Te Puke is a town located 18 kilometres southeast of Tauranga in the Western Bay of Plenty of New Zealand. It is particularly well known for the cultivation of Kiwifruit. Te Puke is close to Tauranga, Mount Maunganui, Papamoa, and Maketu, which are all coastal towns/cities, as well as the small townships of Waitangi, Manoeka, Pongakawa, and Paengaroa. The Tauranga Eastern Link, completed in 2015, moved State Highway 2 away from Te Puke and removed large volumes of traffic from its streets. The town's name comes from the Māori language, and should be pronounced "teh-pook-ee", not "te-pyook". It translates to the hill; it is on a hill near the Papamoa Hills. Demographics Te Puke covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km2. Te Puke had a population of 8,688 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 1,296 people (17.5%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 1,728 people (24.8%) since the 2006 census. There were 2,793 households, comprising 4,368 males and 4,326 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.01 males per female, with 1,809 people (20.8%) aged under 15 years, 1,893 (21.8%) aged 15 to 29, 3,423 (39.4%) aged 30 to 64, and 1,569 (18.1%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 62.2% European/Pākehā, 26.5% Māori, 4.8% Pacific peoples, 19.4% Asian, and 1.6% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity. The percentage of people born overseas was 24.6, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 42.2% had no religion, 30.9% were Christian, 3.4% had Māori religious beliefs, 2.6% were Hindu, 0.3% were Muslim, 0.9% were Buddhist and 13.0% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 783 (11.4%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 1,638 (23.8%) people had no formal qualifications. 570 people (8.3%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 3,363 (48.9%) people were employed full-time, 1,023 (14.9%) were part-time, and 276 (4.0%) were unemployed. History and culture Settlement Around 1350, the Te Arawa canoe is said to have landed at Maketu after sailing from Hawaiki. The canoe was under the command of chief Tama-te-kapua, and he was responsible for many of the original place names of the area. Māori ventured up the rivers and streams and built many pā in