Ruakura is a semi-rural suburb of Hamilton City, in the Waikato region of New Zealand. The University of Waikato is nearby. The area lies to the east of urban Hamilton and to the west of State Highway 1B (a variant of State Highway 1 which avoids the urban area). Ruakura Agriculture Research Centre Waikato Agricultural College and Model Farm was set up in 1888, so that Ruakura is now synonymous with the Ruakura Agriculture Research Centre, the location of institutes such as AgResearch and Plant & Food Research. Areas of AgResearch's research at Ruakura include animal molecular biology (genomics and cloning), reproductive technologies, agricultural systems modelling, land management, dairy science, meat science, food processing technology and safety, and animal behaviour and welfare. Plant & Food Research's site in Hamilton is home to its blueberry nursery, its Bioengineering Group and its Food and Biological Chemistry laboratory. Work is also carried out on biological control agents and plant fertilizer (Ruakura solution). The Waikato region is a major contributor to New Zealand's agricultural-based economy, and Ruakura has an important role in that industry. The Ruakura Agriculture Research Centre is on land owned by the Waikato Tainui, to whom it was returned by the Crown as part of their 1995 Waikato Raupatu Land Settlement. The Waikato Regional Council included a majority of the land at Ruakura in the proposed Regional Policy Statement (PWRPS) as a future employment area. The Hamilton City Council Proposed District Plan gave effect to the PWRPS incorporating the Ruakura structure plan. The long-term plan for Ruakura is that it will be New Zealand's largest integrated commercial and lifestyle development anchored by a freight and logistics hub. Demographics Ruakura covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km2. Ruakura had a population of 1,158 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 258 people (28.7%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 327 people (39.4%) since the 2006 census. There were 189 households, comprising 549 males and 612 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.9 males per female. The median age was 20.6 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 132 people (11.4%) aged under 15 years, 666 (57.5%) aged 15 to 29, 312 (26.9%) aged 30 to 64, and 48 (4.1%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 61.1% European/Pākehā, 13.7% Māori, 5.4% Pacific peoples, 27.2% Asian, and 4.4% other ethnicities.