North Island facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
North Island

Te Ika-a-Māui  (Māori)
North Island Location in Oceania
Geography
Location	Oceania
Coordinates	39°S 176°E / 39°S 176°E / -39; 176
Archipelago	New Zealand
Major islands	North Island
Area	113,729 km2 (43,911 sq mi)
Area rank	14th
Highest elevation	2,797 m (9,177 ft)
Highest point	Mount Ruapehu
Administration
New Zealand
ISO 3166-2:NZ	NZ-N
Regions	9
Territorial authorities	43
Largest settlement	Auckland (pop. 1,478,800)
Demographics
Demonym	North Islander
Population	3,997,300 (June 2023)
Pop. density	35.1 /km2 (90.9 /sq mi)
Ethnic groups	European (63.1%), Māori (19.8%), Asian (19.3%), Pacific peoples (10.6%)

The North Island (Māori: Te Ika-a-Māui, 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 km² (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 3,997,300 (June 2023), which is 77% 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 is located at the south-west tip of the island.

Naming and usage

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 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 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".

Māori mythology

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 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 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 a whole.

Geography

The North Island, in relation to the South Island and Stewart Island

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 the islands and linking the Cook Strait to the Tasman Sea.

Bays and coastal features

• Bay of Islands
• Bay of Plenty
• Hauraki Gulf
• Firth of Thames
• Hawke Bay
• Ninety Mile Beach
• North Taranaki Bight
• South Taranaki Bight

Lakes and rivers

• Lake Taupō
• Waikato River
• Whanganui River

Capes and peninsulas

• Coromandel Peninsula
• Northland Peninsula
• Cape Palliser
• Cape Reinga
• East Cape
• North Cape

Forests and national parks

Egmont National Park

Tongariro National Park

• Egmont National Park
• Tongariro National Park
• Waipoua Kauri Forest
• Whanganui National Park
• and many forest parks of New Zealand

Volcanology

• Auckland Volcanic Field
• Mount Ruapehu
• Mount Taranaki (Taranaki Maunga)
• Mount Tarawera
• Whakaari / White Island
• North Island Volcanic Plateau

Other

• Waitomo Caves
• Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu

Demographics

The North Island has an estimated population of 3,997,300 as of June 2023.

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 the conclusion of the Otago Goldrush 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 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.

Culture and identity

At 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 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%).

Cities and towns

Map of the North Island showing some of its cities

The North Island has a larger population than 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:

Economy

The sub-national GDP of the North Island was estimated at NZ$ 282.355 billion in 2021 (78% of New Zealand's national GDP).

Governance

Regions

Territorial authorities of the North Island

Nine local government regions cover the North Island and its adjacent islands and territorial waters.

• Northland
• Auckland
• Waikato
• Bay of Plenty
• Gisborne
• Taranaki
• Manawatū-Whanganui
• Hawke's Bay Region
• Wellington Region

Healthcare

Healthcare in 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.

See also

In Spanish: Isla Norte para niños