North Island

The island has been known in English as the North Island for many years. The official Māori name for it, {{Lang|mi|Te Ika-a-Māui}} ("the fish of Māui"), also has official recognition but it remains seldom used by most residents.{{Cite web|url=https://www.linz.govt.nz/consultations/te-ika-maui|title=Place name consultation - Te Ika-a-Māui|date=4 April 2013|publisher=Toitū Te Whenua|access-date=13 July 2024|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240713144246/https://www.linz.govt.nz/consultations/te-ika-maui|archive-date=13 July 2024}} Other Māori names include Te Ahi no Māui ("the fire of Māui", as first recorded by Captain James Cook in 1770) and Aotearoa ("land of the long white cloud"), which is more frequently applied to New Zealand as a whole.{{cite news|url=https://www.linz.govt.nz/sites/default/files/consult/nzgb_ministers-report_alternative-names-two-main-islands_20130820.pdf|title=New Zealand Geographic Board Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa proposals to assign alternative official geographic names for New Zealand's two main islands: summary of submissions and the Board's decision|publisher=New Zealand Geographic Board|date=20 August 2013|access-date=11 February 2025|page=3}} On some 19th-century maps, the North Island was 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.{{cite web |url=http://www.linz.govt.nz/placenames/about-geographic-board/nzgb-news-notices/2009/0421-alternative-maori-names |title=The New Zealand Geographic Board Considers North and South Island Names |date=21 April 2009 |publisher=Land Information New Zealand |access-date=28 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130214154742/http://www.linz.govt.nz/placenames/about-geographic-board/nzgb-news-notices/2009/0421-alternative-maori-names |archive-date=14 February 2013 |url-status=dead}} After a public consultation, the board officially named it North Island or Te Ika-a-Māui in October 2013.{{cite news |title=Two official options for NZ island names |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11138153 |work=The New Zealand Herald |access-date=10 October 2013 |date=10 October 2013 |archive-date=29 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190629171040/https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11138153 |url-status=live }} The official Māori name was chosen on the basis that it was "most common and consistent usage in oral tradition by Māori living on the island".

In prose, the two main islands of New Zealand are called the North Island and the South Island, with the definite article.{{cite web |last1=Williamson |first1=Maurice |title=Names of NZ's two main islands formalised |url=https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/names-nz%E2%80%99s-two-main-islands-formalised |website=Beehive.govt.nz |publisher=New Zealand Government |access-date=10 April 2020 |date=11 October 2013 |archive-date=6 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200206084433/https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/names-nz%E2%80%99s-two-main-islands-formalised |url-status=live }} 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".[https://www.theguardian.com/styleguide/n Guardian and Observer style guide: N ("New Zealand")]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140121124004/http://www.theguardian.com/styleguide/n |date=21 January 2014 }}. The Guardian. Retrieved 15 April 2019. 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 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").{{Cite web |url=https://nzhistory.govt.nz/culture/maori-language-week/1000-maori-place-names |title=1000 Māori place names |publisher=New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage |date=6 August 2019 |access-date=27 December 2019 |archive-date=6 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200106171905/https://nzhistory.govt.nz/culture/maori-language-week/1000-maori-place-names |url-status=live }} 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. Names of certain tribes like Muaūpoko (mua upoko "front of the head") and Muriwhenua (muri whenua, "backland") also reflect the locations of their settlement in this "fish" as well as levels of seniority between tribes.{{cite book |last1=Anderson |first1=Atholl |last2=Binney |first2=Judith |last3=Harris |first3=Aroha |title=Tangata Whenua: A History |date=2015 |publisher=Bridget Williams Books |isbn=978-0-908321-54-4 |pages=97–8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NS7xCgAAQBAJ&dq=tuki+map+cook&pg=PA97 }}{{verification needed|date=April 2025|reason=The names given on the maps may have been added as OR and may not be described in the source}}

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.{{Cite web |date=2021-10-02 |title=Ngāi Tahu leader: Let's not rush name change |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/452781/ngai-tahu-leader-let-s-not-rush-name-change |access-date=2022-09-26 |website=RNZ |language=en-nz |archive-date=12 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211112184828/https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/452781/ngai-tahu-leader-let-s-not-rush-name-change |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last1=McLintock |first1=Alexander Hare |last2=James Oakley Wilson |first2=D. S. C. |last3=Taonga |first3=New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu |title=AOTEAROA |url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/1966/aotearoa |access-date=2021-11-19 |website=An encyclopaedia of New Zealand, edited by A. H. McLintock, 1966. |language=en |archive-date=3 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200503192156/https://teara.govt.nz/en/1966/aotearoa |url-status=live }}

File:Egmont National Park, December 2015, New Zealand (42).JPG]]

File:Carte postale -10 (17074160108).jpg]]

File:Mount_Ruapehu_Autumn.jpg, the highest point on the North Island]]

File:Mt_Taranaki,_New_Plymouth,_New_Zealand.jpg from New Plymouth]]

{{main|Geography of the North 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.{{Cite web |title=Estuary origins |work=NIWA |date=6 June 2017 |url=https://niwa.co.nz/te-kuwaha/tools-and-resources/ng%C4%81-waihotanga-iho-the-estuary-monitoring-toolkit-for-iwi/estuary-origins |publisher=National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research |access-date=3 November 2021 |archive-date=2 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211102223327/https://niwa.co.nz/te-kuwaha/tools-and-resources/ng%C4%81-waihotanga-iho-the-estuary-monitoring-toolkit-for-iwi/estuary-origins |url-status=live }} 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.{{cite journal |last1=Ray |first1=N. |last2=Adams |first2=J.M. |title=A GIS-based Vegetation Map of the World at the Last Glacial Maximum (25,000–15,000 BP) |journal=Internet Archaeology |volume=11 |year=2001 |issue=11 |url=https://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue11/2/toc.html |doi=10.11141/ia.11.2 |access-date=12 February 2022 |archive-date=21 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220121014907/https://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue11/2/toc.html |url-status=live }} Sea levels began to rise 7,000 years ago, eventually separating the islands and linking the Cook Strait to the Tasman Sea.

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

• Lake Taupō
• Waikato River
• Whanganui River

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

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

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

• Waitomo Caves
• Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu

The North Island has an estimated population of {{NZ population data 2018|North Island regions|y}} as of {{NZ population data 2018|||y}}.{{NZ population data 2018||||y}}

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.{{Cite web |title=2023 Census population counts (by ethnic group, age, and Māori descent) and dwelling counts {{!}} Stats NZ |url=https://www.stats.govt.nz/information-releases/2023-census-population-counts-by-ethnic-group-age-and-maori-descent-and-dwelling-counts/ |access-date=2024-06-04 |website=www.stats.govt.nz |archive-date=5 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240605165521/https://www.stats.govt.nz/information-releases/2023-census-population-counts-by-ethnic-group-age-and-maori-descent-and-dwelling-counts/ |url-status=live }}

Ever since 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 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.{{Cite web |date=2015-01-26 |title=New Zealand's population is drifting north |url=http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/population/mythbusters/the-drift-north.aspx |access-date=2021-02-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150126205920/http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/population/mythbusters/the-drift-north.aspx |archive-date=26 January 2015}} 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.{{Cite web |title=Subnational population component changes and median age (RC, TA), at 30 June 2018–20 (2020 boundaries) |url=http://nzdotstat.stats.govt.nz/wbos/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=TABLECODE7510 |access-date=2021-02-18 |website=nzdotstat.stats.govt.nz |archive-date=22 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210222073909/http://nzdotstat.stats.govt.nz/wbos/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=TABLECODE7510 |url-status=live }}

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%).{{Cite web |title=Birthplace (detailed), for the census usually resident population count, 2006, 2013, and 2018 Censuses (RC, TA, SA2, DHB) |url=http://nzdotstat.stats.govt.nz/wbos/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=TABLECODE8279 |access-date=2021-02-18 |website=nzdotstat.stats.govt.nz |archive-date=2 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230602205127/http://nzdotstat.stats.govt.nz/wbos/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=TABLECODE8279 |url-status=live }}

File:Auckland_skyline_-_May_2024_(2).jpg, the largest city by urban area and population in the country]]

File:Flickr_-_brewbooks_-_i110405_288.jpg, the capital and third most populous city in New Zealand]]

File:HamiltonCBDfromRototuna.JPG]]

File:Tauranga_New_Zealand-1698.jpg a suburb of Tauranga, the fifth most populous city in New Zealand]]

File:NZNorthIsland.png

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:

The sub-national GDP of the North Island was estimated at NZ$ 282.355 billion in 2021 (78% of New Zealand's national GDP).{{cite web |date=24 March 2023 |title=Regional gross domestic product: Year ended March 2022 |url=https://www.stats.govt.nz/information-releases/regional-gross-domestic-product-year-ended-march-2022/ |access-date=4 April 2023 |publisher=Statistics New Zealand |archive-date=15 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240515075122/https://www.stats.govt.nz/information-releases/regional-gross-domestic-product-year-ended-march-2022/ |url-status=live }}

File:NZ Territorial Authorities North Island.png

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

{{See also|Healthcare in New Zealand}}

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.

• List of islands of New Zealand

{{reflist}}

• {{Commons category-inline|North Island, New Zealand}}
• {{Wikivoyage inline}}

{{Regions of New Zealand}}

{{World's largest islands}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Islands of New Zealand