Te Teko
Encyclopedia
Te Teko is a small inland township in the Bay of Plenty
Bay of Plenty
The Bay of Plenty , often abbreviated to BOP, is a region in the North Island of New Zealand situated around the body of water of the same name...

 region of New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

's North Island
North Island
The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the much less populous South Island by Cook Strait. The island is in area, making it the world's 14th-largest island...

. According to the 2001 New Zealand Census of Population and Dwellings
New Zealand Census of Population and Dwellings
The New Zealand government department Statistics New Zealand conducts a census of population and dwellings every five years. The census scheduled for 2011 was cancelled due to circumstances surrounding the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake, however, and legislation introduced to hold the next...

, its population is 627, a decrease of 3 from the previous census in 2001.

Geography

The Rangitaiki River
Rangitaiki River
The Rangitaiki River is the longest river in the Bay of Plenty region in New Zealand's North Island. It is 155 kilometres in length, and rises inland from northern Hawke Bay to the east of the Kaingaroa Forest....

 passes through the town as it flows northwards to its mouth on the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

, and State Highways 30 and 34
New Zealand State Highway network
The New Zealand State Highway network is the major national highway network in New Zealand. Just under 100 roads in both the North and South Islands are State Highways...

 meet in the town. SH 30 cuts through the town on its route from Whakatane
Whakatane
Whakatane is a town in the eastern Bay of Plenty Region, in the North Island of New Zealand, and is the seat of the Bay of Plenty Regional Council. Whakatane is 90 km east of Tauranga and 89 km north-east of Rotorua, at the mouth of the Whakatane River.The town has a population of , with...

 to Rotorua
Rotorua
Rotorua is a city on the southern shores of the lake of the same name, in the Bay of Plenty region of the North Island of New Zealand. The city is the seat of the Rotorua District, a territorial authority encompassing the city and several other nearby towns...

, while SH 34 crosses it in the town's west and runs southwest to Kawerau. To the west of the town runs the East Coast Main Trunk Railway, and from it diverges the Murupara Branch line
Branch line
A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line...

, which skirts the south of Te Teko.

Te Teko has the highest mean daily maximum temperature (20.26°C) of any settlement in New Zealand, although it is not the warmest town in New Zealand as the mean daily minimum temperature of 8.56°C is comparatively low. Rainfall is high, averaging 1474mm per year.

History

In the mid-1860s, Te Teko was the site of a significant siege on a Māori
Pa
-Places:* Pâ, a town in Burkina Faso* Pâ Department, a department in Burkina Faso* PA postcode area, in Scotland* Province of Palermo, Italy* Palo Alto, California* Panama, ISO country code** .pa, the country code top level domain for Panama...

 as part of the East Cape War
East Cape War
The East Cape War, sometimes also called the East Coast War, refers to a series of conflicts that were fought in the North Island of New Zealand from about 13 April 1865 to June 1868...

. After peace came to the region, a hotel was established on the banks of the Rangitaiki River in 1879 and Te Teko rose in importance as a boat service was established to ferry hotel customers and travellers across the river. A bridge made the boat service redundant in 1915.

The present day township of Te Teko includes a racecourse, golf course, police station, and a primary school. The primary school was established in 1881.

Demographics

95.2% of the town's population identify as Māori, one of the highest percentages in a country where Māori comprise 14.7% of the national population . 47% of the population speak the Māori language
Maori language
Māori or te reo Māori , commonly te reo , is the language of the indigenous population of New Zealand, the Māori. It has the status of an official language in New Zealand...

, compared to 9.4% for the entire Bay of Plenty region. The town's unemployment rate of 22.5% is dramatically higher than the regional average of 6.1% and the national average of 5.1%, and the 2006 median income was $NZ
New Zealand dollar
The New Zealand dollar is the currency of New Zealand. It also circulates in the Cook Islands , Niue, Tokelau, and the Pitcairn Islands. It is divided into 100 cents....

7,700 below the regional median of $22,600
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