About Tasman District
Tasman District Council is the Territorial Local Authority for the Tasman District of New Zealand. It borders with the West Coast Region, Marlborough Region and the Nelson Region.
Tasman elects its councillors from five different wards which which make up the entire district. The wards are: Motueka, Moutere/Waimea, Richmond, Murchison and Golden Bay. In total there are 13 councillors, three from Motueka, three from Moutere/Waimea, four from Richmond, one from Murchison and two from Golden Bay.
According to Wikipedia, Tasman District's estimated resident population is 46,800 (June 2009 estimate), representing 1.1% of New Zealand's population. Most of Tasman's urban population lives in the Richmond Ward (10,851). It has the district's fastest growth rate, particularly in North Richmond where the population has grown by 23% since 1996. The second largest area of growth is in the Waimea/Moutere Ward. Mapua has posted the highest growth - 27.4% between 1996 and 2001.
Although Tasman has recorded strong growth, statistics show that the region itself has a low population density. As at March 2001, there were an estimated 4.3 people per square kilometre. This is mainly due to the lack of large urban areas and because 58% of the area is in national park.
Tasman has the country's highest percentage of people of European ethnicity - 96.8%. The number of Maori, European, Pacific Island and Asians have increased markedly since 1991, with Maori increasing by 60.5%. The main iwi represented in the wider Tasman region are Ngati Rarua, Ngati Tama (Golden Bay and Tasman Bay), Te Atiawa, Ngati Koata, Ngati Kuia (eastern Tasman Bay) and the Poutini Ngai Tahu (southern areas).
Famous former residents include nuclear physicist Ernest Rutherford, former Prime Ministers Bill Rowling and Keith Holyoake, and Sir Michael Myers, Chief Justice of New Zealand 1.
For more information about the Tasman District, explore the Council website »
The more detailed map below was copied from the Council's website for your convenience.
