Waitomo District is a territorial authority in the north of the King Country region in the North Island of New Zealand. A small part of the district, the town of Tiroa, however, lies in the Manawatu-Wanganui region.
The district is a rural, predominantly dairy farming, region. The seat of the Waitomo District Council is at Te Kuiti, which has a population of 4,419. No other village in the district has a population of over 500. The district's total population at the 2006 census was 9,441, of whom 39% were Māori. The district has a land area of 3,546.76 km2 (1,369 sq mi), 94.87% of which lies in the Waikato Region and only 5.13% in the Manawatu-Wanganui Region. The Waitomo district was declared in 1976.
The area's main industries include sheep farming, forestry, and limestone quarrying.
The area is known for the popular Karst Waitomo Caves, 12 kilometres northwest of Te Kuiti. Numerous other caves are found in the limestone rock of the Waitomo district.
Waitomo also has an old style hotel first built in 1908 and added onto in the 1930s. Waitomo Caves Hotel overlooks Waitomo Village.
The current district mayor is Brian Hanna, who defeated incumbent Mark Ammon in the local body elections.
|
|||||||||||||||||||