Sunday 1 November 2015

First Counties in Aotearoa

I have friends&relations on the other side of the World, so have an interest in their demographics and politics flags. When New Zealand / Aotearoa was first colonised, the Islands were divided into 9 administrative provinces. On 1st November <today!> in 1876 these provinces were replaced by 63 counties and 7 boroughs.  My source can only identify 62 of the counties.
Counties and Boroughs in New Zealand 1876 with population:
Mongonui 1204 Wanganui & boro. 6308 Geraldine 13164
Bay of Islands 1489 Rangitikei 3690 Waimate 4269
Hokianga 419 Manawatu & boro. 5730 Waitaki 11595
Hopson 2171 Hult & boro. 25960 Waikouati 10826
Whangarei 2906 Wairarapa West 7163 Peninsula 2195
Rodney 3122 Wairarapa East 1100 Taieri 41318
Waitemata 3424 Waipawa 4721 Bruce 6814
Eden & boro. 32491 Hawke's Bay 9559 Clutha 3731
Manukai 9152 Sounds 570 Tuapeka 7109
Coromandel 2053 Marlborough 6117 Maniototo 2801
Thames & boro  10375 Kaikoura 782 Vincent 3937
Piako 34 Waimea 13641 Lake 3533
Tauranga 1550 Collingwood 1477 Southland 16315
Whakatane 783 Buller 3557 Wallace 3261
Cook & boro. 2745 Mangahua 2970 Fiord 13
Wairoa 809 Gray 7767 Stewart Island 245
East Taupo 95 Westland 11606 Auckland 13758
Waipa & boro. 3259 Amuri 458 Wellington 18953
Waikato & boro. 2460 Cheviot 117 Nelson 6604
Raglan 797 Ashley 12842 Christchurch 13425
Kawhia 69 Akaroa 4364 Sydenham 6510
Taranakai & boro. 7369 Selwyn 50720 Dunedin 22525
Patea 2988 Ashburton 6123 Invercargill 3761
In the 1878 census, two years later, the authorities chose to enumerate all the Chinese [N=4382] and half-castes [1932] but not the Maoris, who in this register are invisible, except in the naming of counties, more than half of which have Maori names. All the 'cities' have names from back home. The population is now [4.6m, the same as Ireland] about 10x what it was 140 years ago. You'll be struck by how small the population of some of the counties is.  Fiord County is now called Fiordland and still has a tiny resident population [N=20, in 2001] and a lot of fiords <surprise!>. The first thing The Boy did on his 2005 arrival in New Zealand for his working year for young people was slog along the Milford Track in Fiordland: a +50km limited access trek in one of the beautiful areas on the planet - I've seen the pictures.

No comments:

Post a Comment