Waikato District Council

Nearly 1.5 million people – that's 40 per cent of New Zealand's total population – live within a 250 km radius of the Waikato district. However, the district itself is still sparsely populated by North Island standards, with just under 40,000 people living in this predominantly rural area, which covers roughly 310,000 hectares. The Waikato district encompasses a diverse area, from Raglan on the west coast to inland farming areas. It has a large rural population, many small communities and three main towns – Huntly, Ngaruawahia and Raglan. The population of the Waikato district was 39,855 in 2001, when the last census was undertaken, with a growth rate of 1.8 per cent, less than New Zealand as a whole.