The New Zealand Herald has created an interactive map which colors place names depending on whether they are English or Māori. The Our Place Names map reveals that North Island is dominated by Māori names and South Island is dominated by English place-names.
The map is made using data from Te Pūnaha Matatini, Dragonfly Data Science and Te Hiku Media. They used algorithms to identify Māori words in the New Zealand Gazetteer of place-names. If you hover over a place-name on the map you can view the actual name.
Unfortunately the New Zealand Herald don't have any theories about why there is such a clear difference between the two islands. It would be interesting to know why North Island has far more Māori names than South Island.
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