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Non-administrative areas with urban characteristics and a high to moderate concentration of population. The classification of urban areas was revised for the 1991 Census of Population and Dwellings into three parts - main, secondary and minor urban areas:
Main urban areas - centres with populations of 30,000 or more.
Secondary urban areas - centres with populations between 10,000 and 29,999.
Minor urban areas - centres with populations of 1,000 or more not already classified as urban (that is, not falling within a main or secondary urban area). Together with the above two categories, they constitute the urban population of New Zealand.
Urban areas are currently defined on the basis of the 1996 census usually resident population count. As a result, Greymouth is still classified as a secondary urban area, even though the 2001 and 2006 census usually resident population counts, and the estimated resident populations since 2001, fall below 10,000.
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