[78][79][75] Some New Zealanders pronounce the past participles grown, thrown and mown using two syllables, whereas groan, throne and moan are pronounced as one syllable. [4] This is reflected in immigration, with most new migrants coming from Britain and Ireland, although the numbers from Asia in particular are increasing. [85] In the 2013 census, 21.3 percent of Māori people—and 3.7 percent of all respondents, including some non-Māori people—reported conversational fluency in the language. [67] The number of people identifying with this term increased from approximately 80,000 (2.4 percent) in 2001 to just under 430,000 people (11.1 percent) in 2006. [116] In 2013, the median personal income had risen slightly to $28,500. New Zealand has an adult literacy rate of 99 percent,[97] and over half of the population aged 15 to 29 hold a tertiary qualification. [n 11] The median personal income in 2006 was $24,400. Of these, 360,000, over three-quarters of the New Zealand-born population residing outside of New Zealand, live in Australia. [120] Most New Zealanders do some form of voluntary work, more women volunteer (92 percent) than males (86 percent). [71] The number of people identifying as having Moriori descents increased from 105 in 1991 to 945 in 2006,[72] but decreased to 738 in 2013.[73]. [8], While the demonym for a New Zealand citizen is New Zealander, the informal "Kiwi" is commonly used both internationally[9] and by locals. [4], The indigenous religion of the Māori population was animistic, but with the arrival of missionaries from the early nineteenth century most of the Māori population converted to Christianity. [86][n 7] There are now Māori language immersion schools and two Māori Television channels, the only nationwide television channels to have the majority of their prime-time content delivered in Māori. [92] Primary and secondary schooling is compulsory for children aged 6 to 16[93] with most children starting at 5. [20] The life expectancy of a New Zealand child born in 2014-16 was 83.4 years for females, and 79.9 years for males,[3] which is among the highest in the world. By 1873 they made up 40 percent of the diggers in Otago and 25 percent of the diggers in Westland. In the 2018 census, 22,987 people reported the ability to use New Zealand Sign Language. People born on or before 31 December 2005 acquired citizenship at birth (. About 65.5 percent of the population live in the 20 main urban areas (population of 30,000 or more) and 44.2 percent live in the four largest cities of Auckland, Christchurch, Wellington, and Hamilton. When completing the census people could select more than one ethnic group. [58], Statistics New Zealand has not released official statistical counts of Māori iwi (tribes) from the 2018 census due to a low response rate. [90] The Education Index, published with the UN's 2014 Human Development Index and based on data from 2013, listed New Zealand at 0.917, ranked second after Australia. Eldred-Grigg. [23] As of 2012 there are 0.99 males per female, with males dominating under 15 years and females dominating in the 65 years or older range. [95] There are 13 school years and attending state (public) schools is nominally free from an individual's fifth birthday until the end of the calendar year following their 19th birthday. [4], Farming is a major occupation in New Zealand, although more people are employed as sales assistants. New Zealand is part of a realm and most people born in the realm's external territories of Tokelau, the Ross Dependency, the Cook Islands and Niue are entitled to New Zealand passports. Apart from British, there were Irish, Germans, Scandinavians, Italians and many Chinese. [19], The median child birthing age was 30 and the total fertility rate is 2.1 births per woman in 2010. [88] Many places have officially been given dual Māori and English names in recent years. [119] In the June 2017 quarter, unemployment had fallen to 4.8 percent. Programme for International Student Assessment, "National Population Estimates: At 30 June 2016", "Births and deaths: Year ended December 2017", "2013 Census QuickStats about culture and identity – Languages spoken", "2018 Census population and dwelling counts | Stats NZ", "Seeking an Ethnic Identity: Is "New Zealander" a Valid Ethnic Category? Few New Zealanders live on New Zealand's smaller islands. The. Random House. About 18 percent of the rural population live in areas that have a high urban influence (roughly 12.9 people per square kilometre), many working in the main urban area.