It is located nine kilometres to the southeast of Auckland city centre, on the northern shore of Māngere Inlet, an arm of the Manukau Harbour.

[3] Carter Holt Harvey's head office is located at 173 Captain Springs Road in the Te Papapa area.

[4] It has been suggested that the name of the suburb refers to a fortress built of rock slabs.

[5] However, at the time Te Papapa Railway Station first opened the area around was commonly known as "Pumpkin Flat" and a short article in the Auckland Star[6] reported that the general manager of the railways had chosen to name the station after the "Maori long pumpkin or Te Papapa" in remembrance of the commonly used name.

The results were 53.0% European (Pākehā); 12.3% Māori; 23.6% Pasifika; 23.7% Asian; 3.3% Middle Eastern, Latin American and African New Zealanders (MELAA); and 1.3% other, which includes people giving their ethnicity as "New Zealander".