Pōhara is a rural locality in the

Tasman District Tasman District () is a local government district in the northwest of the South Island of New Zealand. It borders the Canterbury Region, West Coast Region, Marlborough Region and Nelson City. It is administered by the Tasman District Council ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

. The locality is northeast of

Tākaka Tākaka is a small town situated at the southeastern end of Golden Bay / Mohua, Golden Bay, at the northern end of New Zealand's South Island, located on the lower reaches of the Tākaka River. State Highway 60 (New Zealand), State Highway 60 r ...

and southwest of Tata Beach. To the north is Limestone Bay, part of

Golden Bay / Mohua Golden Bay / Mohua is a large shallow bay in New Zealand's Tasman District, near the northern tip of the South Island. An arm of the Tasman Sea, the bay lies northwest of Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere and Cook Strait. It is protected in the nor ...

The official spelling was changed from "Pohara" to "Pōhara" by the New Zealand Geographic Board Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa on 5 November 2018. In the peak holiday season between Christmas and the end of the year, Pōhara beach has up to 700 visitors a day.

Demographics

Pōhara

Pōhara is described by Statistics New Zealand as a rural settlement. It covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². It is part of the larger Pōhara-Abel Tasman statistical area. Before the 2023 census, the settlement had a larger boundary, covering . Using that boundary, Pōhara had a population of 516 at the

2018 New Zealand census The 2018 New Zealand census, which took place on Tuesday 6 March 2018, was the thirty-fourth national census in New Zealand. The population of New Zealand was counted as 4,699,755 – an increase of 457,707 (10.79%) over the 2013 census. Resu ...

, an increase of 9 people (1.8%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 12 people (2.4%) since the 2006 census. There were 231 households, comprising 240 males and 282 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.85 males per female, with 69 people (13.4%) aged under 15 years, 30 (5.8%) aged 15 to 29, 264 (51.2%) aged 30 to 64, and 150 (29.1%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 95.9% European/

Pākehā ''Pākehā'' (or ''Pakeha''; ; ) is a Māori language, Māori-language word used in English, particularly in New Zealand. It generally means a non-Polynesians, Polynesian New Zealanders, New Zealander or more specifically a European New Zeala ...

, 7.0%

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 ...

, 2.9% Asian, and 1.7% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity. Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 61.0% had no religion, 25.0% were

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

, 0.6% had

Māori religious beliefs 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 ...

, 1.2% were

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

and 3.5% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 111 (24.8%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 66 (14.8%) people had no formal qualifications. 42 people (9.4%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 159 (35.6%) people were employed full-time, 93 (20.8%) were part-time, and 12 (2.7%) were unemployed.

Pōhara-Abel Tasman statistical area

Pohara-Abel Tasman statistical area, which also includes Motupipi and Tata Beach, covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². Pohara-Abel Tasman had a population of 1,470 at the

, an increase of 27 people (1.9%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 48 people (3.4%) since the 2006 census. There were 597 households, comprising 708 males and 762 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.93 males per female. The median age was 50.4 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 234 people (15.9%) aged under 15 years, 159 (10.8%) aged 15 to 29, 744 (50.6%) aged 30 to 64, and 330 (22.4%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 94.3% European/

, 7.1%

, 0.8% Pasifika, 2.0% Asian, and 2.4% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity. The percentage of people born overseas was 22.2, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 64.3% had no religion, 21.4% were

, 0.2% had

, 0.6% were

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

, 1.4% were

and 3.7% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 276 (22.3%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 186 (15.0%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $25,300, compared with $31,800 nationally. 111 people (9.0%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 471 (38.1%) people were employed full-time, 297 (24.0%) were part-time, and 33 (2.7%) were unemployed.

Marae

Onetahua Kōkiri Marae is located in Pōhara. It includes Te Ao Marama ''

wharenui A wharenui (; literally "large house") is a communal house of the Māori people of New Zealand, generally situated as the focal point of a ''marae''. Wharenui are usually called meeting houses in New Zealand English, or simply called ''wikt:wh ...

'' (meeting house) and it is a ''

marae A ' (in Māori language, New Zealand Māori, Cook Islands Māori, Tahitian language, Tahitian), ' (in Tongan language, Tongan), ' (in Marquesan language, Marquesan) or ' (in Samoan language, Samoan) is a communal or sacred place that serves reli ...

'' (meeting ground) for

Ngāti Rārua Ngāti Rārua are a Māori tribe ( of the Tainui tribal confederation. Ngāti Rārua stem from the marriage of Rārua-ioio and Tū-pāhau and, like other Tainui tribes, had their original home in the Waikato, specifically on the west coast of ...

Ngāti Tama ki Te Tau Ihu Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori, roughly means or , and is often translated as "tribe". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, and is typically pluralised as such in English. ...

and

Te Atiawa o Te Waka-a-Māui Te Atiawa o Te Waka-a-Māui is a Māori iwi (tribe) in the upper South Island of New Zealand. Its rohe (tribal area) extends from Golden Bay and Marlborough Sounds at the top of the South Island to Cape Campbell, St Arnaud and Westport. Mar ...

References

{{Tasman District Populated places in the Tasman District