WELLINGTON (Pacnews) — The cultural face of New Zealand is becoming more diverse according to new census figures, with Asian and Pacific Islanders the fastest growing ethnic groups.
The Statistics New Zealand report shows Europeans remain the largest ethnic group with 2.6 million people or 67.6 percent of the population in 2006.
The Maori ethnic group is the second largest, with 565,329 people or 14.6 percent of the population.
The Asian population has grown by almost 50 percent to 354,552 in the five years to 2006.
Those identifying with the Pacific peoples ethnic group had the second-largest increase from the 2001 Census, up 14.7 percent to total 265,974 people.
Auckland is the multicultural capital of the country, with more than a third of residents born overseas.