Mata Mata

In 1876 Matamata had 7 homesteads housing 40 European settlers. In 1901 the Matamata Road Board had 300 residents, 50 dwellings, 60 rate payers and 80 rateable properties. and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of |R}}/9.59|0}} people per km2. scenes from the Lord of the Rings were filmed]] Matamata had a population of 9,132 in the 2023 New Zealand census, an increase of 1,089 people (13.5%) since the 2018 census, and an increase of 1,872 people (25.8%) since the 2013 census. There were 4,386 males, 4,716 females and 27 people of other genders in 3,696 dwellings. 2.1% of people identified as LGBTIQ+. The median age was 47.0 years (compared with 38.1 years nationally). There were 1,536 people (16.8%) aged under 15 years, 1,428 (15.6%) aged 15 to 29, 3,429 (37.5%) aged 30 to 64, and 2,742 (30.0%) aged 65 or older. {| class="wikitable defaultright col1left" |+Individual statistical areas |- !Name !! Area(km2) !! Population !! Density(per km2) || Dwellings !! Median age !! Medianincome |- | Matamata North || 3.03 || 3,300 || 1,089 || 1,374 || 46.7 years || $35,800 |- | Matamata West || 4.09 || 3,480 || 851 || 1,332 || 43.4 years || $36,100 |- | Matamata East || 2.47 || 2,355 || 955 || 993 || 53.6 years || $34,300 |- ! New Zealand !! !! !! !! !! style="text-align:right;"|38.1 years !! style="text-align:right;"| $41,500 |}

The name Matamata was originally applied to a settlement near the Anglican mission at Waharoa. The name Matamata was used for Josiah Firth's estate and as a town developed near the estate it took the name.

The first European thought to have visited the Matamata area was the trader Phillip Tapsell in about 1830. In 1833 the Reverend Alfred Nesbit Brown visited the area and in 1835 opened a mission near Matamata Pa, but this closed the following year when intertribal warfare broke out. to take advantage of the new technology of refrigeration. It became a dependent Town District in 1917, an independent Town District in 1919 and was constituted a borough in 1935.

Matamata was a station on the Kinleith Branch, from Monday 8 March 1886. It was built by Mr D Fallon for the Thames Valley & Rotorua Railway Co. New Zealand Railways Department took over the line on 1 April 1886. Initially 40 minutes north of the temporary terminus at Oxford (Tirau) and about an hour from Morrinsville. For a while Matamata seems to have become a flag station, though it did have cattle yards and a by Matamata was included in the annual returns of railway traffic. For example, in 1924 it sold 26,367 tickets and exported 26,084 sheep and pigs. In 1950 8,868 tickets were sold and it transported 42,322 sheep and pigs. A petrol engined shunter was used in the station yard from 1936. Several Drewry 0-4-0 shunters were introduced in 1936. The station building was replaced on Monday 17 May 1965 by a new £23,500 steel portal frame and block-work building, with a new platform and approach road from Hetana Street, built by Way & Works Branch staff. The old station was sold for removal by July 1967. from 9 December 1991 until 7 October 2001. Since closure the station has been the Railside by the Green community centre since 2002, though it is fenced off from the platform. Occasional excursions still use the platform. |next=HinueraLine open, station closed|route=Kinleith Branch|col=}}

Matamata is home to the Matamata Swifts soccer team, who compete in the Lotto Sport Italia NRFL Division 1A.

Matamata College is the town's co-educational state secondary school, with a roll of as of . It opened as Matamata District High School in 1918 with a new building and official opening in 1924. Matamata Intermediate is the town's co-educational state intermediate school, with a roll of . Originally part of Matamata College, it became a separate school in 1961. There are two co-educational state primary schools: Matamata Primary School, with a roll of ; and Firth School, with a roll of . Matamata Primary started as Matamata Public School in February 1900. It could accommodate up to 26 pupils and was enlarged after being destroyed by a fire in 1905 or 1906. Matamata Christian School is a co-educational state integrated Christian primary school, with a roll of . It was founded in 1988 as Rainbow Park Christian School, and became state integrated in 1998. St Joseph's Catholic School is a co-educational state integrated Catholic school, with a roll of . It opened in 1930. File:Matamata College (Matamata New Zealand) aerial photo (probably 1940s).tif|Aerial view of Matamata College in the 1940s File:Matamata College (Matamata, New Zealand) in 1946 postcard.tiff|Front of Matamata College in the 1950s File:Postcard Matamata Public School.tif|Matamata Public School from around 1909 File:Public School Matamata (Smales' series 7).jpg|Matamata Public School around 1919

* Kristine Crabb * Shane Dye * Claudia Pond Eyley * Casey Kopua * Michael Moroney * Dave O'Sullivan * Paul O'Sullivan * Lance O'Sullivan * Tim Mikkelson * Hon Mike Rann CNZM * Dame Patsy Reddy * Tom Sainsbury * Matthew Stanley * Dame Catherine Tizard * Kyle Wealleans

Smaller towns nearby are: * Hinuera * Peria * Turanga-O-Moana * Te Poi * Waharoa * Walton, New Zealand * Wardville, New Zealand

Matamata features a mild oceanic climate (Cfb) with warmish summers and somewhat mild winters with cool nights, and moderate rainfall spread throughout the year. Rainfall peaks in winter and is the lowest in late summer.