44-616: Te Urewera is an area of mostly forested, sparsely populated rugged hill country in the North Island of New Zealand , located inland between the Bay of Plenty and Hawke Bay . Te Urewera is the rohe (historical home) of Tūhoe , a Māori iwi (tribe) known for its stance on Māori sovereignty . In 1954, a large area of Te Urewera was designated Te Urewera National Park by the New Zealand Government . In 2014 after
88-537: A Waitangi Tribunal settlement with Tūhoe, the national park was disestablished and the former area was given environmental personhood . This area is now managed by Te Urewera Board, a body composed of both members who represent Tūhoe and the New Zealand Government. Outside of the protected area, Te Urewera includes land administered as Whirinaki Te Pua-a-Tāne Conservation Park , Onekawa Te Mawhai Regional Park , customary private land owned by Tūhoe,
132-651: A 60% majority in November 1954, and the result was predictable given the demographics of the population then living in the area: licensing was carried by a large majority: 80% for European and 25% of Maori in favour of a license. The greater part of the region's economy is involved in farming (especially pastoral farming) and forestry, with some supporting services. There are some areas of tourist significance, such as Waitomo Caves . The King Country also contains areas of conservation estate, especially Pureora Forest Park . From 1966 to 31 March 2010, King Country Radio (with
176-588: A great fish and pulled it right up from 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
220-525: A new legal entity simply called Te Urewera. A land settlement was signed in June 2013 after being ratified by all Tūhoe members. Under this, Tūhoe received financial, commercial and cultural redress valued at approximately $ 170 million; a historical account and Crown apology; and the co-governance of Te Urewera, put into law by enacting the Tūhoe Claims Settlement Act 2014. The protected area
264-618: A small part in the Gisborne District . All the settlements are outside the protected area. The region is isolated, with State Highway 38 being the only major arterial road crossing it, running from Waiotapu near Rotorua via Murupara to Wairoa . The name Te Urewera is a Māori phrase meaning "The Burnt Penis" (compare Māori : ure , lit. 'penis'; Māori : wera , lit. 'burnt'). Because of its isolation and dense forest, Te Urewera remained largely untouched by British colonists until
308-756: A traditional sanctuary known as the Urewera District Native Reserve, which had virtual home rule. However, between 1915 and 1926 the Crown mounted what has been called "a predatory purchase campaign", the Urewera Consolidation Scheme, which took some 70 percent of the reserve and relocated the Tūhoe to more than 200 small blocks of land scattered throughout what in 1954 became the Urewera National Park. In
352-433: A warm climate, considered subtropical. The King Country is not an entity in local government. It forms part of two local government regions, Waikato and Manawatū-Whanganui , and all or part of four districts: Ōtorohanga , Ruapehu , Taupō and Waitomo . Taranaki-King Country is a parliamentary electorate for central government. The member represents an area which stretches from the outskirts of New Plymouth City to
396-648: 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
440-509: Is also normal to use the preposition in rather than on , for example "Hamilton 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
484-435: Is located at the south-west tip of the island. The island has been known internationally as 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
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#1732787369637528-539: Is now administered by the Te Urewera Board, which comprises joint Tūhoe and Crown membership. Te Urewera has legal personhood , and owns itself, having in 2014 become the first natural resource in the world to be awarded the same legal rights as a person. The new entity continues to meet the International Union for Conservation of Nature criteria for a Category II National Park . As of 2022,
572-639: 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 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
616-648: The Rangitaiki River and west of a line along the lower Waimana River and the upper reaches of the Waioeka River . Its southern boundary was marked by Maungataniwha Mountain , the Waiau River , and Lake Waikaremoana ." Much of it is mountainous country, covered with native forest, and it includes the Huiarau , Ikawhenua , and Maungapohatu ranges. There are a few flat mountain valleys, chiefly
660-506: The weka , live in the area. The crown fern ( Blechnum discolor ) is a widespread understory plant. 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 ) 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
704-656: The "Boundaries of the King Country Licensing Area" in Jonathan Sarich's 2011 report. As a young man, John A. Lee was jailed for smuggling alcohol into the area around 1910. In 1923 and again in 1926, in response to a pro-alcohol petition sent around for signatures, another deputation of leaders of the King Country -- Te Rata Mahuta Tawhiao Potarau (fourth Māori King), Tuwhakaririka Patana, Hotu Tana Pakukohatu, and Thirty Leading Chiefs of
748-464: The "King Country Pact" to protect the prohibition line. However, their plea was ignored, and in 1951 1000 Māori rallied at Tauranganui Pa, Tuakau to protest the laxity in allowing alcohol in their area. In 1951 the National Party was re-elected, and one of its campaign promises was for a single referendum on no-license in the King Country. In 1953 a Bill was introduced for a joint poll requiring
792-587: The 1860s, when colonial forces invaded the Waikato and forces of the Māori King Movement withdrew south of what was called the aukati , or boundary, a line of pā alongside the Puniu River near Kihikihi . Land behind the aukati remained native territory, with Europeans warned they crossed it under threat of death. Known for its rugged, rural roads and diverse landscape, the King Country has
836-590: 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
880-529: The Ahikereru valley, where the settlements of Minginui and Te Whaiti are, and the Ruatāhuna valley. In the north, towards Whakatāne and the coast, are lowland areas, where the settlements of Tāneatua , Ruatoki and Waimana are located. Lake Waikaremoana and Lake Waikareiti are in the south-eastern part. Most of Te Urewera is in the eastern Bay of Plenty Region and northern Hawke's Bay Region , with
924-650: The King Country. At this time, the region received a Māori name, Rohe pōtae . This name translates as "Area of the Hat", and is said to have originated when the second Māori King Tāwhiao put his white top hat on a large map of the North Island and declared that all land covered by the hat would be under his mana (or authority). Heavy casualties at the Battle of Gate Pa at Tauranga in April 1864 prompted General Duncan Cameron to abandon plans for further military campaigns in
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#1732787369637968-594: The King Country—came before the Prime Minister to petition that the prohibition against alcohol in their area be protected. In March 1949 Korokī Mahuta , the fifth Māori King (1933-1966), and Princess Te Kirihaehae Te Puea Herangi (1883-1952) led a 400-strong delegation to Parliament, representing the people of the Waikato , Ngāti Maniapoto , Taranaki , Ngāti Tūwharetoa and Te Wainui a Rua , concerning
1012-488: 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 . King Country The King Country ( Māori : Te Rohe Pōtae or Rohe Pōtae o Maniapoto ) is a region of the western North Island of New Zealand . It extends approximately from Kawhia Harbour and
1056-600: The North Island. In 2009 the New Zealand Geographic Board found that, along with 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
1100-437: 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
1144-462: 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
1188-653: The Te Urewera inquiry district. Part One of its report, covering the period up to 1872, was published in July 2009 and found that the Crown had treated Tūhoe unfairly, especially with regard to the confiscation of a large area of land in the Eastern Bay of Plenty in 1866. In 1954 much of Te Urewera was designated as the Te Urewera National Park , but that was disestablished in 2014, to be replaced by
1232-407: The Waikato area, and Grey and the colonial government were forced to accept this decision. The King Country, mountainous, poor and isolated, was not an attractive conquest. King Tāwhiao and his followers were able to maintain a rebel Māori monarchy in exile and a refuge for rebel Māori opposed to the government for more than a decade although living conditions were very poor. This may be partly due to
1276-411: 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
1320-451: 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
1364-643: The early 20th century Rua Kenana Hepetipa formed a religious community at Maungapōhatu . In 1999, the Waitangi Tribunal published a 520-page working paper which analysed the history of the region and concluded that the Crown had never intended to allow Tūhoe self-government. Between 2003 and 2005, a panel of the Waitangi Tribunal consisting of Judge Pat Savage, Joanne Morris , Tuahine Northover, and Ann Parsonson heard evidence on land claims in Te Urewera and designated an area which it called
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1408-568: The early 20th century; in the 1880s it was still in effect under Māori control. Te Kooti , a Māori leader, found refuge from his pursuers among Tūhoe, with whom he formed an alliance. As with the King Country at the time, few Pākehā risked entering Te Urewera. Between 1894 and 1912, with the approval of a Crown statute, the Urewera District Native Reserve Act 1896, leaders of Tūhoe were able to establish
1452-660: 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
1496-488: The large influx of about 3,500 Waikato people who swamped the resources of the approximately 800 Maniapoto living in the rohe. On 15 May 1872 Te Kooti , on the run from government forces, crossed the Waikato River and entered the territory as supplicant and was granted asylum. In 1880, William Moffat, apparently a land agent or buyer, was shot and killed. In 1881, as a result of ongoing friction with his hosts over
1540-494: The members of the Te Urewera Board are Jim Bolger of Te Kūiti , a former prime minister of New Zealand, Maynard Manuka Apiata of Rūātoki, Lance Winitana of Waikaremoana, Marewa Titoko of Waimana, Te Tokawhakāea Tēmara of Rotorua, Tāmati Kruger of Taneatua, Dave Bamford, a sustainable tourism consultant, John Wood , previously a chief Crown negotiator, and Jo Breese, a former chief executive of World Wildlife Fund New Zealand . All North Island native-forest bird species, except for
1584-577: The outskirts of Hamilton City and including the King Country towns of Te Awamutu , Ōtorohanga and Te Kūiti . The King Country (a.k.a. Western Uplands ) is largely made up of rolling hill country, including the Rangitoto and Hauhungaroa Ranges. It includes extensive karst regions, producing such features as the Waitomo Caves . The area is largely rural and sparsely settled, with no cities or large towns. The most significant townships are
1628-470: 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
1672-540: The question of land sales, and a general amnesty being granted to the rebels, Tāwhiao emerged and laid down the King Movement's arms. After successful negotiations between the government, Wahanui , Rewi and Taonui , including a pardon for Te Kooti by 1883 the King Country was made accessible to Europeans. It was opened to road surveying, and the start of the Main Trunk Line - but with a prohibition on
1716-463: The railway began in 1885, and finished in 1908, with the completion greatly improving transport and communications in the King Country, promoting settlement and farming in the area - as well as assisting in the growth of rural service towns such as Taumarunui which was an important railway depot until the 1950s. The alcohol ban continued as section 272 of the Licensing Act 1908—see the map of
1760-420: The rural service centres of Te Kūiti and Ōtorohanga (in the north) and Taumarunui (in the south). Prior to European settlement, the area was occupied by various Māori iwi , especially Ngāti Maniapoto , Ngāti Tama , and Ngāti Tūwharetoa . In July 1863, Governor Sir George Grey ordered an invasion of the Waikato with colonial forces supplemented by small numbers of British-allied Maori. The invasion
1804-440: The sale of alcohol throughout the district. At a March 1883 meeting, John Bryce got a compact that allowed the surveying of the rail route. At a February 1885 meeting at Kihikihi with John Ballance construction of the line was approved. Ballance was criticised for not requiring cession of land alongside the route (which would rise in value because of the line), but he knew that would not be acceptable to Māori. Construction of
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1848-511: The settlements of Ruatoki North , Waimana , Tāneatua , and privately owned land. The extent of Te Urewera is not formally defined, but is shown by Te Urewera Board as extending from the shores of the Ōhiwa Harbour of the Bay of Plenty to south of Lake Waikaremoana , and includes the Huiarau Range and Ikawhenua Range . According to An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand (1966), "The Urewera Country originally included all lands east of
1892-653: The town of Ōtorohanga in the north to the upper reaches of the Whanganui River in the south, and from the Hauhungaroa and Rangitoto Ranges in the east to near the Tasman Sea in the west. It comprises hill country, large parts of which are forested. The region, albeit loosely defined, is very significant in New Zealand's history. The term "King Country" dates from the New Zealand Wars of
1936-541: Was aimed at suppressing Kingite power, which was seen by the colonial government as a threat to Crown authority in New Zealand; it was also aimed to drive Waikato Maori from the region in readiness for occupation and settlement by Pakeha settlers . Heavily outnumbered and disadvantaged by superior firepower, the Kingite forces retreated southwards from the Waikato after the battle at Ōrākau in April 1864, eventually being forced to flee to Maniapoto land, later called
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