Hastings District is a Territorial authority district within the Hawke's Bay Region, on the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It covers the southern half of the Hawke's Bay coast, excluding Napier City, which is a separate territorial authority. Hastings District Council is headquartered in the city of Hastings, the district's largest town. The district has an area of 5,227 square kilometres. The population was as of , which is % of the population of New Zealand, ranking it tenth in population size out of the seventy-four territorial authorities. This comprises people in the Hastings urban area, people in the Havelock North urban area, people in the Clive urban area, and people in rural areas and settlements. Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst was elected as mayor in a by-election in 2017, and re-elected in the 2019 local elections. Council history Local government in the area began with the Havelock North Roads Board in 1871. It was replaced by a Town Board in 1912, and became Havelock North Borough Council in 1952. Hastings was a Town District in 1884. The Hastings Borough Council formed in 1886, and became Hastings City Council in 1956. Hawke's Bay County was established in 1876. Hastings District was established from the merger of Havelock North Borough Council, Hastings City Council and the Hawke’s Bay County Council as part of the 1989 local government reforms. Demographics Hastings District covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km2. Hastings District had a population of 81,537 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 8,292 people (11.3%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 10,695 people (15.1%) since the 2006 census. There were 28,131 households, comprising 40,029 males and 41,511 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.96 males per female. The median age was 39.1 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 17,697 people (21.7%) aged under 15 years, 14,955 (18.3%) aged 15 to 29, 35,199 (43.2%) aged 30 to 64, and 13,689 (16.8%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 71.8% European/Pākehā, 27.3% Māori, 8.0% Pacific peoples, 5.6% Asian, and 1.6% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity. The percentage of people born overseas was 17.2, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 46.4% had no religion, 39.5% were Christian, 3.0% had Māori religious beliefs,