Oruanui

Oruanui is a rural locality in the Taupo District of New Zealand’s North Island, within the Waikato region. It is part of the broader Taupo area and derives its name from the Māori language.

The locality is historically significant for the Oruanui eruption, a large late-Pleistocene volcanic event that occurred about 26,500 years ago in the Taupo Volcanic Zone. The eruption produced extensive tephra deposits known as the Oruanui Tephra and helped form the Taupo caldera, which is now filled by Lake Taupo. The event is considered one of the largest known eruptions in the last 70,000 years and has helped shape regional geology and stratigraphy.

In the present day, Oruanui is predominantly rural and agricultural, with a small local population. It is connected to surrounding towns and settlements by local roads and lies within easy reach of the town of Taupo. Administrative matters fall under the Taupo District Council, with the broader regional governance provided by the Waikato Regional Council.

Etymology of the name reflects Māori heritage common to the Taupo region, though specific interpretations of the name Oruanui vary. The area continues to be cited in geological literature because of the Oruanui eruption and its lasting impact on the landscape of the central North Island.