Mackenzie District is a local government district on New Zealand's South Island, administered by the Mackenzie District Council. It is part of the larger Canterbury Region. Geography Principal settlements The Mackenzie District only has three towns with a permanent population over 300 at the 2013 census: Fairlie (pop. 690) – seat of the district Twizel (pop. 1,140) – the district's largest town Tekapo (pop. 370) Other smaller settlements include: Mount Cook Village Albury Burkes Pass Geographical features Rivers: Mackenzie Basin Mackenzie River Tekapo River Pukaki River Grays River Mountains: Aoraki / Mount Cook Lakes: Lake Tekapo and the 'Church of the Good Shepherd'. Lake Pukaki Lake Ruataniwha, one of New Zealand's main rowing venues Lake Ōhau Glaciers: Tasman Glacier Hooker Glacier Skifields: Fox Peak Mt Dobson Round Hill Tasman Glacier Heliski National parks: Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park Climate The Mackenzie District has a dry temperate-continental climate with clear, crisp snowy winters and long, hot summers. Autumn is known for being a riot of colour, while spring brings wildflowers blooming throughout the region, including lupins. The warm summer season is from November to February, with temperatures often passing 30 degrees. In the cooler winter season, from June to September, temperatures drop to below 0 degrees Celsius overnight, while sunny winter days average around 8 degrees and regular snowfall. History The MacKenzie Basin was named in the 1850s by and after James Mckenzie, a Scottish-origin shepherd and sheep thief, and the name transferred to the modern district. Demographics Mackenzie District covers a land area of and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km2. Mackenzie District had a population of 4,866 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 708 people (17.0%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 1,065 people (28.0%) since the 2006 census. There were 1,863 households. There were 2,511 males and 2,352 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.07 males per female. The median age was 40.6 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 801 people (16.5%) aged under 15 years, 978 (20.1%) aged 15 to 29, 2,274 (46.7%) aged 30 to 64, and 810 (16.6%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 86.4% European/Pākehā, 6.8% Māori, 1.2% Pacific peoples, 8.9% Asian, and 3.4% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity. The percentage of people born overseas was 24.5, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some