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Mount Cook
Suburb
Coordinates: 41°18′06″S 174°46′27″E / 41.301764°S 174.774031°E / -41.301764; 174.774031
Country	New Zealand
City	Wellington City
Local authority	Wellington City Council
Electoral ward	Pukehīnau/Lambton Ward Te Whanganui-a-Tara Māori Ward
Area
• Land	105 ha (259 acres)
Population
• Total	7,640

Aro Valley	Te Aro	Mount Victoria
	Mount Cook	Hataitai
Brooklyn	Newtown

Mount Cook is an inner city suburb of New Zealand's capital city of Wellington, The North Island, New Zealand, 1.74km dead south of Wellington's Central Business District. Its local constituency area is the Wellington Central, and is part of the City of Wellington local government area. The suburb stands on the southern fringe of the central city alongside Te Aro and to the north of Newtown.

History

After being settled by Māori since roughly 1350 CE, the Mount Cook area was situated on a fertile hill, just south of Te Aro Pā. The hill was the origin-point of the original survey marks through Wellington. It was given its current name by the New Zealand Company, after Captain James Cook (the mountain in the South Island was named separately), and was the suite of a large British military base, and later a prison that was "loathed by Wellingtonians", and demolished in 1931.

During the Victorian and Edwardian eras, Mt Cook became a favoured suburb of Wellington's elite, and many palatial mansions, such as the timber houses known as "painted ladies", were constructed along the Kent and Edward Terrace rivers; After the Earthquake of 1855, many were built around what was now the Basin Reserve. Densely populated mid-to-postwar Wellington had all eyes on Mount Cook, where the Dominion Museum and the carillon opened for the country's 100th anniversary of the Treaty of Waitangi, in 1940. Over the span of its history, Mount Cook has become known for its culture of bohemianism and preservation of uniquely Wellingtonian Victorian Architecture. Mount Cook's attractions and institutions include the Colonial Cottage Museum, the Wellington campus of Massey University and the National War Memorial, and, to cricketers locally and around the world, the Basin Reserve.

Demographics

Mount Cook, comprising the statistical areas of Mount Cook West and Mount Cook East, covers 1.05 km (0.41 sq mi). It had an estimated population of 7,640 as of June 2024, with a population density of 7,276 people per km.

Mount Cook had a population of 6,858 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 255 people (3.9%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 345 people (5.3%) since the 2006 census. There were 2,529 households, comprising 3,363 males and 3,498 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.96 males per female, with 360 people (5.2%) aged under 15 years, 3,864 (56.3%) aged 15 to 29, 2,295 (33.5%) aged 30 to 64, and 336 (4.9%) aged 65 or older.

Ethnicities were 73.2% European/Pākehā, 10.3% Māori, 4.1% Pasifika, 17.6% Asian, and 5.9% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.

The percentage of people born overseas was 36.6, compared with 27.1% nationally.

Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 63.7% had no religion, 20.6% were Christian, 0.4% had Māori religious beliefs, 3.2% were Hindu, 1.7% were Muslim, 1.9% were Buddhist and 3.6% had other religions.

Of those at least 15 years old, 2,595 (39.9%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 321 (4.9%) people had no formal qualifications. 1,038 people (16.0%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 3,366 (51.8%) people were employed full-time, 1,188 (18.3%) were part-time, and 513 (7.9%) were unemployed.

Education

• Wellington High School and Community Education Centre is a state co-educational secondary (years 9–15) school. It has a roll of 1630 as of August 2024.
• Mount Cook School is a state co-educational full (years 1–8) primary school. It has a roll of 272 as of August 2024.
• Massey University's Wellington campus

References

1. ^ "ArcGIS Web Application". statsnz.maps.arcgis.com. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
2. "Aotearoa Data Explorer". Statistics New Zealand. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
3. "Mt Cook Gaol a loathed landmark on Wellington's finest site – 150 years of news". Stuff. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
4. "Mt Cook History" (PDF). mtcookmobilised.pbworks.com.
5. "The New Zealand Centennial, 1940 – The 1940 Centennial | NZHistory, New Zealand history online". nzhistory.govt.nz. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
6. ^ "Statistical area 1 dataset for 2018 Census". Statistics New Zealand. March 2020. Mount Cook West (252000) and Mount Cook East (252400).
7. 2018 Census place summary: Mount Cook West
8. 2018 Census place summary: Mount Cook East
9. Education Counts: Wellington High School
10. ^ "New Zealand Schools Directory". New Zealand Ministry of Education. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
11. Education Counts: Mount Cook School

External links

• Mount Cook school website

• Suburbs of Wellington City