Dutch, Croats and other South Slavs, Greeks,[3] and Scandinavians.[4] European New Zealanders are also known by the Māori-language loanword Pākehā.[5]

Statistics New Zealand maintains the national classification standard for ethnicity. European is one of the six top-level ethnic groups, alongside Māori, Pacific (Pasifika), Asian, Middle Eastern/Latin American/African (MELAA), and Other. Within the top-level European group are two second-level ethnic groups, New Zealand European and Other European. New Zealand European consists of New Zealanders of European descent, while Other European consists of migrant European ethnic groups. Other Europeans also includes some people of indirect European descent, including Americans, Canadians, South Africans and Australians.[6]


According to the 2018 New Zealand census, 3,372,708 people (70.2%) identified as European, with 3,013,440 people (64%) identifying as New Zealand European.[1]

nfd - not further defined (insufficient data to classify the response further)

nec - not elsewhere classified (no classification exists for the response)


There were 3,297,864 people identifying as being part of the European ethnic group at the 2018 New Zealand census, making up 70.2% of New Zealand's population.[25] This is an increase of 328,473 people (11.1%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 688,275 people (26.4%) since the 2006 census. There were 1,614,807 males and 1,683,054 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.959 males per female. The median age was 41.4 years, with 621,552 people (18.8%) aged under 15 years, 606,366 (18.4%) aged 15 to 29, 1,456,794 (44.2%) aged 30 to 64, and 613,149 (18.6%) aged 65 or older.[26]


In terms of population distribution, 71.6% of Europeans live in the North Island and 28.4% live in the South Island. The Waimakariri District has the highest concentration of Europeans at 92.9%, followed by the Tasman District (92.6%) and the Grey District (92.2%). The Ōtara-Papatoetoe local board area in Auckland has the lowest concentration at 16.6%, followed by the Māngere-Ōtāhuhu local board area (19.1%) and the Manurewa local board area (29.2%). The Wairoa District has the lowest concentration of European people outside Auckland at 47.5%.[26]


The first general Census of New Zealand population was taken November- December 1851. Subsequent censuses were taken in 1858, 1861, 1864, 1867, 1871, 1874, 1878 and 1881 and thereafter at five-yearly intervals until 1926.[24] The table shows the ethnic composition of New Zealand population at each census since the early twentieth century. Europeans are still the largest ethnic group in New Zealand. Their proportion of the total New Zealand population has been decreasing gradually since the 1916 Census.[12]


The 2006 Census counted 2,609,592 European New Zealanders. Most census reports do not separate European New Zealanders from the broader European ethnic category, which was the largest broad ethnic category in the 2006 Census. Europeans comprised 67.6 percent of respondents in 2006 compared with 80.1 percent in the 2001 census.[27]


The apparent drop in this figure was due to Statistics New Zealand's acceptance of 'New Zealander' as a distinct response to the ethnicity question and their placement of it within the "Other" ethnic category, along with an email campaign asking people to give it as their ethnicity in the 2006 Census.[28]


In previous censuses, these responses were counted belonging to the European New Zealanders group,[29] and Statistics New Zealand plans to return to this approach for the 2011 Census.[30] Eleven percent of respondents identified as New Zealanders in the 2006 Census (or as something similar, e.g. "Kiwi"),[31] well above the trend observed in previous censuses, and higher than the percentage seen in other surveys that year.[32]


In April 2009, Statistics New Zealand announced a review of their official ethnicity standard, citing this debate as a reason,[33] and a draft report was released for public comment. In response, the New Zealand Herald opined that the decision to leave the question unchanged in 2011 and rely on public information efforts was "rather too hopeful", and advocated a return to something like the 1986 approach. This asked people which of several identities "apply to you", instead of the more recent question "What ethnic group do you belong to?"[34]

Politics[edit]

Colonial period[edit]

As the earliest colonists of New Zealand, settlers from England and their descendants often held positions of power and made or helped make laws often because many had been involved in government back in England.

"" is a national anthem of New Zealand - Created by the Irish-born composer Thomas Bracken, the song was first performed in 1876, and was sung in New Zealand as a patriotic song. It has equal status with "God Save the King" but "God Defend New Zealand" is more commonly used. It did not gain its status as an official anthem until 1977, following a petition to Parliament asking "God Defend New Zealand" to be made the national anthem in 1976.

God Defend New Zealand

"" (or "God Save the Queen") - New Zealand's other official national anthem, and was the sole national anthem until 1977. "God Save the King/Queen" is also the national anthem of the United Kingdom and was adopted in 1745. It is now most often played only when the sovereign, Governor-General or other member of the Royal Family is present, or in other situations where a royal anthem would be used, or on some occasions such as Anzac Day.[54]

God Save the King

New Zealand – In 1645 Dutch renamed the land Nova Zeelandia after the Dutch province of Zeeland.[58][59] British explorer James Cook subsequently anglicised the name to New Zealand.[a]

cartographers

– Both the city and region, as well as the former province, are named after George Eden, Earl of Auckland, whose title comes from the town of West Auckland, in County Durham, England

Auckland

– the region, and former province, are named after Canterbury, England.

Canterbury

– the original name of the city, "Christ Church", was decided prior to the ships' arrival, at the Association's first meeting, on 27 March 1848. The exact basis for the name is not known. It has been suggested that it is named for Christchurch, in Dorset, England; for Canterbury Cathedral; or in honour of Christ Church, Oxford. The last explanation is the one generally accepted.[60]

Christchurch

– comes from Dùn Èideann, the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the Scottish capital.

Dunedin

– named for Plymouth, England

New Plymouth

– Both the city and region, as well as the former province, are named after Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, whose title comes from the town of Wellington, Somerset, in England.

Wellington

There are many places in New Zealand named after people and places in Europe, especially the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, and the Netherlands as a result of the many English, Scottish, Welsh, Irish, Dutch and other European settlers and explorers. These include the name "New Zealand" itself, as described below, along with several notable cities and regions:


Small pockets of settlers from other European countries add to the identity and place names of specific New Zealand regions, most notably the Scandinavian-inspired place names of Dannevirke and Norsewood in southern Hawke's Bay.

Pākehā

Demographics of New Zealand

Immigration to New Zealand

Europeans in Oceania

European Australians

European Americans

European Canadians

Italian New Zealanders

Greek New Zealanders

European emigration

Stats NZ site