page_title: Southland, New Zealand
section_title: Population, culture and identity
hierarchical_section_title: Southland, New Zealand / Population, culture and identity
caption_attribution_description: English: View of most of the Southland Region of New Zealand's South Island, including Stewart Island (separated from the mainland by Foveaux Strait) and the southern half of Fiordland National Park. The Southland Syncline, a geological fold line, can be seen stretching from the southeast coast (at The Catlins) northwestwards through the Hokonui Hills (centre). Source= This file was derived from&#58;&#160;&#32;Turbid Waters Surround New Zealand.jpg&#58;&#160; Author=*Turbid_Waters_Surround_New_Zealand.jpg: Norman Kuring derivative work (a simple crop): Grutness (talk) 13:00, 16 March 2019 (UTC) Permission= This image is in the public domain because it is a screenshot from NASA’s globe software World Wind using a public domain layer, such as Blue Marble, MODIS, Landsat, SRTM, USGS or GLOBE. English&#160;| فارسی&#160;| français&#160;| עברית&#160;| македонски&#160;| മലയാളം&#160;| Nederlands&#160;| русский&#160;| 中文（中国大陆）‎&#160;| +/−
context_page_description: Southland is New Zealand's southernmost region. It consists mainly of the southwestern portion of the South Island and Stewart Island/Rakiura. It includes Southland District, Gore District and the city of Invercargill. The region covers over 3.1 million hectares and spans over 3,400 km of coast.
context_section_description: Southland is one of New Zealand's most sparsely populated regions with a population of 101,200 (June 2019). With a population of 48,700 Invercargill, the region's main centre and seat of local government, makes up half of Southland's total. Six other centers have populations over 1,000: Gore, Mataura, Winton, Riverton, Bluff and Te Anau. Most of Southland's population is concentrated on the eastern Southland Plains. Fiordland, the western part of the region, is almost totally devoid of permanent human settlement.
  Southland Region had a population of 97,467 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 4,125 people (4.4%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 6,591 people (7.3%) since the 2006 census. There were 38,646 households. There were 48,705 males and 48,765 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.0 males per female. Of the total population, 19,467 people (20.0%) were aged up to 15 years, 17,394 (17.8%) were 15 to 29, 44,124 (45.3%) were 30 to 64, and 16,485 (16.9%) were 65 or older. Figures may not add up to the total due to rounding.
  Ethnicities were 86.5% European/Pākehā, 14.9% Māori, 2.6% Pacific peoples, 5.5% Asian, and 2.0% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.
  The percentage of people born overseas was 12.2, compared with 27.1% nationally.
  Although some people objected to giving their religion, 50.7% had no religion, 38.5% were Christian, and 3.3% had other religions.
  Of those at least 15 years old, 11,004 (14.1%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 19,770 (25.3%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $32,100. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 40,965 (52.5%) people were employed full-time, 12,153 (15.6%) were part-time, and 2,427 (3.1%) were unemployed.
  A relatively high proportion of nineteenth century migrants came from Scotland and Ireland. Māori are largely concentrated around the port of Bluff. During the 1940s, the development of the freezing works boosted a short-term immigration to the region by North Island Māori.
  In the 21st century the Asian-origin population of Southland increased owing to the recruitment of dairy workers, many of them from the Philippines. In 2013 the population of Asian origin accounted for 3.2% of the Southland total.
  The West Coast aside, Southland has New Zealand's strongest regional identity. It is the only part of New Zealand which has a distinct regional accent (shared with neighboring parts of Otago), characterized in particular by a rolling 'r'. Food-wise, cheese rolls are a Southland specialty  and swedes are a popular vegetable, prepared and eaten as are pumpkin and kumara (sweet potato) elsewhere in New Zealand. For many years a television channel, known as Southland TV from 2003–07, later Cue TV, transmitted Southland content. The strength of Southland identity may owe something to the relatively high proportion of New Zealand-born in the region – 85% compared with 70% for New Zealand as a whole at the 2013 census.
caption: Satellite image of most of New Zealand's Southland Region, including Stewart Island and southern Fiordland.
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