Manurewa is a major suburb in South Auckland, New Zealand. It was part of Manukau City before the creation of the Auckland super city in 2010. It is located south of the Manukau City Centre, and southeast of Auckland CBD. The suburb is bisected by the Auckland Southern Motorway. Real estate values in Manurewa vary greatly. Manurewa is Māori for "drifting kite". The name refers to a kite flying competition where a kite line was severed and drifted away. The kite's owner was the chief Tamapahore who had a pā (fortified village) on Matuku-tururu (Wiri Mountain). The name Manurewa commemorates the incident by the name. Manurewa has a high proportion of non-European ethnicities, making it one of the most multi-cultural suburbs in New Zealand. Employment for many is at the many companies of nearby Wiri, Papakura, and at the steel mill at Glenbrook. Southmall was one of the first shopping malls in New Zealand. It is located on the Great South Road. This shopping centre is no longer the main centre for many shoppers after the opening of Westfield Manukau City approximately 10 minutes away. Manurewa is the home of Auckland Botanic Gardens which receives over a million visitors a year. Demographics Manurewa covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km2. Manurewa had a population of 19,236 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 2,394 people (14.2%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 3,645 people (23.4%) since the 2006 census. There were 4,572 households, comprising 9,765 males and 9,474 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.03 males per female, with 5,160 people (26.8%) aged under 15 years, 5,226 (27.2%) aged 15 to 29, 7,461 (38.8%) aged 30 to 64, and 1,392 (7.2%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 24.5% European/Pākehā, 30.9% Māori, 41.1% Pacific peoples, 23.0% Asian, and 2.3% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity. The percentage of people born overseas was 34.9, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 27.3% had no religion, 46.3% were Christian, 3.8% had Māori religious beliefs, 6.7% were Hindu, 2.4% were Muslim, 1.4% were Buddhist and 6.4% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 1,494 (10.6%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 3,153 (22.4%) people had no formal qualifications. 891 people (6.3%)