Croatian New Zealanders

Croatian-New Zealanders

Total population
2,550 - 100,000(est.)
Languages
New Zealand English, Croatian
Religion
Christianity

Croatian New Zealanders refers to New Zealand citizens of Croatian descent. There are 2,550 people who declared their nationality as Croats in the 2006 New Zealand census. The majority of these are located primarily in and around Auckland and Northland with small numbers in and around Canterbury and Southland. It is estimated that over 100,000 people have Croatian ancestry.

History

The earliest Croatian settlers in New Zealand date from the 1860s, largely arriving as sailors, gold miners, prospectors and pioneers. Following this, five significant influxes of Croats have arrived:

• 5,000 between 1890 and 1914, prior to World War I.
• 1,600 during the 1920s before the onset of the Great Depression.
• 600 in the 1930s, prior to World War II.
• 3,200 between 1945 and 1970.
• Arrivals during the 1990s, fleeing the conflict in former Yugoslavia.

In July 2008, 800 people attended a celebration of 150 years of Croatian settlement in New Zealand hosted by Prime Minister Helen Clark and Ethnic Affairs Minister Chris Carter.

Literature

• Trupinić, Damir. (2009) New Zealand Croatian Immigrant Press 1899-1916, LAP Lambert Academic Publishing, ISBN 978-3-8383-0743-5.
• Božić-Vrbančić, Senka. (2008) Tarara: Croats and Maori in New Zealand : memory, belonging, identity, Otago University Press, ISBN 978-1-877372-09-4.

See also

• Croats
• List of Croats