town, western North Island, New Zealand. The original settlement, situated on the east Waimate Plain, 2 miles (3 km) from the coast of South Taranaki Bight, on the Tasman Sea, grew around a blockhouse built in 1870 for protection from hostile Maoris. The settlement became a borough in 1882, and in the late 1970s the borough was amalgamated with the surrounding county to form a district. The name, a Maori word meaning “burnt place,” refers to a tale of intertribal warfare. Hawera has fat-lamb freezing works and dairy, confectionery, soap, furniture, stock-foods, engineering, clothing, coal-gas, farm-equipment, and motor-body plants. It is on the Wellington–New Plymouth highway and rail line. Pop. (2001) 10,944.