There's more than 100,000 people living in Tauranga, but who are they? Where do they come from, and what are they doing here?

Multicultural Tauranga community liaison Ewa Fenn says the city's last population census in March 2013 showed the largest ethnicity groups living in Tauranga were from India, China and the Philippines.

Dance partners Farida Frias and Reggie Ochia, Myrna Tulloch and Ryan Prietos and Rosanna Knight and Arthur Lopez will be performing a traditional Filipino dance at the Living in Harmony event on July 22. Photo: Tracy Hardy.

A total of 6021 Indian people were living here, as well as 2289 Chinese and 1428 Filipino. The census also showed 924 Korean people, 369 Thai and 180 Nepalese.

Ewa says there are more than 100 different nationalities living in Tauranga.

'The kiwifruit industry used to be the biggest attraction for coming to Tauranga before they settled here permanently,” says Ewa.

'The other good reason to come to Tauranga is the education. We've got a large group of families coming to lean English and start education in New Zealand.

'The biggest influx in this group is from Korea and they're staying for anything from two to five years or longer.”

Multicultural Tauranga hosts a free monthly Living in Harmony event to showcase and get to know the various cultures living in the Tauranga region, and this Wednesday's theme is the Philippines.

Tauranga Filipino Society Incorporated president Teresita Nicholls says the society began in 1990 with very few families.

Now, more than 200 Filipino families contribute to the city's population.

So why here? It's simple. 'Tauranga is a beautiful place,” says Teresita, who believes most families find it easy to settle here.

Teresita moved to Tauranga in 1989 and married one year later.

'I don't want to leave Tauranga anymore, I love it here,” she says. 'The weather is good.”

The best part is the soil, adds Teresita. 'The soil is so rich that anything I plant just grows. I love looking at the roses when they bloom.

'My husband says if Tere is not in the kitchen she's in the garden.”

Although she's acculturated with the New Zealand lifestyle, Teresita still maintains her Filipino roots.

She goes home every two years and loves to cook traditional Filipino food.

'When we are all together we love to speak Filipino,” she explains, 'but we make sure that we speak English too.”

Teresita says speaking English isn't tricky for most of them. 'English is spoken in the Philippines as a second language,” she adds. 'Maths and science is taught in English at Filipino schools.”

Filipinos are also very helpful people, says Teresita.

When Typhoon Haiyan ripped through the eastern seaboard of the Philippines in November 2013, Tauranga's Filipino community helped fundraise to clean up the land they watched get destroyed from over 8000km away.

Authentic Filipino food, costume and tradition will be the topic of conversation at Historic Village at Multicultural Tauranga's Living in Harmony event on July 22 at 7pm.

There will be a demonstration of a favourite folk dance in the Philippines, the bamboo dance, and food including the national favourite ‘adobo', which is chicken or pork stew cooked in vinegar, soy sauce and other seasoning.

The event is free, but people are encouraged to bring a plate of food for a potluck dinner. Donations are appreciated.