Balfour is a small town located in the Southland region of New Zealand. Accounts of Balfour's naming differ: according to one report, it was named after an employee of the Waimea Company who lived there; alternatively it may have been named after James Melville Balfour, Marine Engineer to the New Zealand Government and uncle of Robert Louis Stevenson. Geography Balfour is located between the Hokonui Hills and the Mataura River in the Waimea Plains, and is about fifteen kilometres southeast of Lumsden. It is located on New Zealand State Highway 94, the main road linking Gore with the tourist destination of Milford Sound. Demographics Balfour is described as a rural settlement by Statistics New Zealand. It covers , and is part of the much larger Lumsden-Balfour statistical area. Balfour had a population of 117 at the 2018 New Zealand census, a decrease of 9 people (−7.1%) since the 2013 census, and a decrease of 21 people (−15.2%) since the 2006 census. There were 48 households. There were 66 males and 54 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.22 males per female. The median age was 40.8 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 18 people (15.4%) aged under 15 years, 27 (23.1%) aged 15 to 29, 42 (35.9%) aged 30 to 64, and 30 (25.6%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 94.9% European/Pākehā, 10.3% Māori, and 2.6% Asian (totals add to more than 100% since people could identify with multiple ethnicities). Although some people objected to giving their religion, 53.8% had no religion and 35.9% were Christian. Of those at least 15 years old, 6 (6.1%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 33 (33.3%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $34,300, compared with $31,800 nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 51 (51.5%) people were employed full-time and 18 (18.2%) were part-time. Railway In 1880, the Waimea Plains Railway was opened; it linked Gore on the Main South Line with Lumsden on the Kingston Branch and passed through Balfour. The line was an important economic link for many years, and the original Kingston Flyers that gave their name to today's Kingston Flyer tourist train in Kingston passed through Balfour on their way to Gore or Dunedin from the 1890s through to Easter 1957. With the improvement of road transportation and changes in government regulations, the railway lost its profitability, and in