live in the eastern part of the District. During the early years of European settlement, Kaiapoi developed as a river port. Rangiora was the area's main market town, and the development of Oxford was based on timber milling. The roles of the District's main urban areas have changed during recent years, mainly as the result of the rapid population growth. During the colonial era the area was also known as Courtenay, but the Maori name Waimakariri ultimately prevailed. The township of Courtenay is today part of the Selwyn District. The name Waimakariri translates from Te Reo Māori to 'cold water', referring to the snow melt source of the river in the Southern Alps. European settlement concentrated on the fertile soils of the plains. Until the middle of the 20th century extensive agricultural and pastoral farming predominated. More recently, horticultural and forestry have gained in importance. Today some 11% of the District's labour force is now involved with agriculture, forestry and fishing. Demography Waimakariri District covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km2. The district has experienced a rapidly growing population that is predicted to continue to increase. Despite rapid growth, Waimakariri has retained its rural/small town character and a high proportion of residents are involved in an extensive range of community and recreational organisations. Waimakariri District had a population of 59,502 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 9,513 people (19.0%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 16,668 people (38.9%) since the 2006 census. There were 22,026 households. There were 29,247 males and 30,258 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.97 males per female. The median age was 43.6 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 11,412 people (19.2%) aged under 15 years, 9,675 (16.3%) aged 15 to 29, 27,174 (45.7%) aged 30 to 64, and 11,241 (18.9%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 92.9% European/Pākehā, 8.6% Māori, 1.4% Pacific peoples, 2.9% Asian, and 1.8% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity. The percentage of people born overseas was 17.6, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people objected to giving their religion, 53.9% had no religion, 36.0% were Christian, 0.3% were Hindu, 0.2% were Muslim, 0.2% were Buddhist and 1.9% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 7,080 (14.7%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 10,050 (20.9%) people had