[3] The New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage gives a translation of "long coast" for Tahāroa however traditional histories state that the extended name is “Te Tahaaroa a Ruaputahanga” or the “long calabash of Ruaputahanga”.

[4] It was at times the temporary home of the great Te Rauparaha used mainly as a battle ground on the vast expanses of sand dunes evident by the number of finds over the years, by 1822 they were being forced out of their land by stronger northern tribes.

The main industrial activity is iron sand mining, run by New Zealand Steel, which began in 1972 was exporting about 1.4 Mt (1,500,000 short tons) a year, mainly to Japan, with small quantities to South Korea and China.

[9] In 2000 mining moved 2 km (1.2 mi) north, after the southern area was worked out.

[10] 1,375 tonnes an hour of sand[10] was piped 2.5 km (1.6 mi)[7] to an offshore mono-buoy,[11] which was extended a further 500m in 2012,[9] replaced in 2017[12] and is 17 m (56 ft) wide and weighs 250 tons.

[17] The mine employs about 150 workers,[18] though only 108 were recorded as working in the whole Taharoa area in the 2013 census.

[20] Herangi statistical area, which also includes Te Anga, Mahoenui, Marokopa, Mokau and Awakino, covers 1,668.25 km2 (644.11 sq mi)[1] and had an estimated population of 1,080 as of June 2024,[21] with a population density of 0.65 people per km2.

[24][25] Te Kura o Tahaaroa is a co-educational state Māori immersion school,[26] with a roll of 36.