Waipawa is the second-largest town in Central Hawke's Bay in the east of the North Island of New Zealand. It has a population of The town is located northeast of Waipukurau and southwest of Hastings, on the northern bank of the Waipawa River, a tributary of the Tukituki River. Waipawa was settled in the early 1860s, and the Settler's Museum exhibits many of these historical collections. It holds the main office of the Central Hawke's Bay District Council, and is New Zealand's oldest inland European settlement. Frederick Abbot was one of the early settlers and Waipawa was originally called Abbotsford, when the township was being sold in 1859, and there is still a children's home in Waipawa named Abbotsford. However, it was often shown as Abbotsford, Waipawa and Waipawa was more commonly used alone after the opening of the Waipawa railway station and Waipawa Mail in the late 1870s. A local newspaper, the Waipawa Mail, was published for most of the period from 1878 to 1980. It was one of 45 started by Joseph Ivess. In 1980 it merged to become the CHB Mail, which is now a free weekly paper, published in Waipukurau. Demographics Waipawa covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km2. Waipawa had a population of 2,085 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 114 people (5.8%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 159 people (8.3%) since the 2006 census. There were 843 households, comprising 990 males and 1,095 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.9 males per female. The median age was 43.3 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 450 people (21.6%) aged under 15 years, 291 (14.0%) aged 15 to 29, 912 (43.7%) aged 30 to 64, and 429 (20.6%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 84.0% European/Pākehā, 25.3% Māori, 3.9% Pacific peoples, 1.7% Asian, and 1.4% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity. The percentage of people born overseas was 13.8, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 54.2% had no religion, 32.5% were Christian, 2.3% had Māori religious beliefs, 0.1% were Buddhist and 2.7% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 216 (13.2%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 408 (25.0%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $26,400,