I—l 7

A different split-up of the urban and rural population is given in the following table :

Table No. 59. —Table showing the Population in Urban and Rural Districts at various Censuses from 1901 to 1936

At the beginning of the present century about 20 per cent, of the population lived in towns of over 10,000 population. By 1936, however, this proportion had grown to 40 per cent. Only 10 per cent, of the population lived in the larger cities in 1901. This had increased to 25 per cent, in 1936. In the secondary cities between 10,000 and 25,000 the increase was from 7 per cent, to 16*44 per cent. The rural population had increased from 437,419 to 601,594, but had fallen relatively from 56-88 to 40-46 per cent. It should be noted, however, that, contrary to the experience of Australia, there has not been the tendency for the population to congregate in one large town. While the four major cities occupy a predominant place in the urban areas, there is a growing tendency for a distribution of the population into the smaller areas. Prior to the 1914-18 war there were only four cities in the Dominion. (The term " city " has no legal significance, but is granted to a borough which has a population of over 20,000.) In 1945, there were nine cities.* C. THE URBAN DRIFT A good deal is made from time to time of what is called the urban drift, and many deductions are made of the necessity to counter this particular development. In the Section dealing with agriculture it will be shown that the numbers engaged directly in agriculture have increased at a rate only slightly less than the rate of increase of the total occupied population. There is a good deal of loose thinking on this subject of the urban drift. The important factor in connection with agriculture is not the number

* Nelson, which has a population of under 20,000, is also entitled to the appellation of "city," but this has an historial significance.

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— 1901. 1906. 1911. I 1916. 1921. 1 1926. 1936. 1 Boroughs and Town Districts with Populations of — 1,000- 2,500 .. 2,500- 5,000 .. 5,000-10,000 .. 10,000-25,000 . . 25,000 or over .. Total urban .. Rural Grand total(excluding migratory) 1,000- 2,500 .. 2,500- 5,000 .. 5,000-10,000 .. 10,000-25,000 .. 25,000 or over .. Total urban .. Rural Grand total (excluding mi- ♦ gratory) 59,117 74,489 66,259 53,821 77,851 66,046 57,030 94,742 10,239 182,297 Numbers 81,011 67,322 98,435 56,519 199,553 93,995 76,9.14 87,096 78,860 248,437 98,292 92,778 67,575 135,493 295,997 102,201 85,430 82,144 185,580 337,221 99,87570,768 96,859 244,407 373,309 331,537 437,419 410,354 473,752 502,840 500,620 585,302 501,960 690,135 523,547 792,576 544,808 885,218 601,594 768,956 884,106 1,003,460 1,087,262 1,213,682 1,337,384 1,486,812 7-69 9-69 8-62 7-00 10-12 P, 7-47 6-45 10-72 1-16 20-62 ircentage of 8-07 6-71 9-81 5-63 19-89 Total 8-65 7-07 8-01 7-25 22-85 8-10 7-64 5-57 11-16 24-39 7-64 6-39 6-14 13-88 25-21 6-72 4-76 6-51 16-44 25-11 43-12 56-88 46-42 53-58 50-11 49-89 53-83 46-17 56-86 43-14 53-26 40-74 59-54 40-46 100-00 100-00 100-00 100-00 100-00 100-00 100-00