Cambridge (Māori: Kemureti) is a town in the Waipa District of the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand. Situated southeast of Hamilton, on the banks of the Waikato River, Cambridge is known as "The Town of Trees & Champions". The town has a population of , making it the largest town in the Waipa District, and the third largest urban area in the Waikato (after Hamilton and Taupo). Cambridge was a finalist in the 2017 and 2019 New Zealand's Most Beautiful Large Town awards, run by Keep New Zealand Beautiful. It was awarded the title New Zealand's Most Beautiful Large Town in October 2019. History Prior to the arrival of Europeans there were a number of Maori pā in the vicinity of what would become Cambridge. In the 1850s missionaries and farmers from Britain settled in the area and introduced modern farming practices to local Maori, helping them set up two flour mills and importing grinding wheels from England and France. During the 1850s, wheat was a profitable crop but when merchants in Auckland began purchasing cheaper grain from Australia the market went into decline. The European town of Cambridge was established when the 3rd Regiment of the Waikato Militia were settled there in 1864 following the Invasion of the Waikato. The town was named after Prince George, Duke of Cambridge, the Commander-in-Chief of the British Army at the time. Electric street lights were first switched on in 1922. Demographics Cambridge covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km2. Cambridge had a population of 18,654 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 2,553 people (15.9%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 4,755 people (34.2%) since the 2006 census. There were 7,080 households, comprising 8,925 males and 9,726 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.92 males per female, with 3,690 people (19.8%) aged under 15 years, 3,147 (16.9%) aged 15 to 29, 7,908 (42.4%) aged 30 to 64, and 3,918 (21.0%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 90.1% European/Pākehā, 10.5% Māori, 1.5% Pacific peoples, 5.3% Asian, and 1.8% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity. The percentage of people born overseas was 24.1, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 50.4% had no religion, 38.7% were Christian, 0.5% had Māori religious beliefs,