American New Zealanders are

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

citizens who are of

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

descent of American-born citizens from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. American New Zealanders constitute a small minority of New Zealand's population.

Demography

In the 2013 census in New Zealand, when asked to indicate their ethnic identity, 12,342 New Zealanders described themselves as "American", and 21,462 stated they were born in the United States. This marks a sizeable increase, in proportional terms, from the 8,451 US-born New Zealanders in 1991. In 2013, there were also 636 persons born in

American Samoa American Samoa ( sm, Amerika Sāmoa, ; also ' or ') is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the island country of Samoa. Its location is centered on . It is east of the Internatio ...

and living in New Zealand, and small numbers of persons born in other US territories.

American ethnicity

There were 16,245 people identifying as being part of the American ethnic group at the

2018 New Zealand census Eighteen or 18 may refer to: * 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19 * one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018 Film, television and entertainment * ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the short ...

, making up 0.35% of New Zealand's population. This is an increase of 3,903 people (31.6%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 5,439 people (50.3%) since the 2006 census. Some of the increase between the 2013 and 2018 census was due to

Statistics New Zealand Statistics New Zealand ( mi, Tatauranga Aotearoa), branded as Stats NZ, is the public service department of New Zealand charged with the collection of statistics related to the economy, population and society of New Zealand. To this end, Stats ...

adding ethnicity data from other sources (previous censuses, administrative data, and imputation) to the 2018 census data to reduce the number of non-responses. There were 7,269 males and 8,979 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.810 males per female. Of the population, 3,153 people (19.4%) were aged under 15 years, 3,579 (22.0%) were 15 to 29, 8,049 (49.5%) were 30 to 64, and 1,467 (9.0%) were 65 or older. In terms of population distribution, 73.7% of American New Zealanders live in the North Island and 26.3% live in the South Island.

Waiheke Island Waiheke Island (; Māori: ) is the second-largest island (after Great Barrier Island) in the Hauraki Gulf of New Zealand. Its ferry terminal in Matiatia Bay at the western end is from the central-city terminal in Auckland. It is the most po ...

has the highest concentration of American people at 1.1%, followed by the

Queenstown-Lakes District Queenstown-Lakes District, a local government district, is in the Otago Region of New Zealand that was formed in 1986. It is surrounded by the districts of Central Otago, Southland, Westland and Waitaki. Much of the area is often referred to a ...

(1.0%),

Wellington City Wellington City Council is a territorial authority in New Zealand, governing the country's capital city Wellington, and ''de facto'' second-largest city (if the commonly considered parts of Wellington, the Upper Hutt, Porirua, Lower Hutt and ...

and the Waitematā local board area of Auckland (both 0.9%). The

Chatham Islands The Chatham Islands ( ) (Moriori: ''Rēkohu'', 'Misty Sun'; mi, Wharekauri) are an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean about east of New Zealand's South Island. They are administered as part of New Zealand. The archipelago consists of about t ...

was the only area to record zero American people.

United States birthplace

There were 27,678 people in New Zealand born in the United States at the

. This is an increase of 6,213 people (28.9%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 9,930 people (55.9%) since the 2006 census. There were 12,849 males and 14,832 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.866 males per female. Of the population, 3,537 people (12.8%) were aged under 15 years, 6,633 (24.0%) were 15 to 29, 14,016 (50.6%) were 30 to 64, and 3,495 (12.6%) were 65 or older.

Community history

Americans began visiting New Zealand at the very end of the 18th century. These settled the nation as discharged British soldiers and sailors, as convicts (who were arrested at sea for maritime offenses, tried, and transported), and as whalers, sealers, or travelers. Many of these who were brought to New Zealand had a temporary stay and were returned and/or brought to

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

in neighboring

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

. In 1839, there were about 50 Americans living in New Zealand, constituting about 4% of the non-

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

population of the country's

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-larges ...

. That number increased to 306 in 1858, 720 in 1861, and 1,213 in 1871, an increase due primarily to a

gold rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New ...

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

. Subsequently, there were only 881 Americans living in New Zealand in 1901, their numbers then increased to 1,713 in 1951, 8,383 in 1976, and 13,347 in 2001. Between 1942 and 1944, during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, about 100,000 US troops were stationed in New Zealand. They exercised a notable influence on the country's way of life, and a small number settled in New Zealand. Immigration rates from the United States remained low until the 1960s, however. A "surge" of US immigrants was noted in the 1960s, 1970s, and again from the mid-1990s. Some of these came as New Zealand recruited foreign teachers to meet with local shortages. One example in recent history of American New Zealanders forming community is around the Olympic games. The New Zealand Atlanta Association formed out of the 1996 Olympic games and held New Zealand/US bicultural events including celebrating Anzac Day and Waitangi day for years after the games. The group maintains an active social media presence.

Notable people

References