New Zealand European
| Total population | |
|---|---|
|
2,969,391 (2013 census) 74% of New Zealand's population |
|
| Regions with significant populations | |
| North Island, South Island, Australia | |
| Languages | |
| English | |
| Religion | |
| Predominantly Christianity (Anglicanism · Catholicism · Presbyterianism) | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Anglo-Celtic Australians · British (English · Scottish · Welsh) · Irish · other European peoples |
European New Zealanders, or White New Zealanders, are New Zealanders of European descent. Most European New Zealanders are of British and Irish ancestry, with smaller percentages of other European ancestries such as Croatians, Germans, Greeks, Poles (historically noted as German due to Partitions of Poland), French, Dutch, Scandinavian and South Slav. The term European New Zealander also includes white people who are of indirect European descent, such as Americans, Canadians, South Africans and Australians.
The Māori term Pākehā is sometimes used as a synonym for European New Zealander.
Cook claimed New Zealand for Britain on his arrival in 1769. The establishment of British colonies in Australia from 1788 and the boom in whaling and sealing in the Southern Ocean brought many Europeans to the vicinity of New Zealand. Whalers and sealers were often itinerant and the first real settlers were missionaries and traders in the Bay of Islands area from 1809. Some of the early visitors stayed and lived with Māori tribes as Pākehā Māori. Often whalers and traders married Māori women of high status which served to cement trade and political alliances as well as bringing wealth and prestige to the tribe. By 1830 there was a population of about 800 non Māori which included a total of about 200 runaway convicts and seamen. The seamen often lived in New Zealand for a short time before joining another ship a few months later. In 1839 there were 1100 Europeans living in the North Island. Violence against European shipping (mainly due to mutual cultural misunderstandings), the ongoing musket wars between Māori tribes (due to the recent relatively sudden introduction of firearms into the Maori world), cultural barriers and the lack of an established European law and order made settling in New Zealand a risky prospect. By the late 1830s the average missionary would tell you that many Māori were nominally Christian, many of the Māori slaves that had been captured during the Musket Wars had been freed and cannibalism had been largely stamped out. By this time, many Māori, especially in the north, could read and write Māori and to a lesser extent English.
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