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Wellington ( mi,
Te Whanganui-a-Tara Te Whanganui-a-Tara is the Māori name for Wellington Harbour. The term is also used to refer to the city of Wellington which lies on the shores of the harbour. ''Te Whanganui-a-Tara'' translates as "the great harbour of Tara", named for Tara, a s ...
or ) is the capital city of
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
. It is located at the south-western tip of the
North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...
, between
Cook Strait Cook Strait ( mi, Te Moana-o-Raukawa) separates the North and South Islands of New Zealand. The strait connects the Tasman Sea on the northwest with the South Pacific Ocean on the southeast. It is wide at its narrowest point,McLintock, A H, ...
and the
Remutaka Range The Remutaka Range (spelled Rimutaka Range before 2017) is the southernmost range of a mountain chain in the lower North Island of New Zealand. The chain continues north into the Tararua, then Ruahine Ranges, running parallel with the east ...
. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metro area, and is the administrative centre of the
Wellington Region Greater Wellington, also known as the Wellington Region (Māori: ''Te Upoko o te Ika''), is a non-unitary region of New Zealand that occupies the southernmost part of the North Island. The region covers an area of , and has a population of T ...
. It is the world's southernmost capital of a
sovereign state A sovereign state or sovereign country, is a polity, political entity represented by one central government that has supreme legitimate authority over territory. International law defines sovereign states as having a permanent population, defin ...
. Wellington features a temperate maritime climate, and is the world's windiest city by average
wind speed In meteorology, wind speed, or wind flow speed, is a fundamental atmospheric quantity caused by air moving from high to low pressure, usually due to changes in temperature. Wind speed is now commonly measured with an anemometer. Wind speed ...
. Legends recount that
Kupe Kupe ( ~1180-1320) was a legendary Polynesian explorer, navigator and great rangatira of Hawaiki, who is said to have been the first human to discover New Zealand. Whether Kupe existed historically is likely but difficult to confirm. He is ge ...
discovered and explored the region in about the 10th century, with initial settlement by
Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...
iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, an ...
such as
Rangitāne Rangitāne is a Māori people, Māori iwi (tribe). Their rohe (territory) is in the Manawatū-Whanganui, Manawatū, Horowhenua, Wairarapa and Marlborough Region, Marlborough areas of New Zealand.Muaūpoko. The disruptions of the Musket Wars led to them being overwhelmed by northern iwi such as Te Āti Awa by the early 19th century. Wellington's current form was originally designed by Captain
William Mein Smith William Mein Smith (also known as Kapene Mete; 1798 – 3 January 1869) was a key figure in the settlement of Wellington, New Zealand. As the Surveyor General for Edward Gibbon Wakefield, Edward Wakefield's New Zealand Company at Port Nichols ...
, the first Surveyor General for Edward Wakefield's New Zealand Company, in 1840. The Wellington
urban area An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities, t ...
, which only includes urbanised areas within Wellington City, has a population of as of . The wider Wellington
metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region that consists of a densely populated urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories sharing industries, commercial areas, transport network, infrastructures and housing. A metro area usually com ...
, including the cities of
Lower Hutt Lower Hutt ( mi, Te Awa Kairangi ki Tai) is a city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand. Administered by the Hutt City Council, it is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington metropolitan area. It is New Zealand's sixth most p ...
,
Porirua Porirua, ( mi, Pari-ā-Rua) a city in the Wellington Region of the North Island of New Zealand, is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington metropolitan area. The name 'Porirua' is a corruption of 'Pari-rua', meaning "the tide swee ...
and
Upper Hutt Upper Hutt ( mi, Te Awa Kairangi ki Uta) is a city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand and one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington#Wellington metropolitan area, Wellington metropolitan area. Geography The Upper Hutt city cent ...
, has a population of as of . The city has served as New Zealand's capital since 1865, a status that is not defined in legislation, but established by convention; the
New Zealand Government , background_color = #012169 , image = New Zealand Government wordmark.svg , image_size=250px , date_established = , country = New Zealand , leader_title = Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern , appointed = Governor-General , main_organ = , ...
and
Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
, the
Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
and most of the public service are based in the city. Wellington's economy is primarily
service Service may refer to: Activities * Administrative service, a required part of the workload of university faculty * Civil service, the body of employees of a government * Community service, volunteer service for the benefit of a community or a pu ...
-based, with an emphasis on finance, business services, government, and the film industry. It is the centre of New Zealand's
film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
and special effects industries, and increasingly a hub for information technology and innovation, with two public research universities. Wellington is one of New Zealand's chief seaports and serves both domestic and international shipping. The city is chiefly served by Wellington International Airport in
Rongotai Rongotai is a suburb of Wellington, New Zealand, located southeast of the city centre. It is on the Rongotai isthmus, between the Miramar Peninsula and the suburbs of Kilbirnie and Lyall Bay. It is known mostly for being the location of the We ...
, the country's second-busiest airport. Wellington's transport network includes train and bus lines which reach as far as the Kapiti Coast and the Wairarapa, and ferries connect the city to the
South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...
. Often referred to as New Zealand's cultural capital, the culture of Wellington is a diverse and often youth-driven one which has wielded influence across
Oceania Oceania (, , ) is a region, geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern Hemisphere, Eastern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of ...
. One of the
world's most liveable cities City quality of life indices are lists of cities that are ranked according to a defined measure of living conditions. In addition to considering the provision of clean water, clean air, adequate food and shelter, many indexes also measure more s ...
, the 2021 Global Livability Ranking tied Wellington with
Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
as fourth in the world. From 2017 to 2018,
Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (), sometimes referred to simply as Deutsche, is a German multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Sto ...
ranked it first in the world for both livability and non-pollution. Cultural precincts such as Cuba Street and Newtown are renowned for creative innovation, " op shops", historic character, and
food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is inge ...
. Wellington is a leading
financial centre A financial centre ( BE), financial center ( AE), or financial hub, is a location with a concentration of participants in banking, asset management, insurance or financial markets with venues and supporting services for these activities to ta ...
in the
Asia-Pacific Asia-Pacific (APAC) is the part of the world near the western Pacific Ocean. The Asia-Pacific region varies in area depending on context, but it generally includes East Asia, Russian Far East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia and Pacific Isla ...
region, being ranked 35th in the world by the
Global Financial Centres Index The Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI) is a ranking of the competitiveness of financial centres based on over 29,000 financial centre assessments from an online questionnaire together with over 100 indices from organisations such as the World ...
for 2021. The global city has grown from a bustling
Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...
settlement, to a colonial outpost, and from there to an
Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologica ...
n capital that has experienced a "remarkable creative resurgence".


Toponymy

Wellington takes its name from Arthur Wellesley, the first
Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister of ...
and victor of the
Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...
(1815): his title comes from the town of
Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...
in the
English county The counties of England are areas used for different purposes, which include administrative, geographical, cultural and political demarcation. The term "county" is defined in several ways and can apply to similar or the same areas used by each ...
of
Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...
. It was named in November 1840 by the original settlers of the New Zealand Company on the suggestion of the directors of the same, in recognition of the Duke's strong support for the company's principles of colonisation and his "strenuous and successful defence against its enemies of the measure for colonising South Australia". One of the founders of the settlement, Edward Jerningham Wakefield, reported that the settlers "took up the views of the directors with great cordiality and the new name was at once adopted".Wakefield, Edward Jerningham (1845). ''Adventure in New Zealand'', Vol. 1, pub. John Murray. In the
Māori language Māori (), or ('the Māori language'), also known as ('the language'), is an Eastern Polynesian language spoken by the Māori people, the indigenous population of mainland New Zealand. Closely related to Cook Islands Māori, Tuamotuan, and ...
, Wellington has three names. refers to Wellington Harbour and means "the great harbour of Tara". Another is , commonly held to be a phonetic Māori transliteration of "Port Nick", short for "
Port Nicholson A port is a maritime law, maritime facility comprising one or more Wharf, wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge Affreightment, cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can a ...
". An alternative possible etymology for comes from a shortening of the phrase , meaning "the journey into the night", referring to the exodus of Te Āti Awa after they were displaced from the Wellington area by the first Europeans. The city's central marae, the community supporting it and its group have the pseudo-tribal name of
Ngāti Pōneke Ngāti Pōneke Young Māori Club is an Urban Māori cultural club that was formed in Wellington, New Zealand, in 1937. It is a pan-tribal group of Māori who reside in Wellington (like Ngāti Ākarana in Auckland and Ngāti Rānana in London ...
. is another, meaning 'The Head of the Fish of Māui' (often shortened to ''Te Upoko-o-te-Ika''), a traditional name for the southernmost part of the North Island, deriving from the legend of the fishing up of the island by the demi-god Māui. The legendary Maori explorer
Kupe Kupe ( ~1180-1320) was a legendary Polynesian explorer, navigator and great rangatira of Hawaiki, who is said to have been the first human to discover New Zealand. Whether Kupe existed historically is likely but difficult to confirm. He is ge ...
, a chief from Hawaiki (the homeland of Polynesian explorers, of unconfirmed geographical location, not to be confused with
Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
), was said to have stayed in the harbour prior to 1000 CE. Here, it is said he had a notable impact on the area, with local mythology stating he named the two islands in the harbour after his daughters, Matiu (Somes Island), and Mākaro (Ward Island). However, the primary settlement of Wellington is said to have been executed by Tara, the son of Whatonga, a chief from the Māhia Peninsula, who told his son to travel south, to find more fertile lands to settle. In New Zealand Sign Language, the name is signed by raising the index, middle and ring fingers of one hand, palm forward, to form a "W", and shaking it slightly from side to side twice. The city's location close to the mouth of the narrow Cook Strait leaves it vulnerable to strong gales, leading to the
nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...
of "Windy Wellington".


History


Māori settlement

Legends recount that
Kupe Kupe ( ~1180-1320) was a legendary Polynesian explorer, navigator and great rangatira of Hawaiki, who is said to have been the first human to discover New Zealand. Whether Kupe existed historically is likely but difficult to confirm. He is ge ...
discovered and explored the region in about the 10th century. Before European colonisation, the area in which the city of Wellington would eventually be founded was seasonally inhabited by indigenous
Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...
. The earliest date with hard evidence for human activity in New Zealand is about 1280. Wellington and its environs have been occupied by various Māori groups from the 12th century. The legendary Polynesian explorer
Kupe Kupe ( ~1180-1320) was a legendary Polynesian explorer, navigator and great rangatira of Hawaiki, who is said to have been the first human to discover New Zealand. Whether Kupe existed historically is likely but difficult to confirm. He is ge ...
, a chief from Hawaiki (the homeland of Polynesian explorers, of unconfirmed geographical location, not to be confused with
Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
), was said to have stayed in the harbour from . A later Māori explorer, Whatonga, named the harbour ''
Te Whanganui-a-Tara Te Whanganui-a-Tara is the Māori name for Wellington Harbour. The term is also used to refer to the city of Wellington which lies on the shores of the harbour. ''Te Whanganui-a-Tara'' translates as "the great harbour of Tara", named for Tara, a s ...
'' after his son Tara. Before the 1820s, most of the inhabitants of the Wellington region were Whatonga's descendants. At about 1820, the people living there were Ngāti Ira and other groups who traced their descent from the explorer Whatonga, including
Rangitāne Rangitāne is a Māori people, Māori iwi (tribe). Their rohe (territory) is in the Manawatū-Whanganui, Manawatū, Horowhenua, Wairarapa and Marlborough Region, Marlborough areas of New Zealand.Muaūpoko. However, these groups were eventually forced out of ''Te Whanganui-a-Tara'' by a series of migrations other
iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, an ...
(Māori tribes) from the north. The migrating groups were Ngāti Toa, which came from
Kāwhia Kawhia Harbour (Maori: ''Kāwhia'') is one of three large natural inlets in the Tasman Sea coast of the Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island. It is located to the south of Raglan Harbour, Ruapuke and Aotea Harbour, 40 kilometres southw ...
, Ngāti Rangatahi, from near
Taumarunui Taumarunui is a small town in the King Country of the central North Island of New Zealand. It is on an alluvial plain set within rugged terrain on the upper reaches of the Whanganui River, 65 km south of Te Kuiti and 55 km west of ...
, and Te Atiawa, Ngāti Tama, Ngāti Mutunga, Taranaki and Ngāti Ruanui from
Taranaki Taranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano of Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the city of New Plymouth. The New Plymouth Dist ...
. Ngāti Mutunga later moved on to the
Chatham Islands The Chatham Islands ( ) (Moriori: ''Rēkohu'', 'Misty Sun'; mi, Wharekauri) are an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean about east of New Zealand's South Island. They are administered as part of New Zealand. The archipelago consists of about te ...
. The
Waitangi Tribunal The Waitangi Tribunal (Māori: ''Te Rōpū Whakamana i te Tiriti o Waitangi'') is a New Zealand permanent commission of inquiry established under the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975. It is charged with investigating and making recommendations on cla ...
has found that at the time of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, Te Atiawa, Taranaki, Ngāti Ruanui, Ngāti Tama, and Ngāti Toa held
mana whenua In New Zealand, tangata whenua () is a Māori term that literally means "people of the land". It can refer to either a specific group of people with historical claims to a district, or more broadly the Māori people as a whole. Etymology Accordi ...
interests in the area, through conquest and occupation.


Early European settlement

Steps towards Pākehā (European) settlement in the area began in 1839, when Colonel William Wakefield arrived to purchase land for the New Zealand Company to sell to prospective British settlers. Prior to this time, the Māori inhabitants had had contact with Pākehā whalers and traders. European settlement began with the arrival of an advance party of the New Zealand Company on the ship ''
Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...
'' on 20 September 1839, followed by 150 settlers on the '' Aurora'' on 22 January 1840. Thus the Wellington settlement preceded the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi (on 6 February 1840). The 1840 settlers constructed their first homes at Petone (which they called Britannia for a time) on the flat area at the mouth of the Hutt River. Within months that area proved swampy and flood-prone, and most of the newcomers transplanted their settlement across Wellington Harbour to Thorndon in the present-day site of Wellington city.


National capital

Wellington was declared a city in 1840, and was chosen to be the capital city of New Zealand in
1865 Events January–March * January 4 – The New York Stock Exchange opens its first permanent headquarters at Broad Street (Manhattan), 10-12 Broad near Wall Street, in New York City. * January 13 – American Civil War : Sec ...
. Wellington became the capital city in place of
Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...
, which William Hobson had made the capital in
1841 Events January–March * January 20 – Charles Elliot of the United Kingdom, and Qishan of the Qing dynasty, agree to the Convention of Chuenpi. * January 26 – Britain occupies Hong Kong. Later in the year, the first census of the i ...
. The New Zealand Parliament had first met in Wellington on 7 July 1862, on a temporary basis; in November 1863, the
Prime Minister of New Zealand The prime minister of New Zealand ( mi, Te pirimia o Aotearoa) is the head of government of New Zealand. The prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, leader of the New Zealand Labour Party, took office on 26 October 2017. The prime minister (inform ...
, Alfred Domett, placed a resolution before Parliament in Auckland that "... it has become necessary that the
seat of government The seat of government is (as defined by ''Brewer's Politics'') "the building, complex of buildings or the city from which a government exercises its authority". In most countries, the nation’s capital is also seat of its government, thus that ...
 ... should be transferred to some suitable locality in
Cook Strait Cook Strait ( mi, Te Moana-o-Raukawa) separates the North and South Islands of New Zealand. The strait connects the Tasman Sea on the northwest with the South Pacific Ocean on the southeast. It is wide at its narrowest point,McLintock, A H, ...
egion Aigio, also written as ''Aeghion, Aegion, Aegio, Egio'' ( el, Αίγιο, Aígio, ; la, Aegium), is a town and a former municipality in Achaea, West Greece, on the Peloponnese. Since the 2011 local government reform, it is part of the municipal ...
" There had been some concerns that the more populous
South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...
(where the goldfields were located) would choose to form a separate colony in the
British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...
. Several commissioners (delegates) invited from Australia, chosen for their neutral status, declared that the city was a suitable location because of its central location in New Zealand and its good
harbour A harbor (American English), harbour (British English; see spelling differences), or haven is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be docked. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is a ...
; it was believed that the whole
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
fleet could fit into the harbour. Wellington's status as capital is a result of
constitutional convention Constitutional convention may refer to: * Constitutional convention (political custom), an informal and uncodified procedural agreement *Constitutional convention (political meeting), a meeting of delegates to adopt a new constitution or revise an e ...
rather than statute. Wellington is New Zealand's
political Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...
centre, housing the nation's major government institutions. The New Zealand Parliament relocated to the new capital city, having spent the first ten years of its existence in Auckland. A session of parliament officially met in the capital for the first time on 26 July 1865. At that time, the population of Wellington was just 4,900. The
Government Buildings Government Buildings ( ga, Tithe an Rialtais) is a large Edwardian building enclosing a quadrangle on Merrion Street in Dublin, Ireland, in which several key offices of the Government of Ireland are located. Among the offices of State located in ...
were constructed at Lambton Quay in 1876. The site housed the original government departments in New Zealand. The public service rapidly expanded beyond the capacity of the building, with the first department leaving shortly after it was opened; by 1975 only the Education Department remained, and by 1990 the building was empty. The capital city is also the location of the highest court, the
Supreme Court of New Zealand The Supreme Court of New Zealand ( mi, Te Kōti Mana Nui, lit=Court of Great Mana) is the highest court and the court of last resort of New Zealand. It formally came into being on 1 January 2004 and sat for the first time on 1 July 2004. It re ...
, and the historic former High Court building (opened 1881) has been enlarged and restored for its use. The Governor-General's residence,
Government House Government House is the name of many of the official residences of governors-general, governors and lieutenant-governors in the Commonwealth and the remaining colonies of the British Empire. The name is also used in some other countries. Gover ...
(the current building completed in 1910) is situated in Newtown, opposite the Basin Reserve.
Premier House Premier House ( mi, Te Whare Pirimia) is the official residence of the Prime Minister of New Zealand, located at 260 Tinakori Road, Thorndon, Wellington, New Zealand. A private house purchased for the prime minister's official residence when go ...
(built in 1843 for Wellington's first mayor, George Hunter), the official residence of the
prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
, is in Thorndon on Tinakori Road. Over six months in 1939 and 1940 Wellington hosted the New Zealand Centennial Exhibition, celebrating a century since the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. Held on 55 acres of land at Rongotai it featured three exhibition courts, grand Art Deco-style edifices and a hugely popular three-acre amusement park. Wellington attracted more than 2.5 million visitors at a time when New Zealand's population was 1.6 million.


Geography

Wellington is at the south-western tip of the
North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...
on
Cook Strait Cook Strait ( mi, Te Moana-o-Raukawa) separates the North and South Islands of New Zealand. The strait connects the Tasman Sea on the northwest with the South Pacific Ocean on the southeast. It is wide at its narrowest point,McLintock, A H, ...
, separating the North and South Islands. On a clear day the snowcapped Kaikoura Ranges are visible to the south across the strait. To the north stretch the golden beaches of the Kapiti Coast. On the east the
Remutaka Range The Remutaka Range (spelled Rimutaka Range before 2017) is the southernmost range of a mountain chain in the lower North Island of New Zealand. The chain continues north into the Tararua, then Ruahine Ranges, running parallel with the east ...
divides Wellington from the broad plains of the Wairarapa, a
wine region This list of wine-producing regions catalogues significant growing regions where vineyards are planted. Wine grapes mostly grow between the 30th and the 50th degree of latitude, in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres. Grapes will sometimes ...
of national notability. With a
latitude In geography, latitude is a coordinate that specifies the north– south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from –90° at the south pole to 90° at the north pol ...
of 41° 17' South, Wellington is the southernmost capital city in the world. Wellington ties with
Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...
, Australia, as the most remote capital city, apart from each other. Wellington is more densely populated than most other cities in New Zealand due to the restricted amount of land that is available between its harbour and the surrounding hills. It has very few open areas in which to expand, and this has brought about the development of the suburban towns. Because of its location in the Roaring Forties and its exposure to the winds blowing through
Cook Strait Cook Strait ( mi, Te Moana-o-Raukawa) separates the North and South Islands of New Zealand. The strait connects the Tasman Sea on the northwest with the South Pacific Ocean on the southeast. It is wide at its narrowest point,McLintock, A H, ...
, Wellington is the world's windiest city, with an average wind speed of . Wellington's scenic natural harbour and green hillsides adorned with tiered suburbs of colonial villas are popular with tourists. The central business district (CBD) is close to Lambton Harbour, an arm of Wellington Harbour, which lies along an active
geological fault In geology, a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock across which there has been significant displacement as a result of rock-mass movements. Large faults within Earth's crust result from the action of plate tectonic ...
, clearly evident on its straight western shore. The land to the west of this rises abruptly, meaning that many suburbs sit high above the centre of the city. There is a network of bush walks and reserves maintained by the Wellington City Council and local volunteers. These include
Otari-Wilton's Bush Otari-Wilton's Bush is a native botanic garden and forest reserve located in Wilton in Wellington, New Zealand. It is the only public botanic garden that is dedicated solely to the native plants of New Zealand. Overview Otari-Wilton's Bus ...
, dedicated to the protection and propagation of native plants. The Wellington region has of regional parks and forests. In the east is the
Miramar Peninsula The large Miramar Peninsula ( mi, Te Motu Kairangi) is on the southeastern side of the city of Wellington, New Zealand, at the entrance to Wellington Harbour, in Wellington's eastern suburbs. According to Māori legend, it was formed when the ...
, connected to the rest of the city by a low-lying isthmus at
Rongotai Rongotai is a suburb of Wellington, New Zealand, located southeast of the city centre. It is on the Rongotai isthmus, between the Miramar Peninsula and the suburbs of Kilbirnie and Lyall Bay. It is known mostly for being the location of the We ...
, the site of Wellington International Airport. Industry has developed mainly in the Hutt Valley, where there are food-processing plants, engineering industries, vehicle assembly and oil refineries. The narrow entrance to the harbour is to the east of the Miramar Peninsula, and contains the dangerous shallows of
Barrett Reef The cluster of rocks that is Barrett Reef (often known as ''Barrett's Reef'') is one of the most hazardous reefs in New Zealand. It lies on the western side of the entrance of Wellington Harbour, on the approaches to the city of Wellington, at c ...
, where many ships have been wrecked (notably the inter-island ferry in
1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Januar ...
). The harbour has three islands:
Matiu/Somes Island Matiu / Somes Island is the largest of three islands in the northern half of Wellington Harbour, New Zealand. It is the former site of military and quarantine internments, as well as animal quarantine until 1995. Since 1995 it has been designat ...
, Makaro/Ward Island and
Mokopuna Island Mokopuna (the 'grandchild') Island is a small island in Wellington Harbour, New Zealand. It is about on its long axis and about across. It lies immediately north of the much larger Matiu/Somes Island, from which it is separated by a channel ...
. Only Matiu/Somes Island is large enough for habitation. It has been used as a quarantine station for people and animals, and was an
internment camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...
during World War I and World War II. It is a conservation island, providing refuge for
endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inv ...
, much like Kapiti Island farther up the coast. There is access during daylight hours by the Dominion Post Ferry. Wellington is primarily surrounded by water, but some of the nearby locations are listed below.


Geology

Wellington suffered serious damage in a series of earthquakes in
1848 1848 is historically famous for the wave of revolutions, a series of widespread struggles for more liberal governments, which broke out from Brazil to Hungary; although most failed in their immediate aims, they significantly altered the polit ...
and from another earthquake in
1855 Events January–March * January 1 – Ottawa, Ontario, is incorporated as a city. * January 5 – Ramón Castilla begins his third term as President of Peru. * January 23 ** The first bridge over the Mississippi River opens ...
. The
1855 Wairarapa earthquake The 1855 Wairarapa earthquake occurred on 23 January at about 9.17 p.m., affecting much of the Cook Strait area of New Zealand, including Marlborough in the South Island and Wellington and the Wairarapa in the North Island. In Wellington, clos ...
occurred on the Wairarapa Fault to the north and east of Wellington. It was probably the most powerful earthquake in recorded New Zealand history, with an estimated magnitude of at least 8.2 on the
Moment magnitude scale The moment magnitude scale (MMS; denoted explicitly with or Mw, and generally implied with use of a single M for magnitude) is a measure of an earthquake's magnitude ("size" or strength) based on its seismic moment. It was defined in a 1979 pape ...
. It caused vertical movements of two to three metres over a large area, including raising land out of the harbour and turning it into a tidal swamp. Much of this land was subsequently reclaimed and is now part of the central business district. For this reason, the street named Lambton Quay is 100 to 200 metres (325 to 650 ft) from the harbour – plaques set into the footpath mark the shoreline in
1840 Events January–March * January 3 – One of the predecessor papers of the ''Herald Sun'' of Melbourne, Australia, ''The Port Phillip Herald'', is founded. * January 10 – Uniform Penny Post is introduced in the United Kingdom. * Janua ...
, indicating the extent of reclamation. The
1942 Wairarapa earthquakes Two 1942 Wairarapa earthquakes shook the lower North Island of New Zealand; on 24 June and 2 August. They were large and shallow with epicentres close together east of Masterton in the Wairarapa region. The June earthquake was sometimes referr ...
caused considerable damage in Wellington. The area has high seismic activity even by New Zealand standards, with a major fault, the
Wellington Fault The Wellington Fault is an active seismic fault in the southern part of the North Island of New Zealand. It is a dextral (right-lateral) strike-slip fault with variable amounts of vertical movement causing uplift to the northwest, as expressed b ...
, running through the centre of the city and several others nearby. Several hundred minor faults lines have been identified within the urban area. Inhabitants, particularly in high-rise buildings, typically notice several earthquakes every year. For many years after the 1855 earthquake, the majority of buildings were made entirely from wood. The 1996-restored
Government Buildings Government Buildings ( ga, Tithe an Rialtais) is a large Edwardian building enclosing a quadrangle on Merrion Street in Dublin, Ireland, in which several key offices of the Government of Ireland are located. Among the offices of State located in ...
near Parliament is the largest wooden building in the Southern Hemisphere. While masonry and
structural steel Structural steel is a category of steel used for making construction materials in a variety of shapes. Many structural steel shapes take the form of an elongated beam having a profile of a specific cross section. Structural steel shapes, sizes, ...
have subsequently been used in building construction, especially for office buildings,
timber framing Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...
remains the primary structural component of almost all residential construction. Residents place their confidence in good building regulations, which became more stringent in the 20th century. Since the Canterbury earthquakes of
2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
and
2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
, earthquake readiness has become even more of an issue, with buildings declared by Wellington City Council to be earthquake-prone, and the costs of meeting new standards. Every five years a year-long slow quake occurs beneath Wellington, stretching from Kapiti to the Marlborough Sounds. It was first measured in 2003, and reappeared in 2008 and 2013. It releases as much energy as a magnitude 7 quake, but as it happens slowly there is no damage. During July and August 2013 there were many earthquakes, mostly in Cook Strait near Seddon. The sequence started at 5:09 pm on Sunday 21 July 2013 when the magnitude 6.5 Seddon earthquake hit the city, but no tsunami report was confirmed nor any major damage. At 2:31 pm on Friday 16 August 2013 the Lake Grassmere earthquake struck, this time magnitude 6.6, but again no major damage occurred, though many buildings were evacuated. On Monday 20 January 2014 at 3:52 pm a rolling 6.2 magnitude earthquake struck the lower North Island 15 km east of Eketahuna and was felt in Wellington, but little damage was reported initially, except at Wellington Airport where one of the two giant eagle sculptures commemorating The Hobbit became detached from the ceiling. At two minutes after midnight on Monday 14 November 2016, the 7.8 magnitude Kaikoura earthquake, which was centred between Culverden and Kaikoura in the South Island, caused the Wellington CBD,
Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. The university is well know ...
, and the Wellington suburban rail network to be largely closed for the day to allow inspections. The earthquake damaged a considerable number of buildings, with 65% of the damage being in Wellington. Subsequently, a number of recent buildings were demolished rather than being rebuilt, often a decision made by the insurer. Two of the buildings demolished were about eleven years old – the seven-storey NZDF headquarters and Statistics House at Centreport on the waterfront. The docks were closed for several weeks after the earthquake.


Relief

Steep landforms shape and constrain much of Wellington city. Notable hills in and around Wellington include: * Mount Victoria – 196 m. Mt Vic is a popular walk for tourists and Wellingtonians alike, as from the summit one can see most of Wellington. There are numerous mountain bike and walking tracks on the hill. * Mount Albert – 178 m *
Mount Cook Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...
* Mount Alfred (west of Evans Bay) – 122 m * Mount Kaukau – 445 m. Site of Wellington's main television transmitter. * Mount Crawford * Brooklyn Hill – 299 m * Wrights Hill * Mākara Peak – summit (412m) is within the 250ha
Makara Peak Mountain Bike Park ''Makara'' ( sa, मकर, translit=Makara) is a legendary sea-creature in Hindu mythology. In Hindu astrology, Makara is equivalent to the Zodiac sign Capricorn (astrology), Capricorn. Makara appears as the vahana (vehicle) of the river godd ...
that includes 45km of trails * Te Ahumairangi (Tinakori) Hill


Climate

Averaging 2,055 hours of sunshine per year, the climate of Wellington is temperate
marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...
, ( Köppen: ''Cfb''), generally moderate all year round with warm summers and mild winters, and rarely sees temperatures above or below . The hottest recorded temperature in the city is , while is the coldest. The city is notorious for its southerly blasts in winter, which may make the temperature feel much colder. It is generally very windy all year round with high rainfall; average annual rainfall is , June and July being the wettest months.
Frost Frost is a thin layer of ice on a solid surface, which forms from water vapor in an above-freezing atmosphere coming in contact with a solid surface whose temperature is below freezing, and resulting in a phase change from water vapor (a gas) ...
s are quite common in the hill suburbs and the Hutt Valley between May and September. Snow is very rare at low altitudes, although snow fell on the city and many other parts of the Wellington region during separate events on 25 July 2011 and 15 August 2011. Snow at higher altitudes is more common, with light flurries recorded in higher suburbs every few years. On 29 January 2019, the suburb of Kelburn reached , the highest temperature since records began in 1927.


Demographics

Wellington City covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km2. This comprises people in the Wellington
urban area An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities, t ...
and people in the surrounding rural areas. Wellington City had a population of 202,737 at the
2018 New Zealand census Eighteen or 18 may refer to: * 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19 * one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018 Film, television and entertainment * ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the sho ...
, an increase of 11,781 people (6.2%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 23,271 people (13.0%) since the
2006 census 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...
. There were 74,841 households. There were 98,823 males and 103,911 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.95 males per female. The median age was 34.1 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 32,856 people (16.2%) aged under 15 years, 54,999 (27.1%) aged 15 to 29, 93,669 (46.2%) aged 30 to 64, and 21,213 (10.5%) aged 65 or older. Of those at least 15 years old, 74,922 (44.1%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 12,690 (7.5%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $41,800, compared with $31,800 nationally. 48,633 people (28.6%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 96,453 (56.8%) people were employed full-time, 24,738 (14.6%) were part-time, and 7,719 (4.5%) were unemployed.


Quality of living

Wellington ranks 12th in the world for quality of living, according to a 2014 study by consulting company Mercer; of cities in the Asia–Pacific region, Wellington ranked third behind Auckland and Sydney (). In 2009, Wellington was ranked as a highly affordable city in terms of cost of living, coming in at 139th most expensive city out of 143 cities in the Mercer worldwide Cost of Living Survey. Between 2009 and 2020 the cost of living in Wellington increased, and it is now ranked 123rd most expensive city out of a total of 209 cities.


Culture and identity

In addition to governmental institutions, Wellington accommodates several of the nation's largest and oldest cultural institutions, such as the National Archives, the National Library, New Zealand's national museum,
Te Papa The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. ''Te Papa Tongarewa'' translates literally to "container of treasures" or in full "container of treasured things and people that spring fr ...
and numerous theatres. It plays host to many artistic and cultural organisations, including the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and Royal New Zealand Ballet. Its architectural attractions include the Old Government Buildings – one of the largest wooden buildings in the world – as well as the iconic Beehive, the executive wing of Parliament Buildings as well as internationally renowned
Futuna Chapel Futuna Chapel is a building in Wellington, New Zealand designed by the architect John Scott. Built by the brothers of the Society of Mary, the chapel is named after the Pacific Island of Futuna on which the missionary Peter Chanel, to whom ...
. The city's art scene includes many art galleries, including the national art collection at Toi Art at Te Papa. Wellington also has many events such as
CubaDupa CubaDupa is New Zealand's largest outdoor arts and music festival, celebrating the unique character of Cuba Street, Wellington, Cuba Street, Wellington. It attracts up to 100,000 people. The festival is managed and produced by the non-profit ...
, the Newtown Festival, Diwali Festival of Lights and Gardens Magic at the Botanical Gardens. At the 2018 census, ethnicities were 74.1% European/Pākehā, 8.6% Māori, 5.1% Pacific peoples, 18.3% Asian, and 4.5% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity. English is the most spoken language (96.0%) followed by French (3.2%), Te Reo Maori (2.2%), Mandarin (2.0%) and German (2.0%). Percentages add up to more than 100% as people may select more than one language. Although some people objected to giving their religion, 53.2% had no religion, 31.4% were Christian, 3.7% were Hindu, 1.6% were Muslim, 1.7% were Buddhist and 3.3% had other religions. At the 2018 Census, 33.4% of Wellington's population was born overseas, compared with 27.1% nationally. The most common overseas birthplace is England, place of origin of 6.2% of the urban area's population. The next most-common countries of origin were India (3.1%), mainland China (2.6%), Australia (2.0%), the Philippines (1.7%), the United States (1.5%) South Africa (1.2%).


Architecture

Wellington showcases a variety of architectural styles from the past 150 years – 19th-century wooden cottages, such as the Italianate
Katherine Mansfield Birthplace Katherine Mansfield House and Garden (formerly known as Katherine Mansfield Birthplace) was the early childhood home of Katherine Mansfield, a prominent New Zealand author. The building, located in Thorndon, Wellington, is classified as a "Cate ...
in Thorndon; streamlined
Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
structures such as the old
Wellington Free Ambulance Wellington Free Ambulance (WFA), also known simply as Wellington Free, is a charitable organisation providing free to the patient ambulance services in the Greater Wellington Region of New Zealand. History The Wellington Free Ambulance service wa ...
headquarters, the Central Fire Station, Fountain Court Apartments, the City Gallery, and the
former Post and Telegraph Building The former Post and Telegraph Building, now known as Chaffers Dock Apartments, is a building located in Wellington, New Zealand. The building, located on Herd Street, was designed by Edmund Anscombe and built in 1939. The building is situated on ...
; and the curves and vibrant colours of post-modern architecture in the CBD. The oldest building is the 1858
Nairn Street Cottage Nairn Street Cottage is Wellington's oldest original cottage. It was originally built by the Wallis family, who lived in the cottage for three generations. Tours of the cottage are available to hear about these early British colonists and their d ...
in
Mount Cook Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...
. The tallest building is the Majestic Centre on Willis Street at 116 metres high, the second tallest being the
structural expressionist High-tech architecture, also known as structural expressionism, is a type of late modernist architecture that emerged in the 1970s, incorporating elements of high tech industry and technology into building design. High-tech architecture grew fro ...
Aon Centre (Wellington) The Aon Centre is a commercial office building at 1 Willis Street in Wellington, New Zealand, formerly named the BNZ Centre then the State Insurance Building. When completed in 1984, it was the tallest building in New Zealand, overtaking the 87m ...
at 103 metres.
Futuna Chapel Futuna Chapel is a building in Wellington, New Zealand designed by the architect John Scott. Built by the brothers of the Society of Mary, the chapel is named after the Pacific Island of Futuna on which the missionary Peter Chanel, to whom ...
in
Karori Karori is a suburb located at the western edge of the urban area of Wellington, New Zealand, 4 km from the city centre and is one of New Zealand's most populous suburbs, with a population of in History Origins The name ''Karori'' used ...
is an iconic building designed by Māori architect John Scott and is architecturally considered one of the most significant New Zealand buildings of the 20th century. Old St Paul's is an example of 19th-century
Gothic Revival architecture Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
adapted to colonial conditions and materials, as is St Mary of the Angels.
Sacred Heart Cathedral Sacred Heart Cathedral may refer to: Africa *Sacred Heart Cathedral, Moundou, Chad *Sacred Heart Cathedral, Bamako, Mali *Sacred Heart Cathedral, Brazzaville, Republic of Congo *Sacred Heart Cathedral, Freetown, Sierra Leone *Sacred Heart Cathedra ...
is a
Palladian Revival Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...
Basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its name ...
with the
Portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...
of a Roman or Greek temple. The
Museum of Wellington City & Sea Wellington Museum (formerly the Museum of City & Sea) is a museum on Queens Wharf in Wellington, New Zealand. It occupies the 1892 Bond Store, a historic building on Jervois Quay on the waterfront of Wellington Harbour. In 2013, it was voted b ...
in the
Bond Store Bond or bonds may refer to: Common meanings * Bond (finance), a type of debt security * Bail bond, a commercial third-party guarantor of surety bonds in the United States * Chemical bond, the attraction of atoms, ions or molecules to form chemical ...
is in the
Second French Empire The Second French Empire (; officially the French Empire, ), was the 18-year Empire, Imperial Bonapartist regime of Napoleon III from 14 January 1852 to 27 October 1870, between the French Second Republic, Second and the French Third Republic ...
style, and the
Wellington Harbour Board Wharf Office Building Wellington Harbour Board Wharf Office Building (also known as Shed 7) is a historic building on Jervois Quay erected by the Wellington Harbour Board in Wellington, New Zealand. The building, is classified as a "Category 1" ("places of 'special o ...
is in a late English Classical style. There are several restored theatre buildings: the St James Theatre, the
Opera House An opera house is a theatre building used for performances of opera. It usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and building sets. While some venues are constructed specifically for o ...
and the Embassy Theatre.
Te Ngākau Civic Square Te Ngākau Civic Square is a public square in central Wellington, New Zealand, between the Wellington central business district to the north and the Te Aro entertainment district to the south. Characteristics Te Ngākau Civic Square is locat ...
is surrounded by the
Town Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...
and council offices, the
Michael Fowler Centre The Michael Fowler Centre is a concert hall and convention centre in Wellington, New Zealand. It was constructed on reclaimed land next to Civic Square, and is the pre-eminent concert site in central Wellington. Commissioned in 1975, building be ...
, the
Wellington Central Library Wellington Central Library ( mi, Te Matapihi ki te Ao Nui) is a public library building in the central business district of Wellington, in New Zealand. It is owned by Wellington City Council and is listed as a Category 1 historic place by Herit ...
, the City-to-Sea Bridge, and the City Gallery. As it is the capital city, there are many notable government buildings. The Executive Wing of
New Zealand Parliament Buildings New Zealand Parliament Buildings ( mi, Ngā whare Paremata) house the New Zealand Parliament and are on a 45,000 square metre site at the northern end of Lambton Quay, Wellington. They consist of the Edwardian neoclassical-style Parliament Ho ...
, on the corner of Lambton Quay and Molesworth Street, was constructed between 1969 and 1981 and is commonly referred to as
the Beehive The Beehive ( mi, Te Whare Mīere) is the common name for the Executive Wing of New Zealand Parliament Buildings, located at the corner of Molesworth Street and Lambton Quay, Wellington. It is so-called because its shape is reminiscent of that ...
. Across the road is the largest wooden building in the Southern Hemisphere, part of the old Government Buildings which now houses part of
Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. The university is well know ...
's Law Faculty. A modernist building housing the
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. ''Te Papa Tongarewa'' translates literally to "container of treasures" or in full "container of treasured things and people that spring fr ...
lies on the waterfront, on Cable Street. It is strengthened using
base isolation Seismic base isolation, also known as base isolation, or base isolation system, is one of the most popular means of protecting a structure against earthquake forces. It is a collection of structural elements which should substantially decoup ...
– essentially seating the entire building on supports made from lead, steel and rubber that slow down the effect of an earthquake. Other notable buildings include
Wellington Town Hall The Wellington Town Hall ( mi, Te Whare Whakarauika) is a concert hall and part of the municipal complex in Wellington, New Zealand, which opened in December 1904. It has been closed to the public since the 2013 Seddon earthquake, and it is curr ...
,
Wellington railway station Wellington railway station, or Wellington Central station, is the main railway station serving Wellington, New Zealand, and is the southern terminus of the North Island Main Trunk, Wairarapa Line and Johnsonville Line. The station opened in ...
, Dominion Museum (now
Massey University Massey University ( mi, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa) is a university based in Palmerston North, New Zealand, with significant campuses in Albany and Wellington. Massey University has approximately 30,883 students, 13,796 of whom are extramural or ...
),
Aon Centre (Wellington) The Aon Centre is a commercial office building at 1 Willis Street in Wellington, New Zealand, formerly named the BNZ Centre then the State Insurance Building. When completed in 1984, it was the tallest building in New Zealand, overtaking the 87m ...
, Wellington Regional Stadium, and Wellington Airport at
Rongotai Rongotai is a suburb of Wellington, New Zealand, located southeast of the city centre. It is on the Rongotai isthmus, between the Miramar Peninsula and the suburbs of Kilbirnie and Lyall Bay. It is known mostly for being the location of the We ...
. Leading architects include
Frederick Thatcher The Reverend Frederick Thatcher (1814 – 19 October 1890) was an English and New Zealand architect and clergyman. He was born at Hastings to a long-established Sussex family. He practised as an architect in London from 1835 and was one of the ...
,
Frederick de Jersey Clere Frederick de Jersey Clere (7 January 1856 – 13 August 1952) was an architect in Wellington, New Zealand. Biography He was born in Walsden, near Todmorden, Lancashire and trained as an architect before emigrating to New Zealand with his family ...
,
W. Gray Young William Gray Young (21 June 1885 – 21 April 1962) was a New Zealand architect in the early 20th century, designing buildings such as Knox College, Otago, Knox College in Dunedin, the Wellington railway station and Wellington, Wellington's Elli ...
, Bill Alington,
Ian Athfield Sir Ian Charles Athfield (15 July 1940 – 16 January 2015) was a New Zealand architect. He was born in Christchurch and graduated from the University of Auckland in 1963 with a Diploma of Architecture. That same year he joined Structon Group A ...
, Roger Walker.Wellington contains many iconic sculptures and structures, such as
the Bucket Fountain The Bucket Fountain is an iconic kinetic sculpture in Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand. It is located in Cuba Mall, which is part of Cuba Street. It consists of a series of "buckets" that fill with water until they tip, spilling thei ...
in Cuba Street and ''Invisible City'' by
Anton Parsons Anton Parsons (born 1968, in Palmerston North Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawa ...
on Lambton Quay. Kinetic sculptures have been commissioned, such as the
Zephyrometer The ''Zephyrometer'' is a public sculpture by Phil Price in Evans Bay, Wellington. The work was installed in 2003. It is a kinetic sculpture consisting of a concrete cylinder holding a 26m tall needle which sways to show wind direction and sp ...
. This 26-metre orange spike built for movement by artist Phil Price has been described as "tall, soaring and elegantly simple", which "reflects the swaying of the yacht masts in the Evans Bay Marina behind it" and "moves like the needle on the dial of a nautical instrument, measuring the speed of the sea or wind or vessel." Wellington has many different architectural styles, such as classic
Painted Ladies In American architecture, painted ladies are Victorian and Edwardian houses and buildings repainted, starting in the 1960s, in three or more colors that embellish or enhance their architectural details. The term was first used for San Francisco ...
in Mount Victoria, Newtown and Oriental Bay, Wooden
Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
houses spread throughout (especially further north in the Hutt Valley), the classic masonry buildings in Cuba Street, state houses particularly in the Hutt and Wellington's southern suburbs, railway houses in Ngaio and other railway-side suburbs, large modern buildings in the city centre (such as the distinctive skyscraper called the Majestic Centre) and grand Victorian buildings common in the inner city as well.


Housing and real estate


House prices


Historic

Wellington experienced a real estate boom in the early 2000s and the effects of the international property bust at the start of 2007. In 2005, the market was described as "robust". By 2008, property values had declined by about 9.3% over a 12-month period, according to one estimate. More expensive properties declined more steeply, sometimes by as much as 20%. "From 2004 to early 2007, rental yields were eroded and positive cash flow property investments disappeared as house values climbed faster than rents. Then that trend reversed and yields slowly began improving," according to two ''
The New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation of all newspapers ...
'' reporters writing in May 2009. In the middle of 2009 house prices had dropped, interest rates were low, and buy-to-let property investment was again looking attractive, particularly in the Lambton precinct, according to these two reporters.


Current

Since 2009, house prices in Wellington have increased significantly. In May 2021, the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) reported the median house price was $1,057,000 in Wellington City, $930,000 in Porirua, $873,500 in Lower Hutt and $828,000 in Upper Hutt, compared to a national median house price of $820,000. The substantial increase in house prices has made it difficult for first home buyers to purchase a home in the city and is also credited with pushing up the house prices in neighbouring cities like Porirua. Housing costs have been identified making it difficult for some professions, like nurses, to afford to live in Wellington. The median rent in Wellington has also increased significantly in recent years to $600 per week, higher even than Auckland.


Housing quality

Despite the high cost of housing in the capital, the quality of housing in Wellington has been criticised as being poor. 18.4% of houses in Wellington City are sometimes or always mouldy and 24% are sometimes or always damp. Both of these are higher than the New Zealand average.


Demographics

A Wellington City Council survey conducted in March 2009 found the typical central city apartment dweller was a New Zealand native aged 24 to 35 with a professional job in the downtown area, with household income higher than surrounding areas. Three-quarters (73%) walked to work or university, 13% travelled by car, 6% by bus, 2% bicycled (although 31% own bicycles), and did not travel very far since 73% worked or studied in the central city. The large majority (88%) did not have children in their apartments; 39% were couples without children; 32% were single-person households; 15% were groups of people flatting together. Most (56%) owned their apartment; 42% rented. The report continued: "The four most important reasons for living in an apartment were given as lifestyle and city living (23%), close to work (20%), close to shops and cafes (11%) and low maintenance (11%) ... City noise and noise from neighbours were the main turnoffs for apartment dwellers (27%), followed by a lack of outdoor space (17%), living close to neighbours (9%) and apartment size and a lack of storage space (8%)." Households are primarily one-family, making up 66.9% of households, followed by single-person households (24.7%); there were fewer multiperson households and even fewer households containing two or more families. These counts are from the 2013 census for the Wellington region (which includes the surrounding area in addition to the four cities).


Economy

Wellington Harbour ranks as one of New Zealand's chief seaports and serves both domestic and international shipping. The port handles approximately 10.5 million tonnes of cargo on an annual basis, importing petroleum products, motor vehicles, minerals and exporting meats, wood products, dairy products, wool, and fruit. Many
cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as "s ...
s also use the port. The Government sector has long been a mainstay of the economy, which has typically risen and fallen with it. Traditionally, its central location meant it was the location of many head offices of various sectors – particularly finance, technology and heavy industry – many of which have since relocated to Auckland following economic deregulation and privatisation. In recent years, tourism, arts and culture, film, and
ICT ICT may refer to: Sciences and technology * Information and communications technology * Image Constraint Token, in video processing * Immunochromatographic test, a rapid immunoassay used to detect diseases such as anthrax * In-circuit test, in ...
have played a bigger role in the economy. Wellington's median income is well above the average in New Zealand, and the highest of all New Zealand cities. It has a much higher proportion of people with tertiary qualifications than the national average. Major companies with their headquarters in Wellington include: * Centreport * Chorus Networks * Contact Energy * The Cooperative Bank *
Datacom Group {{Infobox company , name = Datacom Group , logo = Datacom logo.jpg , logo_size = 200px , type = Private company , industry = IT Services: managed services, consulting, cloud services, data centre services, software development, business pro ...
* Infratil *
Kiwibank Kiwibank Limited is a New Zealand state-owned bank and financial services provider with approximately 4% of market share in terms of assets. Kiwibank is owned by the New Zealand Government and provides some of its banking services through its ...
* Meridian Energy * NZ Post *
NZX New Zealand's Exchange (), known commonly as the NZX, is the national stock exchange for New Zealand and a publicly owned company. NZX is the parent company of Smartshares, and Wealth Technologies. On 30 August 2020, the NZX had a total of ...
* Todd Corporation *
Trade Me Trade Me is New Zealand's largest online auction and classifieds website. Managed by Trade Me Ltd., the site was founded in 1999 by New Zealand entrepreneur Sam Morgan, who sold it to Fairfax in 2006 for NZ$700 million. Trade Me was publicly ...
* Weta Digital * Wellington International Airport *
Xero Xero may refer to: *Xero (band), an Australian punk band *Xero (company), a New Zealand financial software company * ''Xero'' (film), an experimental 2010 German film *Xero (Linkin Park), an early name for the band Linkin Park, as well as a demo ...
*
Z Energy Z Energy is a New Zealand fuel distributor with branded service stations. It comprises some of the former assets of Shell New Zealand and Chevron New Zealand. Shell left the New Zealand fuel distribution business in April 2010, selling its ope ...
At the 2013 census, the largest employment industries for Wellington residents were professional, scientific and technical services (25,836 people), public administration and safety (24,336 people), health care and social assistance (17,446 people), education and training (16,550 people) and retail trade (16,203 people). In addition, Wellington is an important centre of the New Zealand film and theatre industry, and second to Auckland in terms of numbers of screen industry businesses.


Tourism

Tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...
is a major contributor to the city's economy, injecting approximately NZ$1.3 billion into the region annually and accounting for 9% of total FTE employment. The city is consistently named as New Zealanders' favourite destination in the quarterly FlyBuys Colmar Brunton Mood of the Traveller survey and it was ranked fourth in
Lonely Planet Lonely Planet is a travel guide book publisher. Founded in Australia in 1973, the company has printed over 150 million books. History Early years Lonely Planet was founded by married couple Maureen and Tony Wheeler. In 1972, they embarked ...
Best in Travel 2011's Top 10 Cities to Visit in 2011. New Zealanders make up the largest visitor market, with 3.6 million visits each year; New Zealand visitors spend on average NZ$2.4 million a day. There are approximately 540,000 international visitors each year, who spend 3.7 million nights and NZ$436 million. The largest international visitor market is Australia, with over 210,000 visitors spending approximately NZ$334 million annually. It has been argued that the construction of the
Te Papa The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. ''Te Papa Tongarewa'' translates literally to "container of treasures" or in full "container of treasured things and people that spring fr ...
museum helped transform Wellington into a tourist destination. Wellington is marketed as the 'coolest little capital in the world' by Positively Wellington Tourism, an award-winning regional tourism organisation set up as a council controlled organisation by Wellington City Council in 1997. The organisation's council funding comes through the Downtown Levy commercial rate. In the decade to 2010, the city saw growth of over 60% in commercial guest nights. It has been promoted through a variety of campaigns and taglines, starting with the iconic Absolutely Positively Wellington advertisements. The long-term domestic marketing strategy was a finalist in the 2011 CAANZ Media Awards. Popular tourist attractions include
Wellington Museum Wellington Museum (formerly the Museum of City & Sea) is a museum on Queens Wharf in Wellington, New Zealand. It occupies the 1892 Bond Store, a historic building on Jervois Quay on the waterfront of Wellington Harbour. In 2013, it was voted ...
,
Wellington Zoo Wellington Zoo is a zoo in the green belt of Wellington, New Zealand. History Wellington Zoo was opened in 1906 by the late Prime Minister Richard Seddon after he was given a young lion – later named King Dick – by the Bostock and Wombwe ...
, Zealandia and
Wellington Cable Car The Wellington Cable Car is a funicular railway in Wellington, New Zealand, between Lambton Quay, the main shopping street, and Kelburn, a suburb in the hills overlooking the central city, rising over a length of . The one way trip takes appro ...
. Cruise tourism is experiencing a major boom in line with nationwide development. The 2010/11 season saw 125,000 passengers and crew visit on 60 liners. There were 80 vessels booked for visits in the 2011/12 season – estimated to inject more than NZ$31 million into the economy and representing a 74% increase in the space of two years. Wellington is a popular conference tourism destination due to its compact nature, cultural attractions, award-winning restaurants and access to government agencies. In the year ending March 2011, there were 6,495 conference events involving nearly 800,000 delegate days; this injected approximately NZ$100 million into the economy.


Arts and culture


Culture

Wellington's culture has been befamed across the world since the 1990s for being notably "cool", incongruous and influential given the city's relatively small size (near half a million). It has been traditionally acclaimed as New Zealand's "cultural and creative capital". The city is known for its coffee scene, with now-globally common foods and drinks such as the
flat white A flat white is a coffee drink consisting of espresso with microfoam (steamed milk with small, fine bubbles and a glossy or velvety consistency). It is comparable to a latte, but smaller in volume and with less microfoam, therefore having a high ...
perfected here. Wellington has a strong coffee culture – the city has more cafés per capita than
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
– and was pioneered by Italian and Greek immigrants to areas such as Mount Victoria,
Island Bay Island Bay is a coastal suburb of Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, situated south of the city centre. Island Bay lies on the bay which shares its name, one of numerous small bays off Cook Strait and west of Lyall Bay. 500m offshore in ...
and Miramar. Nascent influence is derived from
Ethiopian Ethiopians are the native inhabitants of Ethiopia, as well as the global diaspora of Ethiopia. Ethiopians constitute several component ethnic groups, many of which are closely related to ethnic groups in neighboring Eritrea and other parts of ...
migrants. Wellington's cultural vibrance and diversity is well-known across the world. It is New Zealand's second most ethnically diverse city, bested only by Auckland, and boasts a "
melting pot The melting pot is a monocultural metaphor for a heterogeneous society becoming more homogeneous, the different elements "melting together" with a common culture; an alternative being a homogeneous society becoming more heterogeneous throug ...
" culture of significant minorities such as
Malaysian Malaysian may refer to: * Something from or related to Malaysia, a country in Southeast Asia * Malaysian Malay, a dialect of Malay language spoken mainly in Malaysia * Malaysian people, people who are identified with the country of Malaysia regard ...
, Italian, Dutch, Korean,
Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...
, Greek,
Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...
, Samoan and indigenous Taranaki Whānui communities as a result. In particular, Wellington is noted for is contributions to art, cuisine and international filmmaking (with
Avatar Avatar (, ; ), is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means "descent". It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, goddess or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appearanc ...
and
The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's boo ...
being largely produced in the city) among many other factors listed below. The World of Wearable Arts (WOW) is an annual event that brings lots of visitors to Wellington every year.


Museums and cultural institutions

Wellington is home to many cultural institutions, including
Te Papa The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. ''Te Papa Tongarewa'' translates literally to "container of treasures" or in full "container of treasured things and people that spring fr ...
(the Museum of New Zealand), the
National Library of New Zealand The National Library of New Zealand ( mi, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa) is New Zealand's legal deposit library charged with the obligation to "enrich the cultural and economic life of New Zealand and its interchanges with other nations" (''Nat ...
, Archives New Zealand,
Wellington Museum Wellington Museum (formerly the Museum of City & Sea) is a museum on Queens Wharf in Wellington, New Zealand. It occupies the 1892 Bond Store, a historic building on Jervois Quay on the waterfront of Wellington Harbour. In 2013, it was voted ...
(formerly the Wellington Museum of City and Sea), the
Katherine Mansfield House and Garden Katherine Mansfield House and Garden (formerly known as Katherine Mansfield Birthplace) was the early childhood home of Katherine Mansfield, a prominent New Zealand author. The building, located in Thorndon, Wellington, is classified as a "Cate ...
(formerly Katherine Mansfield Birthplace),
Colonial Cottage Nairn Street Cottage is Wellington's oldest original cottage. It was originally built by the Wallis family, who lived in the cottage for three generations. Tours of the cottage are available to hear about these early British colonists and their d ...
, the
Wellington Cable Car The Wellington Cable Car is a funicular railway in Wellington, New Zealand, between Lambton Quay, the main shopping street, and Kelburn, a suburb in the hills overlooking the central city, rising over a length of . The one way trip takes appro ...
Museum, the
Reserve Bank A central bank, reserve bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the currency and monetary policy of a country or monetary union, and oversees their commercial banking system. In contrast to a commercial bank, a central ba ...
Museum, Old St Paul's, the National War Memorial Ngā Taonga Sound and Vision and the Wellington City Gallery.


Festivals

Wellington is home to many high-profile events and cultural celebrations, including the biennial
New Zealand Festival of the Arts Aotearoa New Zealand Festival is a multi-arts biennial festival based in Wellington New Zealand that started in 1986. Previous names are the New Zealand International Festival of the Arts, New Zealand International Arts Festival, New Zealand Arts ...
, biennial Wellington Jazz Festival, biennial Capital E National Arts Festival for Children and major events such as Brancott Estate
World of Wearable Art World of WearableArt (WOW) is an internationally recognised design competition, attracting entries from more than 40 countries each year. The competition features wearable art entries, which are judged on durability, the safety and comfort of t ...
,
TEDxWellington TEDxWellington is an independent TEDx event held annually in Wellington, New Zealand. Like other TEDx events, the event obtained a free license from TED to hold the conference, with organizers agreeing to follow certain principles. In 2017, TEDx ...
,
Cuba Street Carnival The Cuba Street Carnival was a street parade and creative celebration in Cuba Street, Wellington, New Zealand that was intermittently held from the 1980s and saw crowds of 10,000 - 20,000 people. It stopped in 2009 due to a lack of funding, and w ...
, Visa Wellington on a Plate,
New Zealand Fringe Festival The New Zealand Fringe Festival is an open access arts festival in Wellington, New Zealand held over several weeks in February and March each year. The 2020 programme marked the festival's 30th anniversary. Background The festival was establish ...
, New Zealand International Comedy Festival, New Zealand Affordable Art Show, Out In The Square and Homegrown Music Festival. The annual children's
Artsplash Festival Wellington's annual Artsplash Festival is New Zealand's largest student arts festival, and comprises over 100 primary and intermediate schools from the lower North Island an suneel er 18,000 students and audience members. Venues are the Michael ...
brings together hundreds of students from across the region. The week-long festival includes music and dance performances and the presentation of visual arts.


Film

Filmmakers
Sir Peter Jackson Sir Peter Robert Jackson (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best known as the director, writer and producer of the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003) and the ''Hobbit'' trilogy ( ...
, Sir Richard Taylor and a growing team of creative professionals have turned the eastern suburb of Miramar into a film-making, post-production and special effects infrastructure centre, giving rise to the moniker '
Wellywood Wellywood is an informal name for the city of Wellington, New Zealand. The name—a conflation of Wellington and Hollywood—is a reference to the film production business established in the city by ''The Lord of the Rings'' film director Sir ...
'. Jackson's companies include Weta Workshop, Weta Digital, Camperdown Studios, post-production house
Park Road Post Park Road Post Production is an international film and television post-production facility located in Miramar, a suburb of Wellington, New Zealand. Built out of the state-owned National Film Unit (NFU), the new facility opened upon completion i ...
, and Stone Street Studios near Wellington Airport. Films shot partly or wholly in Wellington include the ''Lord of The Rings'' trilogy, '' King Kong'' and ''
Avatar Avatar (, ; ), is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means "descent". It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, goddess or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appearanc ...
''. Jackson described Wellington: "Well, it's windy. But it's actually a lovely place, where you're pretty much surrounded by water and the bay. The city itself is quite small, but the surrounding areas are very reminiscent of the hills up in northern California, like
Marin County Marin County is a county located in the northwestern part of the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 262,231. Its county seat and largest city is San Rafael. Marin County is acros ...
near San Francisco and the Bay Area climate and some of the architecture. Kind of a cross between that and Hawaii." Sometime Wellington directors
Jane Campion Dame Elizabeth Jane Campion (born 30 April 1954) is a New Zealand filmmaker. She is best known for writing and directing the critically acclaimed films ''The Piano'' (1993) and '' The Power of the Dog'' (2021), for which she has received a tot ...
and
Geoff Murphy Geoffrey Peter Murphy (12 October 1938 – 3 December 2018) was a New Zealand filmmaker, producer, director, and screenwriter best known for his work during the renaissance of New Zealand cinema that began in the second half of the 1970s. His s ...
have reached the world's screens with their independent spirit. Emerging Kiwi filmmakers, like Robert Sarkies,
Taika Waititi Taika David Cohen (born 16 August 1975), known professionally as Taika Waititi ( ), is a New Zealand filmmaker, actor, and comedian. He is a recipient of an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Grammy Award, and has received two nominations at t ...
, Costa Botes and Jennifer Bush-Daumec, are extending the Wellington-based lineage and cinematic scope. There are agencies to assist film-makers with tasks such as securing permits and scouting locations. Wellington has a large number of independent cinemas, including the Embassy Theatre, Penthouse, the Roxy and Light House, which participate in film festivals throughout the year. Wellington has one of the country's highest turn-outs for the annual
New Zealand International Film Festival New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
. There are a number of other film festivals hosted in Wellington such as Doc Edge (documentary), the Japanese Film Festival and Show Me Shorts (short films).


Music

The music scene has produced bands such as
The Warratahs The Warratahs are a band from Wellington, New Zealand. Band members Early line-ups * Barry Saunders (vocals/guitar) * Wayne Mason (keyboards/vocals) * Nik Brown (fiddle) * John Donahue (bass) * Marty Jorgensen (drums) * Clinton Brown ( ...
,
The Mockers The Mockers were a New Zealand pop band formed in Wellington in 1979 by Andrew Fagan. Fagan was the only ever-present of the band's line-up whose initial members were mostly drawn from Fagan's Rongotai College classmates. Their songs include "O ...
,
The Phoenix Foundation The Phoenix Foundation is a New Zealand indie rock band formed in Wellington in 1997. History Early years and ''China Cove'' The band was founded by Conrad Wedde, Samuel Flynn Scott, and Luke Buda in 1994 while students at Wellington High ...
,
Shihad Shihad are a rock band formed in Wellington, New Zealand in 1988. The band consists of founders Tom Larkin (drums, backing vocals, samplers), Phil Knight (lead guitar, synthesiser, backing vocals) and Jon Toogood (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), ...
,
Beastwars Beastwars is a sludge metal band from New Zealand. The early history of the band can be said to have begun in 1986 when Matt Hyde began his first band, Microwave Babies, while attending Saint Bernard's College in Lower Hutt. They disbanded in ...
,
Fly My Pretties __NOTOC__ Fly My Pretties is a collaboration of musicians originally from Wellington, New Zealand who are known for coming together to record live albums, in various locations in New Zealand. The different musical backgrounds of the members make ...
,
Rhian Sheehan Rhian Sheehan is a New Zealand composer and producer born in Nelson and now based in Wellington. He is known for his fusing of orchestral chamber music and piano, with ambient electronic and post-rock cinematic atmospheres. He has also written m ...
,
Birchville Cat Motel Birchville Cat Motel is a one-man experimental music project formed by Campbell Kneale from Wellington, New Zealand. Although largely unrecognised by the mainstream press and public in his home country, Kneale has toured throughout Japan, Am ...
, Black Boned Angel, Fat Freddy's Drop,
The Black Seeds The Black Seeds are a reggae inspired musical group from Wellington, New Zealand.Campbell-Livingston, Cecelia (2013)The Black Seeds, rooted in reggae, ''Jamaica Observer'', 27 November 2013. Retrieved 1 December 2013 Their rocksteady song "One ...
,
Fur Patrol Fur Patrol is a rock band, originally from Wellington, New Zealand. The band formed in Wellington in 1996. Their debut EP, ''Starlifter'', was released on the independent Wellington label Wishbone in 1998. Their debut album ''Pet'' was produced ...
,
Flight of the Conchords Flight of the Conchords is a New Zealand musical comedy duo formed in Wellington in 1998. The band consists of multi-instrumentalists Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement. Beginning as a popular live comedy act in the early 2000s, the duo's comed ...
,
Connan Mockasin Connan Tant Hosford, better known by the stage name Connan Mockasin and sometimes credited as Connan Hosford, is a New Zealand musician, composer and record producer. Critically acclaimed and described as "a psych-funk oddball...a contrarian", ...
, Rhombus and
Module Module, modular and modularity may refer to the concept of modularity. They may also refer to: Computing and engineering * Modular design, the engineering discipline of designing complex devices using separately designed sub-components * Modul ...
, Weta,
Demoniac Demoniac were a heavy metal band from New Zealand formed in Wellington in 1993 by singer and bass player Lindsay Dawson, guitarist Sam Totman and Drummer Steve Francis. They later moved to London, UK. Three of the members went on to form ...
. The
New Zealand School of Music The New Zealand School of Music—Te Kōkī, at Victoria University of Wellington (NZSM), is located in Wellington, New Zealand. NZSM provides a tertiary teaching faculty with programmes in Classical Performance, Jazz Performance, Music Studies, C ...
was established in 2005 through a merger of the conservatory and theory programmes at
Massey University Massey University ( mi, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa) is a university based in Palmerston North, New Zealand, with significant campuses in Albany and Wellington. Massey University has approximately 30,883 students, 13,796 of whom are extramural or ...
and
Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. The university is well know ...
. New Zealand Symphony Orchestra,
Nevine String Quartet String Quartet in Wellington formed in 1995 from the ranks of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. The players were: Liz Patchett & Janet Armstrong – violins, Peter Barber – viola, & Robert Ibell – cello. The group performed a varied repertoi ...
and
Chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...
New Zealand are based in Wellington. The city is also home to the Rodger Fox Big Band.


Theatre and dance

Wellington is home to
BATS Theatre BATS Theatre is a theatre venue in Wellington, New Zealand. Initially founded as the Bats Theatre Company in 1976, then established in its current form in 1989. BATS Theatre has seen the development of many performing arts talents of New Zeala ...
,
Circa Theatre Circa Theatre is a professional theatre company in Wellington, New Zealand, that was established in 1976. They present a number of plays each year in their two auditoriums, and have a unique partnership and funding model with incoming shows unde ...
, the national kaupapa Māori theatre company
Taki Rua Taki Rua is a theatre organisation based in Wellington, Aotearoa / New Zealand that has produced many contemporary Māori theatre productions. Taki Rua has been going since 1983 and has had several name changes over that time including The New Depo ...
, the National Theatre for Children at Capital E, the Royal New Zealand Ballet, and contemporary dance company
Footnote A note is a string of text placed at the bottom of a page in a book or document or at the end of a chapter, volume, or the whole text. The note can provide an author's comments on the main text or citations of a reference work in support of the ...
. Venues include
St James' Theatre The St James's Theatre was in King Street, St James's, London. It opened in 1835 and was demolished in 1957. The theatre was conceived by and built for a popular singer, John Braham; it lost money and after three seasons he retired. A succ ...
on Courtenay Place, The Opera House on Manners Street and the
Hannah Playhouse The Hannah Playhouse is a theatre venue situated on the corner of Courtenay Place and Cambridge Terrace in central Wellington, New Zealand. The Hannah Playhouse was given by Sheilah Winn (first cousin of Edith Campion, mother of Jane Campion) an ...
.
Te Whaea Te Whaea in Wellington, New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. ...
National Dance & Drama Centre, houses New Zealand's university-level schools, Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School & the New Zealand School of Dance, these are separate entities that share the building's facilities. The theatre's and studio's are which also are available for hire and used for public presentation and rehearsals by many groups. Te Auaha the Whitireia Performing Arts Centre is downtown off Cuba Street. File:St James Theatre.jpg,
St. James Theatre The St. James Theatre, originally Erlanger's Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 246 West 44th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1927, it was designed by Warren and Wetmore in a neo-Georgian style a ...
on Courtenay Place, the main street of Wellington's entertainment district File:Te Auaha.tif, Te Auaha, venue and performing arts school, Wellington File:Te Whaea.tif, Te Whaea, venue and home to the New Zealand School of Dance and Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School File:BATS Theatre foyer 03 (cropped).jpg, BATS Theatre foyer File:Circa Theatre.jpg, Circa Theatre File:The Opera House, Wellington, interior.jpg, The Opera House (interior) File:Hannah Playhouse.jpg, The Hannah Playhouse


Comedy

Many of New Zealand's prominent comedians have either come from Wellington or got their start there, such as
Ginette McDonald Ginette Denise McDonald (born 18 April 1952) is a New Zealand actor, and television producer and director, best known for her comedic alter ego, "Lyn of Tawa". Early life McDonald was born in Wellington on 18 April 1952, the daughter of Joan ...
("Lyn of Tawa"),
Raybon Kan Raybon Kan (born 1966) is a New Zealand comedian and newspaper columnist. Early life and family Kan's family moved to Wellington, New Zealand soon after his birth in Masterton. He began his education at St Mark's Church School. He showed an ea ...
,
Dai Henwood Dafydd Morgan "Dai" Henwood (born 7 February 1978) is a New Zealand comedian. He is best known for his hosting of several television shows found on Three but also performs stand-up comedy. Life and career Henwood was born in 1978 to father R ...
,
Ben Hurley Ben Hurley is a stand up comedian from New Zealand. Hurley started his comedy career in Wellington as resident host of The Wellington Comedy Club. After winning the Billy T Award he moved to London and worked on the comedy circuit there between ...
, Steve Wrigley, Guy Williams, the
Flight of the Conchords Flight of the Conchords is a New Zealand musical comedy duo formed in Wellington in 1998. The band consists of multi-instrumentalists Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement. Beginning as a popular live comedy act in the early 2000s, the duo's comed ...
and the satirist John Clarke (" Fred Dagg"). Wellington is home to groups that perform improvised theatre and improvisational comedy, including
Wellington Improvisation Troupe The Wellington Improvisation Troupe (WIT) is a not-for-profit, community-based improvisational theatre group in Wellington, New Zealand. It is run by a committee elected by and from its forty to sixty active members. WIT performs both long and shor ...
(WIT), The Improvisors and youth group Joe Improv. The comedy group Breaking the 5th Wall operated out of Wellington and regularly did shows around the city, performing a mix of sketch comedy and semi-improvised theatre. In 2012 the group disbanded when some of its members moved to Australia. Wellington hosts shows in the annual New Zealand International Comedy Festival.


Visual arts

From 1936 to 1992 Wellington was home to the
National Art Gallery of New Zealand National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...
, when it was amalgamated into
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. ''Te Papa Tongarewa'' translates literally to "container of treasures" or in full "container of treasured things and people that spring fr ...
. Wellington is home to the
New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts The New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts (also referred to as the Wellington Art Society) was founded in Wellington in July 1882 as The Fine Arts Association of New Zealand. Founding artists included painters William Beetham (first president of the Ass ...
and the Arts Foundation of New Zealand. The city's arts centre, Toi Pōneke, is a nexus of creative projects, collaborations, and multi-disciplinary production. Arts Programmes and Services Manager Eric Vaughn Holowacz and a small team based in the Abel Smith Street facility have produced ambitious initiatives such as Opening Notes,
Drive by Art Drive by Art is an ongoing community public art project in the city of Wellington, New Zealand. Begun in 2003 by the City Council, with local companies Flagmakers and Resene Paints, it has commissioned over 200 original art street banners which hav ...
, and public art projects. The city is home to experimental arts publication '' White Fungus''. The Learning Connexion provides art classes. Other visual art galleries include the City Gallery. Te Ngākau Civic Square Te Ngākau Civic Square is a public square in central Wellington, New Zealand, between the Wellington central business district to the north and the Te Aro entertainment district to the south. Characteristics Te Ngākau Civic Square is locat ...
with the ''Ferns'' artwork suspended above"> File:Wellington NZ7 3363.jpg File:Wellington NZ7 3367.jpg


Cuisine

Wellington is characterised by small dining establishments, and its café culture is internationally recognised, being known for its large number of coffeehouses. There are a few iconic cafes that started the obsession with coffee that Wellington has. One of these is the Deluxe Expresso Bar that opened in 1988. Wellington Restaurants offer cuisines including from Europe, Asia and Polynesia; for dishes that have a distinctly New Zealand style, there are lamb, pork and cervena (venison), salmon, crayfish (lobster), Bluff oysters,
pāua Pāua is the Māori name given to three New Zealand species of large edible sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs which belong to the family Haliotidae (in which there is only one genus, ''Haliotis''), known in the United States and Austral ...
(abalone), mussels, scallops, pipis and tuatua (both New Zealand shellfish); kumara (sweet potato); kiwifruit and tamarillo; and pavlova, the national dessert.


Sport

Wellington is the home to: * Hurricanes –
Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...
team based in Wellington *
Wellington Lions The Wellington Rugby Football Union (known as the Wellington Lions for competition reasons) are a New Zealand governing body of rugby union in the New Zealand province of Wellington Region. The main stadium is Sky Stadium (formerly named West ...
–
ITM Cup ITM may stand for: Education * ITM Global School, an English medium co-educational day school in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, India * ITM Law School, one of the professional graduate schools of ITM University * ITM-IFM, Mumbai, India * Institut Tekn ...
rugby team *
Wellington Phoenix FC Wellington Phoenix Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. It competes in the Australian A-League, under licence from Football Federation Australia. Phoenix entered the competition in the ...
–
football (soccer) Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
club playing in the Australasian
A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...
, the only fully professional football club in New Zealand * Team Wellington – in the semi-professional
New Zealand Football Championship The New Zealand Football Championship ( mi, Te Whakataetae Whutupaoro a Aotearoa) was a men's association football league at the top of the New Zealand league system. Founded in 2004, the New Zealand Football Championship was the successor to a m ...
*
Central Pulse Central Pulse are a New Zealand netball team based in Wellington. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship. Since 2017 they have represented Netball Central in the ANZ Premiership. Netball Central is the governing body that r ...
–
netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...
team representing the Lower North Island in the ANZ Championship, primarily based in Wellington *
Wellington Firebirds The Wellington Firebirds are one of six New Zealand men's first-class cricket teams that make up New Zealand Cricket. It is based in Wellington. It competes in the Plunket Shield first class (4-day) competition, The Ford Trophy domestic one da ...
and
Wellington Blaze The Wellington Blaze is the women's representative cricket team for the New Zealand city of Wellington. They play their home games at Basin Reserve. They compete in the Hallyburton Johnstone Shield one-day competition and the Women's Super Smash ...
– men's and women's
cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
teams *
Wellington Saints The Wellington Saints are a New Zealand basketball team based in Wellington. The Saints compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at TSB Bank Arena. Team history The Wellington Saints were founded in 1981. In 1 ...
– basketball team in the National Basketball League Sporting events include: * six pool games and two quarter-final games at the
2011 Rugby World Cup The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Af ...
* the
Wellington Sevens The New Zealand Sevens is an annual rugby sevens tournament currently held at Waikato Stadium in Hamilton, New Zealand. For the first eighteen years of its history the event was held in Wellington. The event is the third on the World Rugby Seven ...
– a round of the
IRB Sevens World Series The World Rugby Men's Sevens Series is an annual series of international rugby sevens tournaments run by World Rugby featuring national sevens teams. Organised for the first time in the 1999–2000 season as the IRB World Sevens Series, the com ...
held at the Wellington Regional Stadium over several days every February. * the 2011 Tae Kwon Do World Champs * The 2014 World Field Target Championships * the World Mountain Running Championships in 2005 * the
Wellington 500 The Wellington 500 was a street race for touring cars which took place at Wellington City in Wellington, New Zealand in the 1980s and 1990s. The 1987 event was a round of the 1987 World Touring Car Championship. The final running of the race w ...
street race Street racing is typically an unsanctioned and illegal form of auto racing that occurs on a public road. Racing in the streets is considered an ancient hazard, as horse racing occurred on streets for centuries, and street racing in automobiles i ...
for
touring cars Touring car racing is a motorsport road racing competition with heavily modified road-going cars. It has both similarities to and significant differences from stock car racing, which is popular in the United States. While the cars do not move ...
, between 1985 and 1996


Government


Local

Wellington city is administered by the
territorial authority Territorial authorities are the second tier of local government in New Zealand, below regional councils. There are 67 territorial authorities: 13 city councils, 53 district councils and the Chatham Islands Council. District councils serve a c ...
of Wellington City Council. The present mayor of the Wellington City Council is Tory Whanau, who was elected in 2022. Wellington is also part of the wider
Wellington Region Greater Wellington, also known as the Wellington Region (Māori: ''Te Upoko o te Ika''), is a non-unitary region of New Zealand that occupies the southernmost part of the North Island. The region covers an area of , and has a population of T ...
, administered by the Greater Wellington Region Council. The local authorities are responsible for a wide variety of public services, which include management and maintenance of local roads, and land-use planning.


Community boards

The Wellington City Council has created two local community boards under the provisions of Part 4 of the
Local Government Act 2002 The Local Government Act 2002 (sometimes known by its acronym, LGA) is an Act of New Zealand's Parliament that defines local government in New Zealand. There are 73 territorial authorities (local districts), each with an elected Mayor and elect ...
for certain parts of the city: *The Tawa Community Board representing the northern suburbs of Tawa,
Grenada North Grenada North is a small suburb in northern Wellington, New Zealand. It is 5 km south of Porirua's city centre, and 13 km north of Wellington's city centre. Its western boundary is formed by State Highway 1 (SH 1N) and Takapu Road. T ...
and Takapū Valley; and *The Mākara/Ōhāriu Community Board representing the rural suburbs of Ohariu,
Mākara Mākara is a locality located at the western edge of Wellington, New Zealand, close to the shore of the Tasman Sea. The suburb is named after the Mākara Stream (''mā'' is Māori for white, ''kara'' is a kind of greywacke stone). The Wellington ...
and
Mākara Beach Mākara Beach, previously spelled Makara Beach, is a suburb of Wellington, New Zealand consisting of a small seaside village and its surrounding countryside. The Wellington City Council regards it as a separate suburb to Mākara. Features The ...
.


National

Wellington is covered by four general electorates: Mana, Ōhāriu,
Rongotai Rongotai is a suburb of Wellington, New Zealand, located southeast of the city centre. It is on the Rongotai isthmus, between the Miramar Peninsula and the suburbs of Kilbirnie and Lyall Bay. It is known mostly for being the location of the We ...
, and Wellington Central. It is also covered by two Māori electorates:
Te Tai Hauāuru Te Tai Hauāuru electorate boundaries used since the Te Tai Hauāuru is a New Zealand parliamentary Māori electorate, returning one Member of Parliament to the New Zealand House of Representatives, that was first formed for the . The electorat ...
, and Te Tai Tonga. Each electorate returns one member to the
New Zealand House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the sole chamber of the New Zealand Parliament. The House passes Law of New Zealand, laws, provides Ministers of the New Zealand Government, ministers to form Cabinet of New Zealand, Cabinet, and supervises the ...
. All electorates are held by the governing Labour Party. In addition, there are a number of Wellington-based list MPs, who are elected via party lists. Due to Wellington being the capital city of New Zealand, its residents are more likely to participate in politics compared to other cities in New Zealand.


Education

Wellington offers a variety of college and university programs for
tertiary Tertiary ( ) is a widely used but obsolete term for the geologic period from 66 million to 2.6 million years ago. The period began with the demise of the non-avian dinosaurs in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, at the start ...
students:
Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. The university is well know ...
has four campuses and works with a three-trimester system (beginning March, July, and November). It enrolled 21,380 students in 2008; of these, 16,609 were full-time students. Of all students, 56% were female and 44% male. While the student body was primarily New Zealanders of European descent, 1,713 were Maori, 1,024 were Pacific students, 2,765 were international students. 5,751 degrees, diplomas and certificates were awarded. The university has 1,930 full-time employees.
Massey University Massey University ( mi, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa) is a university based in Palmerston North, New Zealand, with significant campuses in Albany and Wellington. Massey University has approximately 30,883 students, 13,796 of whom are extramural or ...
has a Wellington campus known as the "creative campus" and offers courses in communication and business, engineering and technology, health and well-being, and creative arts. Its school of design was established in 1886 and has research centres for studying public health, sleep, Maori health, small & medium enterprises, disasters, and tertiary teaching excellence. It combined with Victoria University to create the
New Zealand School of Music The New Zealand School of Music—Te Kōkī, at Victoria University of Wellington (NZSM), is located in Wellington, New Zealand. NZSM provides a tertiary teaching faculty with programmes in Classical Performance, Jazz Performance, Music Studies, C ...
. The University of Otago has a Wellington branch with its Wellington School of Medicine and Health. Whitireia New Zealand has large campuses in Porirua, Wellington and Kapiti; the Wellington Institute of Technology and New Zealand's National Drama school, Toi Whakaari. The Wellington area has numerous primary and secondary schools.


Transport

Wellington is served by
State Highway 1 The following highways are numbered 1. For roads numbered A1, see list of A1 roads. For roads numbered B1, see list of B1 roads. For roads numbered M1, see List of M1 roads. For roads numbered N1, see list of N1 roads. For roads numbere ...
in the west and State Highway 2 in the east, meeting at the
Ngauranga Interchange The Ngauranga Interchange at the foot of the Ngauranga Gorge is a major interchange in the suburb of Ngauranga, in Wellington City, New Zealand. The Ngauranga interchange connects State Highways A state highway, state road, or state route ...
north of the city centre, where SH 1 runs through the city to the airport. There are two other state highways in the wider region: State Highway 58 which provides a direct connection between the Hutt Valley and Porirua, and State Highway 59 which follows a coastal route between Linden and Mackays Crossing and was previously part of SH 1. Road access into the capital is constrained by the mountainous terrain – between Wellington and the Kapiti Coast, SH 1 passes through the steep and narrow Wainui Saddle, nearby SH 59 travels along the Centennial Highway, a narrow section of road between the Paekākāriki Escarpment and the
Tasman Sea The Tasman Sea (Māori: ''Te Tai-o-Rēhua'', ) is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated between Australia and New Zealand. It measures about across and about from north to south. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abe ...
, and between Wellington and Wairarapa SH 2 transverses the
Rimutaka Range The Remutaka Range (spelled Rimutaka Range before 2017) is the southernmost range of a mountain chain in the lower North Island of New Zealand. The chain continues north into the Tararua, then Ruahine Ranges, running parallel with the east co ...
s on a similar narrow winding road. Wellington has two motorways: the
Johnsonville–Porirua Motorway The Johnsonville–Porirua Motorway is a motorway in Wellington, New Zealand. The majority of the motorway forms part of State Highway 1, the main route of traffic in and out of the city, with the northernmost , formerly part of SH 1 until 7 Dec ...
(largely part of SH 1, with the northernmost section part of SH 59) and the
Wellington Urban Motorway The Wellington Urban Motorway, part of SH 1, is the major road into and out of Wellington, New Zealand. It is 7 km long, ranges from three to seven lanes wide, and extends from the base of the Ngauranga Gorge into the Wellington CBD. Fro ...
(entirely part of SH 1), which in combination with a small non-motorway section in the Ngauranga Gorge connect Porirua with Wellington city. A third motorway in the wider region, the Transmission Gully Motorway forming part of the SH 1 route and officially opened on 30 March 2022, leaves the Johnsonville-Porirua Motorway at the boundary between Wellington and Porirua and provides the main route between Wellington and the wider North Island. Bus transport in Wellington is supplied by several different operators under the banner of Metlink. Buses serve almost every part of Wellington city, with most of them running along the "Golden Mile" from
Wellington railway station Wellington railway station, or Wellington Central station, is the main railway station serving Wellington, New Zealand, and is the southern terminus of the North Island Main Trunk, Wairarapa Line and Johnsonville Line. The station opened in ...
to Courtenay Place. Until October 2017 there were nine
trolleybus A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or troll ...
routes, all other buses running on
diesel Diesel may refer to: * Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression * Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines * Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engin ...
. The trolleybus network was the last public system of its kind in the southern hemisphere. Wellington lies at the southern end of the
North Island Main Trunk The North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) is the main railway line in the North Island of New Zealand, connecting the capital city Wellington with the country's largest city, Auckland. The line is long, built to the New Zealand rail gauge of and ser ...
railway (NIMT) and the Wairarapa Line, converging on
Wellington railway station Wellington railway station, or Wellington Central station, is the main railway station serving Wellington, New Zealand, and is the southern terminus of the North Island Main Trunk, Wairarapa Line and Johnsonville Line. The station opened in ...
at the northern end of central Wellington. One long-distance service leaves from Wellington: the
Capital Connection The Capital Connection is a long-distance commuter train operated by KiwiRail between Palmerston North and the capital city of Wellington on the North Island Main Trunk. In 2018 the service faced funding issues, but the Government ensured that ...
, for commuters from
Palmerston North Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...
. The Northern Explorer to Auckland was discontinued in December 2021. Four electrified
suburban A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...
lines radiate from Wellington railway station to the outer suburbs to the north of Wellington – the
Johnsonville Line The Johnsonville Branch, also known as the Johnsonville Line, is a commuter branch line railway from the main Railway Station of Wellington, New Zealand to the northern suburb of Johnsonville via Ngaio and Khandallah. Transdev Wellington ...
through the hillside suburbs north of central Wellington; the Kapiti Line along the NIMT to Waikanae on the Kapiti Coast via Porirua and Paraparaumu; the
Melling Line Melling may refer to: Places * Melling, Merseyside, an area of Sefton, Merseyside, England * Melling, Lancashire, a village near Carnforth, Lancashire, England * Melling, New Zealand, a suburb of Lower Hutt, New Zealand ** Melling Branch, a railw ...
to Lower Hutt via Petone; and the
Hutt Valley Line The Hutt Valley Line is the electrified train service operated by Transdev Wellington on behalf of Metlink on the section of the Wairarapa Line railway between Wellington and Upper Hutt, New Zealand. History Construction The Hutt Valley lin ...
along the Wairarapa Line via Waterloo and Taitā to Upper Hutt. A diesel-hauled carriage service, the Wairarapa Connection, connects several times daily to Masterton in the Wairarapa via the
Rimutaka Tunnel The Remutaka Tunnel (spelled Rimutaka Tunnel before 2017) is a railway tunnel through New Zealand's Remutaka Range, between Maymorn, near Upper Hutt, and Featherston, on the Wairarapa Line. The tunnel, which was opened to traffic on 3 November ...
. Combined, these five services carry 11.64 million passengers per year. Wellington is the North Island port for
Cook Strait Cook Strait ( mi, Te Moana-o-Raukawa) separates the North and South Islands of New Zealand. The strait connects the Tasman Sea on the northwest with the South Pacific Ocean on the southeast. It is wide at its narrowest point,McLintock, A H, ...
ferries to Picton in the
South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...
, provided by state-owned
Interislander Interislander is a road and rail ferry service across New Zealand's Cook Strait, between Wellington in the North Island and Picton in the South Island. It is owned and operated by state-owned rail operator KiwiRail. Three roll-on roll-off (R ...
and private
Bluebridge StraitNZ (formerly Strait Shipping Limited and Bluebridge) is a New Zealand transport firm that operates roll-on/roll-off freight and passenger shipping across the Cook Strait, between Wellington in the North Island and Picton, New Zealand, Picto ...
. Local ferries connect Wellington city centre with Eastbourne and Seatoun. Wellington International Airport is south-east of the city centre. It is serviced by flights from across New Zealand, Australia, Singapore (via Melbourne), and Fiji. Flights to other international destinations require a transfer at another airport, as aircraft range is limited by Wellington's short ()
runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt concrete, as ...
, which has become an issue in recent years in regards to the Wellington region's economic performance.


Infrastructure


Electric power

Wellington's first public electricity supply was established in 1904, alongside the introduction of electric trams, and was originally supplied at 105 volts 80 hertz. The conversion to the now-standard 230/400 volts 50 hertz began in 1925, the same year the city was connected to the Mangahao hydroelectric scheme. Between 1924 and 1968, the city's supply was supplemented by a coal-fired power station at Evans Bay. Today, Wellington city is supplied from four Transpower substations: Takapu Road, Kaiwharawhara, Wilton, and Central Park (Mount Cook).
Wellington Electricity Wellington Electricity, registered as Wellington Electricity Lines Limited, is an electricity distribution company, based in Wellington, New Zealand. Wellington Electricity supplies electricity to approximately 400,000 consumers through over 1 ...
owns and operates the local distribution network. The city is home to two large wind farms,
West Wind A west wind is a wind that originates in the west and blows in an eastward direction. Mythology and Literature In European tradition, it has usually been considered the mildest and most favorable of the directional winds. In Greek mythology, ...
and Mill Creek, which combined contribute up to 213 MW of electricity to the city and the national grid. While Wellington experiences regular strong winds, and only 63% of Wellington Electricity's network is underground, the city has a very reliable power supply. In the year to March 2018, Wellington Electricity disclosed the average customer spent just 55 minutes without power due to unplanned outages.


Natural gas

Wellington was one of the original nine towns and cities in New Zealand to be supplied with natural gas when the Kapuni gas field entered production in 1970, and a high-pressure pipeline from the field in Taranaki to the city was completed. The high-pressure transmission pipelines supplying Wellington are now owned and operated by
First Gas First Gas Limited is a natural gas transmission and distribution company in New Zealand. First Gas's network has 2,204 km of high pressure pipelines and 4,800 km of gas distribution pipelines. Through Flex Gas, First Gas owns and operates the Ah ...
, with
Powerco Powerco is the second-largest natural gas, gas and largest electricity distributor in New Zealand. It is one of only two companies to distribute both electricity and natural gas through their network (the other being Vector Limited). Its network ...
owning and operating the medium- and low-pressure distribution pipelines within the urban area.


The three waters

The "three waters" –
drinking water Drinking water is water that is used in drink or food preparation; potable water is water that is safe to be used as drinking water. The amount of drinking water required to maintain good health varies, and depends on physical activity level, a ...
,
stormwater Stormwater, also spelled storm water, is water that originates from precipitation (storm), including heavy rain and meltwater from hail and snow. Stormwater can soak into the soil ( infiltrate) and become groundwater, be stored on depressed la ...
, and wastewater services for the Wellington metropolitan area are provided by five councils: Wellington City, Hutt, Upper Hutt and Porirua city councils, and the Greater Wellington Regional Council. However, the water assets of these councils are managed by an
infrastructure asset management Infrastructure asset management is the integrated, multidisciplinary set of strategies in sustaining public infrastructure assets such as water treatment facilities, sewer lines, roads, utility grids, bridges, and railways. Generally, the process ...
company,
Wellington Water Wellington Water Limited is an infrastructure asset management company that manages the drinking water, wastewater and stormwater services of the councils in the Wellington Region of New Zealand. Ownership and governance The company was fir ...
. Wellington's first piped water supply came from a spring in 1867.
Greater Wellington Regional Council Wellington Regional Council, branded as Greater Wellington Regional Council, is the regional council overseeing the Wellington Region of New Zealand's lower North Island. It is responsible for public transport under the brand Metlink, environ ...
now supplies Lower Hutt, Porirua, Upper Hutt and Wellington with up to 220 million litres a day. The water comes from
Wainuiomata River The Wainuiomata River runs southwest through the Wainuiomata Valley located in the southern Remutaka Range in the North Island, New Zealand. Origin of name The word ''Wainui-o-Mata'' is a Māori name made up of the elements ''wai'' (water), ...
(since 1884), Hutt River (1914), Ōrongorongo River (1926) and the Lower Hutt aquifer. There are four wastewater treatment stations serving the Wellington metropolitan area, located at: *
Moa Point Moa Point is a small suburb in Wellington, New Zealand, situated on the south coast between Lyall Bay to the west and Tarakena Bay to the east. As of 2015 there were 21 households in the suburb. Toponymy The suburb got its name in 1926 when th ...
(serving Wellington city) * Seaview (serving Lower Hutt and Upper Hutt) * Karori (serving the suburb) * Porirua (serving northern Wellington suburbs, Tawa and Porirua city) The Wellington metropolitan area faces challenges with ageing infrastructure for the three waters, and there have been some significant failures, particularly in wastewater systems. The water supply is vulnerable to severe disruption during a major earthquake, although a wide range of projects are planned to improve resilience of the water supply and allow a limited water supply post-earthquake. In May 2021, the Wellington City Council approved a 10 year plan that included expenditure of $2.7billion on water pipe maintenance and upgrades in Wellington city, and an additional $147 to $208 million for plant upgrades at the Moa Point wastewater treatment plant.


Media


Radio

Wellington is served by 26 full-power radio stations: 17 on FM, four on AM, and five on both FM and AM.


Television

Television broadcasts began in Wellington on 1 July 1961 with the launch of channel WNTV1, becoming the third New Zealand city (after Auckland and Christchurch) to receive regular television broadcasts. WNTV1's main studios were in Waring Taylor Street in central Wellington and broadcast from a transmitter atop Mount Victoria. In 1967, the Mount Victoria transmitter was replaced with a more powerful transmitter at Mount Kaukau. In November 1969, WNTV1 was networked with its counterpart stations in Auckland, Christchurch and Dunedin to form NZBC TV. In 1975, the NZBC was broken up with Wellington and Dunedin studios taking over NZBC TV as Television One while Auckland and Christchurch studios launched Television Two. At the same time, the Wellington studios moved to the new purpose-built Avalon Television Centre in Lower Hutt. In 1980, Televisions One and Two merged under a single company, Television New Zealand (TVNZ). The majority of television production moved to Auckland over the 1980s, culminating in the opening of TVNZ's new Auckland television centre in 1989. Today, digital terrestrial television (
Freeview Freeview may refer to: *Freeview (Australia), the marketing name for the digital terrestrial television platform in Australia *Freeview (New Zealand), a digital satellite and digital terrestrial television platform in New Zealand *Freeview (UK), a ...
) is available in the city, transmitting from Mount Kaukau plus three infill transmitters at Baxters Knob, Fitzherbert, and Haywards.


Twin cities

Wellington is twinned with the following cities: *
Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
, Australia (1983) *
Xiamen Xiamen ( , ; ), also known as Amoy (, from Hokkien pronunciation ), is a sub-provincial city in southeastern Fujian, People's Republic of China, beside the Taiwan Strait. It is divided into six districts: Huli, Siming, Jimei, Tong'an, ...
, China (1987) * Sakai, Japan (1994) *
Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
, China (2006) *
Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...
, Australia (2016) It also has historical ties with Chania, Greece;
Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist destination and its visitor at ...
, England; and
Çanakkale Çanakkale (pronounced ), ancient ''Dardanellia'' (), is a city and seaport in Turkey in Çanakkale province on the southern shore of the Dardanelles at their narrowest point. The population of the city is 195,439 (2021 estimate). Çanakkale is ...
, Turkey.


Wellington metropolitan area

The wider
metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region that consists of a densely populated urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories sharing industries, commercial areas, transport network, infrastructures and housing. A metro area usually com ...
for Wellington encompasses areas administered by four
local authorities Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...
: Wellington City itself, on the peninsula between Cook Strait and Wellington Harbour; Porirua City on Porirua Harbour to the north, notable for its large
Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...
and
Pasifika Pasifika may refer to: *Pacific Islander people, indigenous peoples of the Pacific Islands **Pasifika New Zealanders, Pacific peoples living in New Zealand *Pacific islands, including Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia *The Pasifika Festival, an an ...
communities; and
Lower Hutt City Lower Hutt ( mi, Te Awa Kairangi ki Tai) is a city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand. Administered by the Hutt City Council, it is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington metropolitan area. It is New Zealand's sixth most p ...
and
Upper Hutt City Upper Hutt ( mi, Te Awa Kairangi ki Uta) is a city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand and one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington#Wellington metropolitan area, Wellington metropolitan area. Geography The Upper Hutt city cent ...
, largely suburban areas to the northeast, together known as the Hutt Valley. Depending on the source, the Wellington metro area may include
Waikanae Waikanae (, ) is a town on the Kapiti Coast, 60 kilometres north of the Wellington CBD. The name is a Māori word meaning "waters" (''wai'') "of the grey mullet". The town lies between Paraparaumu, eight kilometres to the southwest, and Ōtak ...
,
Paraparaumu Paraparaumu () is a town in the south-western North Island of New Zealand. It lies on the Kapiti Coast, north of the nation's capital city, Wellington. Like other towns in the area, it has a partner settlement at the coast called Paraparaumu Bea ...
and
Paekākāriki Paekākāriki () is a town in the Kapiti Coast District in the south-western North Island, New Zealand, and one of the northernmost suburbs of Wellington. It lies north of Porirua and northeast of the Wellington CBD. The town's name comes from ...
on the Kapiti Coast, and/or
Featherston Featherston is a surname of English origin, at least as old as the 12th century. The link with "Featherstone" is probably not traceable, but people researching both spellings (and others such as "de Fetherestanhalgh") contribute to the collection o ...
and Greytown in the Wairarapa. The urban areas of the four local authorities have a combined population of residents as of . The four cities comprising the Wellington metropolitan area have a total population of with the urban area containing % of that population. The remaining areas are largely mountainous and sparsely farmed or parkland and are outside the urban area boundary. More than most cities, life is dominated by its central business district (CBD). Approximately 62,000 people work in the CBD, only 4,000 fewer than work in Auckland's CBD, despite that city having four times the population. The
Waikanae Waikanae (, ) is a town on the Kapiti Coast, 60 kilometres north of the Wellington CBD. The name is a Māori word meaning "waters" (''wai'') "of the grey mullet". The town lies between Paraparaumu, eight kilometres to the southwest, and Ōtak ...
-
Paraparaumu Paraparaumu () is a town in the south-western North Island of New Zealand. It lies on the Kapiti Coast, north of the nation's capital city, Wellington. Like other towns in the area, it has a partner settlement at the coast called Paraparaumu Bea ...
-
Paekākāriki Paekākāriki () is a town in the Kapiti Coast District in the south-western North Island, New Zealand, and one of the northernmost suburbs of Wellington. It lies north of Porirua and northeast of the Wellington CBD. The town's name comes from ...
combined urban area in the Kapiti Coast district is sometimes included in the Wellington metro area due to its exurban nature and strong transport links with Wellington. If included as part of Wellington metro, Waikanae-Paraparaumu-Paekākāriki would add to the population (as of ).
Featherston Featherston is a surname of English origin, at least as old as the 12th century. The link with "Featherstone" is probably not traceable, but people researching both spellings (and others such as "de Fetherestanhalgh") contribute to the collection o ...
and Greytown in the Wairarapa are rarely considered part of the Wellington metropolitan area, being physically separated from the rest of the metropolitan area by the
Remutaka Range The Remutaka Range (spelled Rimutaka Range before 2017) is the southernmost range of a mountain chain in the lower North Island of New Zealand. The chain continues north into the Tararua, then Ruahine Ranges, running parallel with the east ...
. However, both have significant proportions of their employed population working in Wellington city and the Hutt Valley (36.1% and 17.1% in 2006 respectively) and are considered part of the Wellington functional urban area by Statistics New Zealand. The four urban areas combined had a usual resident population of 401,850 at the
2018 New Zealand census Eighteen or 18 may refer to: * 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19 * one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018 Film, television and entertainment * ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the sho ...
, an increase of 26,307 people (7.0%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 42,726 people (11.9%) since the
2006 census 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...
. There were 196,911 males and 204,936 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.961 males per female. Of the total population, 74,892 people (18.6%) were aged up to 15 years, 93,966 (23.4%) were 15 to 29, 185,052 (46.1%) were 30 to 64, and 47,952 (11.9%) were 65 or older.


See also

* List of people from Wellington


Notes


References


Further reading

;Published in the 19th century * * ;Published in the 20th century * * *
"Wellington City Annual Economic Profile 2013"
, by Infometrics for Grow Wellington Ltd.


External links


Greater Wellington Regional Council

Official NZ Tourism website for Wellington

Wellington City Council

Wellington
in Te Ara the Encyclopedia of New Zealand
Notes on a New Zealand City: Wellington
{{Authority control Capitals in Oceania Former provincial capitals of New Zealand Populated coastal places in New Zealand Populated places established in 1840 Populated places in the Wellington Region Port cities in New Zealand