| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 2 million[1] (of full or partial ancestry) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Nation-wide | |
| Languages | |
| English | |
| Religion | |
| Historically or traditionallyChristianity, usuallyAnglican or otherProtestant, with smallerCatholic minority. Increasinglyirreligious | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Pākehā |
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| English people |
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| Diaspora |
English New Zealanders areNew Zealanders ofEnglish descent, or English-born people currently living inNew Zealand. After British explorerJames Cook arrived in New Zealand in 1769, many non-Polynesians began to visit and settle in New Zealand, particularly whalers, sealers, and ex-convicts from Australia, often of British (including English) ancestry.[2] After New Zealand became a colony of Britain in 1840, the country began to receive thousands of immigrants, with over 90% of them being from Britain and Ireland and about half of them coming fromEngland.[3][4]
A 19th-century English company the "New Zealand Company" played a key role in colonisingNew Zealand. The company was formed to carry out the principles of systematic colonisation devised byEdward Gibbon Wakefield, who envisaged the creation of a new-model Englishsociety in theSouthern Hemisphere.[5]
Of New Zealand's English immigrants, most of them predominately originated from the south-west counties ofCornwall andDevon, with significant numbers also coming from England's southeast of London andKent.[6]
Due to British colonisation, and the large numbers of English immigrants from the 19th century,English culture andlanguage profoundly impacted New Zealand society. For instance, English is the predominant and most widely spoken language, with approximately 4.4 million speakers (c. 95% of the population) as of the 2018 census.[7] Also, based on the same census, England has remained the most common place from which immigrants to New Zealand come.[7]
As of the early 21st century, it is estimated that at least 80% of New Zealanders have some British ancestry,[8] which mainly includes English given that at least half of immigrants from the United Kingdom were English. Over 50 percent of New Zealand’s founding ethnic group were born in England as seen per the1851 New Zealand census.What this demonstrates[dubious –discuss] is that out of a population of 5 million, around 2 million people in New Zealand are of English ancestry, likely making theEnglish diaspora one of, if not the largestethnic group in the country.
| Year | English-born population | % of population | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1851 | 13,485 | 50.5 | [9] |
| 1861 | 36,128 | 36.5 | [10][11] |
| 1871 | 67,044 | 26.1 | [12][13] |
| 1881 | 119,224 | 24.33 | [14][15] |
| 1901 | 111,964 | 14.50 | [16] |
| 1911 | 133,811 | 13.28 | [17] |
| 1916 | 140,997 | 12.84 | [18] |
| 1961 | 154,869 | – | [19] |
| 2001 | 178,203 | - | [20] |
| 2006 | 202,401 | – | [21] |
| 2013 | 215,589 | 5.1 | [22] |
| 2018 | 210,915 | 4.49 | [23] |
As of the2018 New Zealand census, about 260,000 (8.3%) Europeans in the country stated that they were born in theUnited Kingdom, making the UK the most common place of origin for immigrants to New Zealand.[24] England, in particular, has always been a significant source of immigration. This was very much the case in the 19th century, where emigration from England ranged from 64.7% in the 1840s, to 49.7% by the 1871 census.[25]
Some of the most popular sports in New Zealand such ascricket,netball,rugby union, andleague, are of English origin.[26]
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