Towai () is a locality in the

Northland Region Northland (), officially the Northland Region, is the northernmost of New Zealand's 16 regions of New Zealand, local government regions. New Zealanders sometimes refer to it as the Winterless North because of its mild climate all throughout t ...

of the

North Island The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...

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 ...

State Highway 1 The following highways are numbered 1. For roads numbered A1, see list of A1 roads. For roads numbered B1, see list of B1 roads. For roads numbered M1, see List of M1 roads. For roads numbered N1, see list of N1 roads. For roads numbered S ...

passes through it. Kawakawa is 16 km northwest, and

Whakapara Whakapara is a village and rural community in the Whangarei District, six kilometres north of Hikurangi, twenty-two kilometres north of central Whangārei, and eight kilometres south-east of Hūkerenui, in the Northland Region of New Zealand's ...

is 17 km southeast. The

North Auckland Line The North Auckland Line (designation NAL) is a major section of New Zealand's Rail transport in New Zealand, national rail network, and is made up of the following parts: the portion of track that runs northward from Westfield Junction to Newm ...

passes through Towai. Towai Primary School closed in January 2005, with students moving to Maromaku School. The local

hapū In Māori language, Māori and New Zealand English, a ' ("subtribe", or "clan") functions as "the basic political unit within Māori society". A Māori person can belong to or have links to many hapū. Historically, each hapū had its own chief ...

Ngāti Hau Ngāti Hau are the Māori people, Māori ''iwi'' (tribes) of the Whanganui River area in New Zealand. There are two stories of where the name ''Ngāti Hau'' comes from. One is that it comes from Haupipi, who arrived in New Zealand on the ''Aotea ...

Ngāpuhi Ngāpuhi (also known as Ngāpuhi-Nui-Tonu or Ngā Puhi) is a Māori iwi associated with the Northland regions of New Zealand centred in the Hokianga, the Bay of Islands, and Whangārei. According to the 2023 New Zealand census, the estimate ...

. The local Akerama Marae and Huiarau or Ruapekapeka meeting house is a

meeting place A meeting is when two or more people come together to discuss one or more topics, often in a formal or business setting, but meetings also occur in a variety of other environments. Meetings can be used as form of group decision-making. Definiti ...

for the hapū.

Demographics

Towai is in two SA1 statistical areas which cover . The SA1 areas are part of the larger Maromaku statistical area. The SA1 statistical areas had a population of 279 in the

2023 New Zealand census The 2023 New Zealand census, which took place on 7 March 2023, was the thirty-fifth national census in New Zealand. It implemented measures that aimed to increase the Census' effectiveness in response to the issues faced with the 2018 census, i ...

, an increase of 42 people (17.7%) since the 2018 census, and an increase of 69 people (32.9%) since the 2013 census. There were 132 males and 144 females in 84 dwellings. 2.2% of people identified as

LGBTIQ+ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The group is ...

. There were 69 people (24.7%) aged under 15 years, 57 (20.4%) aged 15 to 29, 120 (43.0%) aged 30 to 64, and 33 (11.8%) aged 65 or older. People could identify as more than one ethnicity. The results were 73.1%

European European, or Europeans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other West ...

(

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 ...

); 47.3%

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 ...

; 3.2% Pasifika; 3.2% Asian; 5.4% Middle Eastern, Latin American and African New Zealanders (MELAA); and 6.5% other, which includes people giving their ethnicity as "New Zealander". English was spoken by 94.6%, Māori language by 11.8%, and other languages by 6.5%. No language could be spoken by 2.2% (e.g. too young to talk). The percentage of people born overseas was 9.7, compared with 28.8% nationally. Religious affiliations were 35.5%

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 ...

, and 1.1%

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 ...

. People who answered that they had no religion were 51.6%, and 10.8% of people did not answer the census question. Of those at least 15 years old, 21 (10.0%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, 141 (67.1%) had a post-high school certificate or diploma, and 42 (20.0%) people exclusively held high school qualifications. 9 people (4.3%) earned over $100,000 compared to 12.1% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 105 (50.0%) people were employed full-time, 30 (14.3%) were part-time, and 6 (2.9%) were unemployed.

References

{{Far North District Far North District Populated places in the Northland Region