MÃÂngere () is a major suburb in South Auckland, New Zealand, located on mainly flat land on the northeastern shore of the Manukau Harbour, to the northwest of Manukau City Centre and south of the Auckland city centre. It is the location of Auckland Airport, which lies close to the harbour's edge to the south of the suburb.
The area has been inhabited by TÃÂmaki MÃÂori since early periods of MÃÂori history, including large-scale agricultural stonefields, such as IhumÃÂtao, and MÃÂngere Mountain, which was home to a fortified pÃÂ. Te ÃÂkitai Waiohua communities in MÃÂngere thrived in the 1840s and 1850s after the establishment of a Wesleyan Mission and extensive wheat farms, until the Invasion of the Waikato in 1863. MÃÂngere remained a rural community until the mid-20th Century, when MÃÂngere became one of the largest state housing developments in Auckland.
The name MÃÂngere is a shortened form of the MÃÂori language name NgÃÂ Hau MÃÂngere, a name given to the area by Taikehu, one of the rangatira of the Tainui canoe, referring to the gentle breezes in the area. The spelling of the area was inconsistent in English in the 19th century, with MÃÂngere variously spelt Mangere, Mangerei or Mangare. The spelling Mangere became more consistently used after 1897, when the post office began using this spelling. In 2019, the name of the suburb was officially gazetted as MÃÂngere, with a macron.
Central MÃÂngere was traditionally known by the name Taotaoroa, or "The Extensive Plains".
MÃÂngere is a peninsula of the Manukau Harbour, south of the Auckland isthmus. Many features of the Auckland volcanic field can be found around MÃÂngere, most visibly MÃÂngere Mountain, an 106-metre volcanic cone to the north-west. The oldest known feature is the Boggust Park Crater, which erupted an estimated 130,000 years ago, while the most recent feature is Waitomokia, which erupted around 20,300 years before the present. The low-lying volcanic features of the area, such as the MÃÂngere Lagoon, Crater Hill, and Pukaki Lagoon were collectively known by the name Nga Tapuwae a Mataoho ("The Sacred Footprints of Mataoho") to TÃÂmaki MÃÂori peoples, referring to the deity who was involved in their creation.
A number of waterways are found in the area, including the Tararata Creek and Harania Creek which drain into the MÃÂngere Inlet in the north, and Pukaki Creek and Waokauri Creek in the south.
The first evidence of TÃÂmaki MÃÂori in the coastal MÃÂngere area comes from the 14th century, with evidence of the first settlements later in the 15th century. Pukaki Creek formed an important part of the Waokauri / Pà «kaki portage, connecting the Manukau Harbour and TÃÂmaki River via Papatoetoe, and was often used by TÃÂmaki MÃÂori to avoid the Te Tà  Waka and Karetu portages, controlled by the people who lived at à ÂtÃÂhuhu / Mount Richmond. Much of the coastal Manukau Harbour area was farmed using Polynesian stonefield agricultural techniques, such as the à Âtuataua Stonefields at IhumÃÂtao.
In the early 18th century, Te Pane o Mataaho / MÃÂngere Mountain was a major pàfor the Waiohua, a confederacy of TÃÂmaki MÃÂori iwi. The mountain complex may have been home to thousands of people, with the mountain acting as a central place for rua (food storage pits). Paramount chief Kiwi TÃÂmaki stayed at MÃÂngere seasonally, when it was the time of year to hunt sharks in the Manukau Harbour. The southern slopes of Te Pane o Mataaho / MÃÂngere Mountain were known as Taotaoroa, an extensive garden that sat between wetlands, and fed by the waters of three streams: Te Ararata (Tararata Creek), the Harania Creek and the à Âtaki Creek, a tributary of the TÃÂmaki River.
In the early 1740s, Kiwi TÃÂmaki was slain in battle by the Te Taoà « hapà « of NgÃÂti WhÃÂtua. After the battle, most Waiohua fled the region, although many of the remaining Waiohua warriors regrouped at Te Pane o Mataaho. The warriors strew pipi shells around the base of the mountain to warn against attacks, but Te Taoà « warriors covered the pipi shells with dogskin cloaks to muffle the sound, and raided the pàat dawn. An alternate name for the mountain, Te Ara Pueru ("the dogskin cloak path"), references this event.
After the events of this war, NgÃÂti WhÃÂtua à ÂrÃÂkei, a hapà « created by the members of Te Taoà « who remained near the TÃÂmaki isthmus, who intermarried with defeated members of Waiohua, settled the region. Originally the iwi were based on Maungakiekie / One Tree Hill, but after the death of paramount chief Tà «periri (circa 1795), the MÃÂngere Bridge area and Onehunga became permanent kÃÂinga (settlements) for NgÃÂti WhÃÂtua. The location was chosen because of the good quality soils for gardening, resources from the Manukau Harbour, and the area acting as a junction for surrounding trade routes. MÃÂngere-Onehunga remained the principal residence of NgÃÂti WhÃÂtua à ÂrÃÂkei until the 1840s, before the iwi moved to à ÂrÃÂkei.
When the Waiohua people began to re-establish themselves in the TÃÂmaki Makaurau area in the latter 18th century, most settled around the Manukau Harbour and South Auckland. A major iwi who formed in the area from these people was Te ÃÂkitai Waiohua. By the 19th Century, most TÃÂmaki MÃÂori peoples moved away from fortified pÃÂ and favoured kÃÂinga closer to resources and transport routes. A kÃÂinga called Te Ararata was found near modern central MÃÂngere along the banks of the Tararata Creek, and the central MÃÂngere area was used as an area for growing food, medicine and plants for weaving.
In the 1820s and early 1830s, the threat of NgÃÂpuhi raiders from the north during the Musket Wars caused most of the TÃÂmaki Makaurau area to become deserted. During this period, a peace accord between NgÃÂpuhi and Waikato Tainui was reached through the marriage of Matire Toha, daughter of NgÃÂpuhi chief Rewa was married to Kati Takiwaru, the younger brother of Tainui chief PÃ Âtatau Te Wherowhero, and they settled together on the slopes of MÃÂngere Mountain. NgÃÂti WhÃÂtua returned to the MÃÂngere-Onehunga area by the mid-1830s, re-establishing a pÃÂ on MÃÂngere Mountain called Whakarongo.
In January 1836 missionary William Thomas Fairburn brokered a land sale between TÃÂmaki MÃÂori chiefs, Pà Âtatau Te Wherowhero and Turia of NgÃÂti Te Rau, covering the majority of modern-day South Auckland between à ÂtÃÂhuhu and Papakura. The sale was envisioned as a way to end hostilities in the area, but it is unclear what the chiefs understood or consented to. MÃÂori continued to live in South Auckland, unchanged by this sale. Fairburn was criticised for the sheer size of the purchase, and in 1842 the Crown significantly reduced the size of his land holdings, and the Crown partitioned much of the land for European settlers.
On 20 March 1840, NgÃÂti WhÃÂtua chief Apihai Te Kawau signed the Treaty of Waitangi at Orua Bay on the Manukau Harbour, inviting Lieutenant-Governor William Hobson to settle in Auckland, hoping this would protect the land and people living in Auckland. In the winter of 1840, NgÃÂti WhÃÂtua à ÂrÃÂkei moved the majority of the iwi to the WaitematàHarbour, with most iwi members resettling to the Remuera-à ÂrÃÂkei area, closer to the new European settlement at Waihorotiu (modern-day Auckland CBD). A smaller NgÃÂti WhÃÂtua presence remained at MÃÂngere-Onehunga, as well as members of Te Uringutu, and the western banks of the Waokauri Creek were reserved by the Crown as a native settlement in the 1850s, around the Te ÃÂkitai Waiohua kÃÂinga.
In the late 1840s, a Wesleyan Mission was established at IhumÃÂtao. The area flourished as a farming area primarily for wheat and oat crops, which were processed at a mill at IhumÃÂtao. Until the 1860s, the MÃÂori population of the Manukau Harbour and Waikato areas produced goods to sell or barter at the port of Onehunga. During this period, the MÃÂori population of MÃÂngere was significantly larger than the European population.
On 9 July 1863, due to fears of the MÃÂori King Movement, Governor Grey proclaimed that all MÃÂori living in the South Auckland area needed to swear loyalty to the Queen and give up their weapons. Most people refused due to strong links to Tainui, leaving for the south before the Government's Invasion of the Waikato. Six men remained in the MÃÂngere area, in order to tend to the farms and for ahi kÃÂ (land rights through continued occupation). Lieutenant-Colonel Marmaduke Nixon, who settled on the shores of Pukaki Creek in the 1850s, arrested his neighbour, the Te ÃÂkitai Waiohua rangatira Ihaka Takanini, who later died on Rakino Island.
European settlers continued to live in the area, often looting the abandoned settlements. In 1867, the Native Compensation Court returned 144 of the original 485 acres that had been seized by the crown. The remaining land was kept by the crown as reserves, or sold on to British immigrant farmers. Te ÃÂkitai Waiohua began returning to the area in 1866, settling to the west of Pukaki Creek and at IhumÃÂtao.
In 1862, the first local government was established in the area, with the formation of the Mangerei Highway Board. The first school, Mangere Central School, opened in 1859, and churches were built in central MÃÂngere in 1874 and 1894. MÃÂngere had become known as a wheat-producing area, and by the 1880s became known for dairy farming. In October 1887, Ambury and English Ltd opened a dairy factory in the area, supplying milk from the dairy farms (which includes modern day Ambury Regional Park, and farms along Wallace Road and Creamery Road) to their stores on Karangahape Road and Ponsonby Road. The creamery closed in 1937, and in 1943 operations were sold to the New Zealand Co-operative Dairy Company. By 1915, Chinese New Zealand market garden were established around MÃÂngere.
The MÃÂngere area was primarily rural for the first half of the 20th century, except for the MÃÂngere Bridge area, where the first suburban housing developed in 1875 after the construction of the first MÃÂngere Bridge. MÃÂngere East began to develop as a suburban area after the opening of the Otahuhu Railway Workshops in the late 1920s. The Pukaki Lagoon was drained and used as a speedway from 1928 until World War II, and by the 1950s Croatian immigrant Andrew Fistonich established the first vineyards in the area, which later grew to become Villa Maria Estates.
In the 1950s, Chinese New Zealand gardeners Fay Gock and Joe Gock began cultivating kà «mara (sweet potatoes) at their farm beside Pukaki Creek, using plants donated to them by their neighbours at Pà «kaki Marae. The Gocks developed a disease-resistant variety of kà «mara that became the modern Owairaka Red variety.
In 1958, the Mangere Aerodrome was chosen by the New Zealand Government as the site of a new purpose-built airport, to replace the RNZAF Base Auckland at Whenuapai served as the civilian airport for Auckland. The Auckland Airport opened in 1966. In 1962, central MÃÂngere was chosen as a location for a large-scale state housing development. This followed Glen Innes and à Âtara as the third large-scale state housing development in Auckland aimed a low-income families, centred around a retail and community centre. By the 1980s, central MÃÂngere had become one of the more economically deprived areas in New Zealand. By the early 2000s, MÃÂngere had become a multicultural area of Auckland.
In 1997, State Highway 20 (commonly known as the Southwestern Motorway) extended south to Massey Road. The entire Western Ring Route project, connecting the Northwestern Motorway to the Southern Motorway was completed in 2017. In the 2010s, discussions began to create a light rail connection between the Auckland city centre to MÃÂngere. After the 2023 New Zealand general election, plans for light rail to MÃÂngere were placed on hold.
MÃÂngere covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km<sup>2</sup>.
MÃÂngere had a population of 21,357 in the 2023 New Zealand census, a decrease of 633 people (âÂÂ2.9%) since the 2018 census, and an increase of 1,491 people (7.5%) since the 2013 census. There were 10,485 males, 10,824 females and 51 people of other genders in 4,794 dwellings. 1.9% of people identified as LGBTIQ+. The median age was 29.3 years (compared with 38.1 years nationally). There were 5,202 people (24.4%) aged under 15 years, 5,703 (26.7%) aged 15 to 29, 8,610 (40.3%) aged 30 to 64, and 1,842 (8.6%) aged 65 or older.
People could identify as more than one ethnicity. The results were 11.7% European (PÃÂkehÃÂ); 17.5% MÃÂori; 66.1% Pasifika; 19.2% Asian; 0.7% Middle Eastern, Latin American and African New Zealanders (MELAA); and 0.8% other, which includes people giving their ethnicity as "New Zealander". English was spoken by 89.9%, MÃÂori language by 5.0%, Samoan by 20.8%, and other languages by 26.0%. No language could be spoken by 2.9% (e.g. too young to talk). New Zealand Sign Language was known by 0.5%. The percentage of people born overseas was 39.8, compared with 28.8% nationally.
Religious affiliations were 60.0% Christian, 5.0% Hindu, 8.0% Islam, 1.9% MÃÂori religious beliefs, 0.9% Buddhist, 0.1% New Age, and 0.7% other religions. People who answered that they had no religion were 17.1%, and 6.7% of people did not answer the census question.
Of those at least 15 years old, 1,830 (11.3%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, 8,043 (49.8%) had a post-high school certificate or diploma, and 6,276 (38.8%) people exclusively held high school qualifications. The median income was $33,500, compared with $41,500 nationally. 639 people (4.0%) earned over $100,000 compared to 12.1% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 7,818 (48.4%) people were employed full-time, 1,314 (8.1%) were part-time, and 900 (5.6%) were unemployed.
The first local government in the area was the Mangerei Highway Board, which formed in 1862. It dissolved in 1919 and became administered directly by the Manukau County Council. In 1965, the area became a part of the Manukau City, In November 2010, all cities and districts of the Auckland Region were amalgamated into a single body, governed by the Auckland Council.
MÃÂngere is a part of the MÃÂngere-Ã ÂtÃÂhuhu local board area. The residents of MÃÂngere elect members of the MÃÂngere-Ã ÂtÃÂhuhu Local Board, as well as two councillors from the Manukau ward to sit on the Auckland Council.
The MÃÂngere Arts Centre NgÃÂ Tohu o Uenuku is an Auckland Council owned and operated performing arts venue and gallery space.
The Mangere East Hawks rugby league club is based in MÃÂngere at the Walter Massey Park.
The Manukau Rovers RFC rugby union club is also based in MÃÂngere and competes in the Auckland Premier Competition.
The Mangere United football club is also based in MÃÂngere and competes in the Auckland Football and NZ Football National League Competitions.
MÃÂngere has three marae:
MÃÂngere College is a secondary school (years 9âÂÂ13) with a roll of students.
Sir Douglas Bader Intermediate School is an intermediate school (years 7âÂÂ8) with a roll of students.
Mangere Central School and Viscount School are full primary schools (years 1âÂÂ8) with rolls of and students, respectively.
Jean Batten School and Nga Iwi School are contributing primary schools (years 1âÂÂ6) with rolls of and students, respectively.
Te Kura Kaupapa MÃÂori o MÃÂngere is a MÃÂori-language area school (years 1âÂÂ13) with a roll of students.
Al-Madinah School is an area school (years 1âÂÂ13) and Zayed College for Girls is a secondary school (years 7âÂÂ13) with rolls of and students, respectively. They are state-integrated Islamic schools on adjacent sites.
All these schools except for Zayed College are coeducational. Rolls are as of