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NEW ZEALAND

Most of the 3.7 million New Zealanders are of British origin. About 14% claim descent from the indigenous Maori population, which is of Polynesian origin. Nearly 75% of the people, including a large majority of Maori, live on the North Island. In addition, 167,000 Pacific Islanders also live in New Zealand.

During the late 1870s, natural increase permanently replaced immigration as the chief contributor to population growth and has accounted for more than 75% of population growth in the 20th century. Nearly 85% of New Zealand's population lives in urban areas, where the service and manufacturing industries are growing rapidly.
POPULATION GRAPH
Population:
3,908,037 (July 2002 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 22.2% (male 443,921; female 422,804)
15-64 years: 66.3% (male 1,299,973; female 1,290,097)
65 years and over: 11.5% (male 196,640; female 254,602) (2002 est.)
Population growth rate:
1.12% (2002 est.)
Birth rate:
14.23 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Death rate:
7.55 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Net migration rate:
4.48 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.04 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.77 male(s)/female
total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2002 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
6.18 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 78.15 years
female: 81.27 years (2002 est.)
male: 75.17 years
Total fertility rate:
1.8 children born/woman (2002 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
0.06% (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
1,200 (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
less than 100 (1999 est.)
Nationality:
noun: New Zealander(s)
adjective: New Zealand
Ethnic groups:
New Zealand European 74.5%, Maori 9.7%, other European 4.6%, Pacific Islander 3.8%, Asian and others 7.4%
Religions:
Anglican 24%, Presbyterian 18%, Roman Catholic 15%, Methodist 5%, Baptist 2%, other Protestant 3%, unspecified or none 33% (1986)
Languages:
English (official), Maori (official)
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99% (1980 est.)
male: NA%
female: NA%