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Warning

This information was published in 1966 in An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, edited by A. H. McLintock. It has not been corrected and will not be updated.

Up-to-date information can be found elsewhere in Te Ara.

Statistics of the Manawatu-Horowhenua Region

Urban Population
Town 1911 1936 1951 1961 1961
Maoris
Feilding 3,161 4,536 5,812 8,172 289
Foxton 1,637 1,544 2,226 2,628 257
Palmerston North City 10,991 22,202 30,894 41,014 723
Shannon 752 965 1,042 1,398 234
Levin 1,608 2,658 4,736 7,934 266
Otaki 274 1,744 2,496 2,973 436
Total 18,423 33,649 47,206 64,119 2,205
Land Occupation
County Average Area of Holdings 1960 Area Occupied 1960
acres acres
Kiwitea 477 189,681
Pohangina 452 106,211
Oroua 201 114,748
Manawatu 205 155,524
Kairanga 165 100,896
Horowhenua 246 239,466
County Population
County 1911 1936 1951 1961 1961
Maoris
Kiwitea 2,781 2,442 2,298 2,339 100
Pohangina 1,797 1,350 1,318 1,199 27
Oroua 3,588 3,886 4,009 4,559 418
Manawatu 4,461 5,283 6,114 7,288 403
Kairanga 3,877 5,358 5,666 6,160 51
Horowhenua 5,038 7,278 8,683 10,561 1,073
Total county 21,542 25,597 28,088 32,106 2,072
Total region 39,965 59,246 75,294 96,225 4,277
Cows in Milk
County Cows in Milk Dairy Cows in Milk per 100 Sheep Shorn 1960
1921–22 1951–52 1959–60
Kiwitea 6,028 5,885 3,526 0·74
Pohangina 3,888 3,827 2,745 1·19
Oroua 8,941 11,475 8,958 2·60
Manawatu 17,159 28,886 29,082 11·93
Kairanga 16,261 21,423 21,091 11·18
Horowhenua 16,666 35,275 36,496 16·18
Total 68,943 106,771 101,898 ..
  • The Pioneering Days in Palmerston North, Peterson, G. C. (1952)
  • Introducing the Manawatu, Anderson, G., and Saunders, B. G. R. (Jt. eds.) (1963)
  • New Zealand Geographer, Vol. 15 (1959), “The Element of Change in Palmerston North”, Anderson, G.
  • Ib., Vol. 9 (1955), “The Villages of the Manawatu”, Anderson, G., and Franklin, S. H.
  • Ib., Vol. 7 (1953), “Town and Region – a Comparison of Palmerston North, Wanganui, and New Plymouth”, Pownall, L. L.
  • Pacific Viewpoint, Vol. 1 (1960), “The Village and the Bush – the Evolution of the Village Community, Wellington Province, New Zealand”, Franklin, S. H.
Co-creator
Samuel Harvey Franklin, B.COM.GEOG., M.A.(BIRMINGHAM), Senior Lecturer, Geography Department, Victoria University of Wellington.