Media Advisory
9 July 2007

Recent Wellington City population growth nudging ten percent, says online encyclopedia

Population growth in the capital has grown by 9.5 percent between 2001 and 2006, according to a new entry for the Wellington region being launched today (9 July) as part of the ‘places’ theme in Te Ara: the online Encyclopedia of New Zealand.

The entry can be seen at http://www.teara.govt.nz/Places/Wellington/en
The increase in people living in inner-city apartments is part of that growth. Between 1996 and 2006, the number of inner city residents more than doubled from 4440 to 9294.
The Wellington entry is the seventh in Te Ara’s highly successful ‘Places’ theme, which also includes entries on the Wairarapa and Manawatu-Horowhenua. The completed theme will cover 22 regions.

Film clips of Lynn of Tawa and the 1940 centennial exhibition at Rongotai are among the 14,000 words and over 200 images, maps and interactives featured.

The entry was written by the well-known Wellington historian, Chris Maclean.

“The dynamic landscape and challenging climate of the Wellington region gives the place an energy and vibrancy which is hard to find anywhere else in the country. Not everyone loves Wellington, but those who do, love it with a passion,” he said.

In preparing the entry Maclean was struck by the remarkable changes that had occurred in the region over the last generation.

“The place has been transformed – and for the better,” he says.

Te Ara will eventually be a complete encyclopedia of New Zealand, available free on the web. The first theme on the peoples of New Zealand was launched in 2005, the second theme of ‘Earth Sea and Sky’ in 2006, and ‘The Bush’, featuring another 106 entries, will go live in September.

Te Ara is a world first – the first national encyclopedia to be prepared for the web, and it has already won a number of prizes.

The Wellington entry will be launched at the City Gallery Wellington on Monday 9 July at 5.30pm.

ENDS

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