TheNorth Island (co-officiallyTe Ika-a-Māui[a] fromMāori) is one of the two mainislands ofNew Zealand, separated from the larger but less populousSouth Island byCook Strait. With an area of 113,729 km2 (43,911 sq mi),[1] it is theworld's 14th-largest island, constituting 43% of New Zealand's land area. It has a population of 4,067,400 (June 2025),[2] which is 76% of New Zealand's residents,[3] making it the most populous island inPolynesia and the28th-most-populous island in the world.
The island has been known in English as the North Island for many years. The officialMāori name for it,Te Ika-a-Māui ("the fish ofMāui"), also has official recognition but it remains seldom used by most residents.[4] Other Māori names includeTe Ahi no Māui ("the fire of Māui", as first recorded by CaptainJames Cook in 1770) andAotearoa ("land of the long white cloud"), which is more frequently applied to New Zealand as a whole.[5] On some 19th-century maps, the North Island was namedNew Ulster (named afterUlster province in northern Ireland), which was also aprovince of New Zealand that included the North Island.[6]
In 2009 theNew Zealand Geographic Board found that, along with the South Island, the North Island had no official name.[6] After a public consultation, the board officially named itNorth Island or Te Ika-a-Māui in October 2013.[7] The official Māori name was chosen on the basis that it was "most common and consistent usage in oral tradition by Māori living on the island".[5]
In prose, the two main islands of New Zealand are calledthe North Island andthe South Island, including the definite article "the."[8] It is also normal to use theprepositionin rather thanon, for example "Hamilton is in the North Island", "my mother lives in the North Island".[9] Maps, headings, tables, and adjectival expressions useNorth Island without "the".
According toMāori mythology, the North and South Islands of New Zealand arose through the actions of thedemigodMāui. Māui and his brothers were fishing from their canoe (the South Island) when he caught a great fish and pulled it right up from the sea. While he was not looking, his brothers fought over the fish and chopped it up. This great fish became the North Island, and thus a Māori name for the North Island is Te Ika-a-Māui ("The Fish of Māui").[10] The mountains and valleys are believed to have been formed as a result of Māui's brothers' hacking at the fish.
DuringCaptain James Cook'svoyage between 1769 and 1770, Tahitian navigatorTupaia accompanied the circumnavigation of New Zealand. The maps described the North Island as "Ea Heinom Auwe" and "Aeheinomowe", which recognises the "Fish of Māui" element. Names of certain tribes likeMuaūpoko (mua upoko "front of the head") andMuriwhenua (muri whenua, "backland") also reflect the locations of their settlement in this "fish" as well as levels of seniority between tribes.[11][verification needed]
Another Māori name that was given to the North Island, but is now used less commonly, isAotearoa. Use of Aotearoa to describe the North Island fell out of favour in the early 20th century, and it is now a collective Māori name for New Zealand as a whole.[12][13]
The North Island has an estimated population of 4,067,400 as of June 2025.[2]
The North Island had a population of 3,808,005 at the2023 New Zealand census, an increase of 213,453 people (5.9%) since the2018 census, and an increase of 570,957 people (17.6%) since the2013 census. Of the total population, 733,893 people (19.3%) were aged under 15 years, 743,154 (19.5%) were 15 to 29, 1,721,427 (45.2%) were 30 to 64, and 609,534 (16.0%) were 65 or older.[16]
Ever since the conclusion of theOtago gold rush in the 1860s, New Zealand's European population growth has experienced a steady'Northern drift' as population centres in the North Island have grown faster than those of New Zealand's South Island. This population trend has continued into the twenty-first century, but at a much slower rate. While the North Island's population continues to grow faster than the South Island, this is solely due to the North Island having higher natural increase (i.e. births minus deaths) and international migration; since the late 1980s, the internal migration flow has been from the North Island to the South Island.[17] In the year to June 2020, the North Island gained 21,950 people from natural increase and 62,710 people from international migration, while losing 3,570 people from internal migration.[18]
At the 2023 census, 63.1% of North Islanders identified asEuropean (Pākehā), 19.8% asMāori, 10.6% asPacific peoples, 19.3% asAsian, 1.9% as Middle Eastern/Latin American/African, and 1.1% as other ethnicities. Percentages add to more than 100% as people can identify with more than one ethnicity.[16]
Māori form the majority in three districts of the North Island:Kawerau (63.2%),Ōpōtiki (66.2%) andWairoa (68.5%). Europeans formed the plurality in the Auckland region (49.8%) and are the majority in the remaining 39 districts.[16]
The proportion of North Islanders born overseas at the 2018 census were 29.3%. The most common foreign countries of birth were England (15.4% of overseas-born residents), Mainland China (11.3%), India (10.1%), South Africa (5.9%), Australia (5.5%) and Samoa (5.3%).[19]
View ofAuckland CBD, the largest city by urban area and population in the countryWellington CBD, the capital and third most populous city in New Zealand HamiltonView ofMount Maunganui a suburb ofTauranga, the fifth most populous city in New ZealandMap of the North Island showing some of its cities
The North Island has a larger population than the South Island, with the country's largest city, Auckland, and the capital, Wellington, accounting for nearly half of it. TheGolden Triangle enclosed by Auckland, Hamilton and Tauranga contains nearly half New Zealand's population and a similar proportion of its economic activity.
There are 30 urban areas in the North Island with a population of 10,000 or more:
^"1000 Māori place names". New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage. 6 August 2019.Archived from the original on 6 January 2020. Retrieved27 December 2019.
^McLintock, Alexander Hare; James Oakley Wilson, D. S. C.; Taonga, New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu."AOTEAROA".An encyclopaedia of New Zealand, edited by A. H. McLintock, 1966.Archived from the original on 3 May 2020. Retrieved19 November 2021.
.JPG)
.jpg)
.jpg)
