Recipe Book - Taupo District Council

6
Taupö District Safe Community
DEMOGRAPHICS
The current Taupö District Council area was established on 1 December
1989. Located in the Central North Island of New Zealand, the District
includes the large catchment area of Lake Taupö, the hydroelectric dams
on the Tongariro and upper Waikato rivers, and substantial geothermal
resources.
The District contains expansive areas of exotic pine forests and farmlands
- the predominant land uses - and includes native forests and parts of
Tongariro National Park, the Central Plateau mountains, the Kaimanawa
Range and Pureora Forest Park.
Taupö, Turangi and Mangakino are the three main urban areas in the
District. There are many lakeside settlements around the shores of Lake
Taupö and the Waikato River.
Population
Taupö District has a usually resident population of 32,418 according to the 2006
Census. This is about 0.8% of New Zealand’s population. It has increased
by 3% from 2001 Census. Population estimates from Statistics New Zealand
show minimal population growth since 1994 at a rate of less than 1% per year.
On busy days during summer the number of people in the District including
visitors can reach about 58,000.
The major ethnic group in Taupö District consists of European (68.3%) and
Mäori (28.2%). Only about 4% of the population are of other ethnicities including
Asian, Pacific people and middle/eastern and Latin American/African.
Figure 2.1(i) shows that Taupö District has a young population with more
than half of both male and female population below 40 years old and 22.2%
are below 15 years old. The median age for the population is 37.5 years.
There is also an almost equal proportion of male and female population.
Around 13.6 percent of people the population are 65 years old and over.