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The table enables a much clearer picture to be obtained of the relative change in population distribution in the intercensal period. The outstanding instance of growth is the Auckland Province, where the total population has increased by approximately 94,000, of which the urban population represented approximately 63,000 and the rural population approximately 31,000. The larger increase of the urban population accounts for its relative increase from 53-8 per cent, of the total population of the province to 55-8 per cent., and also accounts for a similar relative fall in the rural population. In Hawke's Bay the total population has increased by approximately 2,000, but the urban population has increased by over 4,000, while the rural population has decreased by over 2,000. As a consequence, the urban population is now 59 per cent, of the total population of the province, as compared with 55-2 per cent, in 1936. The rural population has shown a decline from 44-8 per cent, in 1936 to 41 per cent, in 1945. In Taranaki the total population has fallen by almost 1,000. The urban population, however, has increased by 2,500, while the rural population has fallen by over 3,500. The urban population is now 45-7 per cent, of the total population of the province, as compared with 42-1 per cent, in 1936. The rural population has fallen from 57-9 per ■cent, in 1936 to 54-3 per cent, in 1945. The Wellington Province, while not showing as phenomenal an increase as the population of the Auckland Province, does show a total increase of approximately 33,000 people, but the urban population has increased by 30,000, while the increase in the rural areas has been only 3,000. The increase in the urban population was from 72-9 per cent, in 1936 to 74-5 per cent, in 1945, the rural population having declined from 27-1 per cent, in 1936 to 25-5 per cent, in 1945. For the whole of the North Island the total population increase was 128,000, but the urban population had increased by 100,000, as compared with an increase of only 28,000 in the rural population. As a consequence the urban population is now 61-0 per cent, of the total population, as compared with 58-9 per cent, in 1936, while the rural population has declined from 41-1. per cent, in 1936 to 39-0 per cent, in 1945. Turning next to the South Island, the figures show, with the exception of the Marlborough Province, a very steady and serious decline in the rural population. Marlborough's population has increased by about 1,600, of which approximately 950 was an increase in urban areas and 650 an increase in rural areas. The Nelson Province shows an absolute decrease in population of approximately 2,300. On the other hand, the urban population has increased by 3,500, while the rural population has decreased by 5,800. The relative position of the urban areas, therefore, in the Nelson Province has increased to a very much greater extent, from 38-1 per cent, to 45-7 per cent, in 1945, while the rural p9pulation has decreased from 61-9 per cent, to 54-3 per cent. In Westland the total population has decreased by about 1,600. The urban population is exactly the same, and hence the rural population has decreased by 1,600, the relative positions being, urban areas 53-4 per cent, in 1936 and 58-7 per cent, in 1945, and the rural population 46-6 per cent., in 1936 and 41-3 per cent, in 1945. In Canterbury the total population has increased by approximately 12,000, but the urban population has increased by 15,000, so that the rural population has decreased by approximately 3,000. The urban population has increased from 61-1 per cent, to 64-1 per cent., the rural having declined from 38-9 per cent, to 35-9 per cent. The Otago Province, including Southland, has decreased in total population by approximately 10,000, but the urban parts of this province have increased by nearly 3,500, while the rural population has decreased by approximately 13,500. The relative position of the urban areas has increased from 55-8 per cent, to 60-0 per cent., while the rural areas have declined from 44-2 per cent, to 40 per cent. The South Island in total has increased in population by only 232. The urban areas have increased by approximately 23,000, while the rural areas have declined by approximately 23,000. Before any real deductions can be made from these figures,

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