2.3 Marlborough CDEM Group Environment 2.3.1 Social Environment General Population The resident population of Marlborough was 43,416 people of whom 4,776 were Māori in the 2013 census. This is an increase of 858 people, or 2%, since the 2006 Census. Blenheim is the main centre with 22,176 residents while Picton’s population is 2,928 and Renwick’s is 1,872. Marlborough has only 1% of New Zealand's population and is ranked 15 out of the 16 regions in New Zealand and thereforeth the rating base is quite low. 16% of peope i as a whole. For people born overseas who are now living in Marlborough, the most common birthplace was England. After English, the next most common language spoken in Marlborough Region is te reo Māori, which is spoken by 2.2% of people which is 1.5% less than statistics nationally. New Zealand Sign Language is used by less than one percent of people in Marlborough, which is the same as for all of New Zealand. 90% of people in Marlborough speak only one language, compared with 80% of people for all of New Zealand. Marlborough’s population is boosted with domestic and international visitors every year. In the 12 months to June 2014 the 106 accommodation providers in Marlborough hosted over 705,000 domestic guest nights and over 337,000 international guest nights. Cruise ships are an increasing feature of Picton’s summer with 44 scheduled to visit during the summer of 2016-17. 25 of the visiting ships are over 200m long and some bring as many as 4,900 visitors (and 1,300 crew) to the District for the day. Ethnic Groups in Marlborough The European ethnic group make up 89% of the Marlborough population compared to 74% for New Zealand as a whole. Māori make up 11.5% of the Marlborough population compared to 15% nationally. Eight iwi who make up Te Tau Ihu and each have a marae, some of which are used as Civil Defence Centres (see section 4.2.4 for more detail). It is worth noting that significant numbers of overseas labourers (principally from Vanuatu and Thailand) work in the vineyards throughout the year. The resident ethnic groups are shown in Table 4. Table 4: Ethnic Groups in Marlborough Ethnic Groups In Marlborough and New Zealand 2013 Census Ethnic Group % Marl. % NZ European 89.2 74 Māori 11.5 14.9 Pacific peoples 2.3 7.4 Asian 2.8 11.8 Middle Eastern/Latin American/African 0.6 1.2 New Zealander 2.5 1.6 Other ethnicity 2.5 1.7 Marlborough Civil Defence Emergency Management Plan, 2017-2022 Page 18