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The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 66
Density of Population
Density of Population.
The population of the colony, exclusive of Maoris, amounted in April, 1881, to 4.693 persons to a square mile; but, as 187,439 persons resided in towns, the population outside the towns, numbering 302,494, only amounted to 2.89 persons to a square mile.
| Persons to a square mile. | |
|---|---|
| 1871 | 2.456 |
| 1881 | 4.693 |
| Persons to a Square Mile in 1871. | Persons to a Square Mile in 1881. | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Canterbury | 3.446 | Canterbury | 8.259 |
| Westland | 3.227 | Wellington | 5.611 |
| Otago | 2.773 | Otago | 5.350 |
| Auckland | 2.347 | Taranaki | 4.152 |
| Wellington | 2.194 | Hawke's Bay | 3768 |
| Nelson | 2.057 | Auckland | 3.744 |
| Hawke's Bay | 1.315 | Westland | 3.154 |
| Marlborough | 1.309 | Nelson | 2.384 |
| Taranaki | 1.252 | Marlborough | 2.325 |
The average number of persons to an inhabited dwelling throughout the colony was 5.12 in 1881, against 5.02 in 1878, 4.88 in 1874, 448 in 1871, and 4.05 in 1867. But, while the average number of persons to each dwelling was on the increase, the average character of the dwellings was evidently improving, and their capacity for occupation by a larger number of persons becoming greater.
The population of the four principal cities, including suburbs, of the colony, was estimated as follows : On the 30th September, 1885, Auckland, 37,551; Wellington, 23,152; Christchurch, 33,293; Dunedin, 47,550.