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 Wanganui-Rangitikei Region
Urban Population |
Town
|
1911
|
1936
|
1951
|
1961
|
1961 Maoris
|
Wanganui |
14,843 |
23,178 |
27,254 |
33,316 |
1,249 |
Marton |
1,438 |
2,737 |
3,475 |
4,319 |
293 |
Taihape |
1,577 |
2,183 |
2,344 |
2,682 |
217 |
Raetihi |
399 |
1,182 |
1,153 |
1,343 |
341 |
Ohakune |
743 |
1,394 |
1,621 |
1,542 |
363 |
Bulls |
519 |
527 |
693 |
1,217 |
42 |
Total |
19,519 |
31,201 |
36,540 |
44,419 |
2,505 |
County Population |
County
|
1911
|
1936
|
1951
|
1961
|
1961 Maoris
|
Waitotara |
2,213 |
3,672 |
3,576 |
3,301 |
301 |
Wanganui |
3,549 |
3,822 |
3,763 |
3,505 |
989 |
Rangitikei |
8,523 |
10,468 |
10,480 |
13,689 |
1,995 |
Waimarino |
3,009 |
3,173 |
3,488 |
2,321 |
709 |
Total county |
17,294 |
21,135 |
21,307 |
22,816 |
3,994 |
Total region |
36,813 |
52,336 |
57,847 |
67,235 |
6,499 |
Land Occupation |
County
|
Average Area of Holdings 1960
|
Area Occupied 1960
|
|
acres |
acres |
Waitotara |
499 |
209,890 |
Wanganui |
778 |
286,175 |
Rangitikei |
713 |
866,527 |
Waimarino |
1,142 |
402,003 |
Cows in Milk |
County
|
Cows in Milk
|
|
|
Dairy Cows in Milk per 100 Sheep Shorn
1960
|
|
1921–22
|
1951–52
|
1959–60
|
|
Waitotara |
6,745 |
7,183 |
5,887 |
2·18 |
Wanganui |
4,466 |
4,722 |
4,046 |
0·82 |
Rangitikei |
15,437 |
16,631 |
13,323 |
0·84 |
Waimarino |
3,702 |
3,507 |
2,220 |
0·54 |
Total |
30,050 |
32,043 |
25,476 |
.. |
Wanganui remains the important regional centre for
commerce and retailing, and the city council has sought to
attract industry to the area. As an overseas port Wanganui is
no longer significant, although the inwards coastal traffic
in 1964 amounted to 90,407 tons (cement, manure, coal, and
cereal products predominating). The coastal outward trade was
only one-tenth of the inward figure. Marton, at the junction
of the Main Trunk and the Taranaki line, has a number of
factories, but it is largely a centre for the rural
population, as is Bulls, which, in addition, gains some trade
from the large volume of the passing motor traffic. The other
settlements of the coastal areas are little more than
villages – Fordell, Turakina, Kai Iwi, Waitotara, and
Waverley. At Ratana Pa there is a Maori settlement composed
of the adherents to the Ratana movements.