Auckland Mechanics' Institute on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the
North Island
The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...
of New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region
Auckland () is one of the 16 regions of New Zealand, which takes its name from the eponymous urban areas of New Zealand, urban area. The region encompasses the Auckland, Auckland metropolitan area, smaller towns, rural areas, and the islands o ...
, the area governed by Auckland Council
Auckland Council () is the local government council for the Auckland Region in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority that also has the responsibilities, duties and powers of a regional council and so is a unitary authority, according to t ...
, which includes outlying rural areas and the islands of the Hauraki Gulf
The Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana is a coastal feature of the North Island of New Zealand. It has an area of 4000 km2,List of cities in New Zealand, most populous city of New Zealand and the fifth-largest city in Oceania.
The city lies between the
In response to the ongoing rebellion by
Trams and railway lines shaped Auckland's rapid expansion in the early first half of the 20th century. However, after the Second World War, the city's transport system and urban form became increasingly dominated by the motor vehicle. Arterial roads and motorways became both defining and geographically dividing features of the urban landscape. They also allowed further massive expansion that resulted in the growth of suburban areas such as the North Shore (especially after the construction of the
The central areas of the city are located on the
The Auckland urban area, as defined by Statistics New Zealand, covers . The urban area has an estimated population of as of , percent of New Zealand's population. The city has a population larger than the entire
Many ethnic groups, since the late 20th century, have had an increasing presence in Auckland, making it by far the country's most 
At the 2018 Census, in the local board areas of Upper Harbour, Waitematā, Puketāpapa and Howick, overseas-born residents outnumbered those born in New Zealand. The most common birthplaces of overseas-born residents were mainland China (6.2%), India (4.6%), England (4.4%), Fiji (2.9%), Samoa (2.5%), South Africa (2.4%), Philippines (2.0%), Australia (1.4%), South Korea (1.4%), and Tonga (1.3%). A study from 2016 showed Auckland has the fourth largest
(from the Auckland Regional Growth Strategy document, ARC, November 1999. Retrieved 14 October 2007.)Mapping Trends in the Auckland Region
In 1851, Auckland was constituted as an independent borough, the first in the country. The borough was in size and went as far west as the
Between 1842 and 1865, Auckland was the capital city of New Zealand. Parliament met in what is now Old Government House on the
In 1891, the three main items exported from Auckland's port were:
(CBD website of the
Auckland has been described as having "the most extensive range of timbered housing with its classical details and mouldings in the world", many of them built in the Victorian and Edwardian eras. In some areas, the Victorian
(
(
Queen Street, Britomart,
Important institutions include the 
In 2009, the Gallery was promised a gift of fifteen works of art by New York art collectors and philanthropists Julian and Josie Robertson – including well-known paintings by
During the 19th century the main forms of transport to and from Auckland were ferries and trains, with horses being used for shorter distances and trips within the city. From 1902 electric trams provided transport for the central isthmus and resulted in residential expansion in the area. Following the First World War car ownership started to increase and concrete and bitumen roads were built to accommodate this.
The State Highway network connects the different parts of Auckland, with 
The 
Backtracking Auckland: Bureaucratic rationality and public preferences in transport planning
'' – Mees, Paul; Dodson, Jago; Urban Research Program Issues Paper 5,
North Shore City Council website Auckland has also been called a very pedestrian- and cyclist-unfriendly city, though some efforts are being made to change this,
Big steps to change City of Cars
'' – ''
* 
* 
*
What's Doing In; Auckland
'' – ''
The Auckland urban area has 340 primary schools, 80 secondary schools, and 29 composite (primary/secondary combined) schools as of February 2012, catering for roughly 250,000 students. The majority are state schools, but 63 schools are state-integrated and 39 are private.
The city is home to some of the largest schools in terms of students in New Zealand, including
Auckland
in Te Ara the Encyclopedia of New Zealand
(from the ARC map website) {{Authority control Former national capitals of New Zealand Former provincial capitals of New Zealand Populated coastal places in New Zealand Populated places established in 1840 1840 establishments in New Zealand Port cities in New Zealand Former colonial capitals Populated places around the Hauraki Gulf Populated places around the Waitematā Harbour Populated places around the Manukau Harbour
Hauraki Gulf
The Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana is a coastal feature of the North Island of New Zealand. It has an area of 4000 km2,Hunua Ranges
The Hunua Ranges is a mountain range and regional park to the southeast of Auckland city, in the Auckland and Waikato regions of New Zealand's North Island. The ranges cover some and rise to 688 metres (2255 ft) at Kohukohunui.
to the south-east, the Manukau Harbour
The Manukau Harbour is the second largest natural harbour in New Zealand by area. It is located to the southwest of the Auckland isthmus, and opens out into the Tasman Sea.
Geography
The harbour mouth is between the northern head ("Burnett ...
to the south-west, and the Waitākere Ranges
The Waitākere Ranges is a mountain range in New Zealand. Located in West Auckland, New Zealand, West Auckland between metropolitan Auckland and the Tasman Sea, the ranges and its foothills and coasts comprise some of public and private land. ...
and smaller ranges to the west and north-west. The surrounding hills are covered in rainforest
Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree Canopy (biology), canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropi ...
and the landscape is dotted with 53 volcanic centres that make up the Auckland Volcanic Field
The Auckland volcanic field is an area of monogenetic volcanoes covered by much of the metropolitan area of Auckland, New Zealand's largest city, located in the North Island. The approximately 53 volcanoes in the field have produced a divers ...
. The central part of the urban area occupies a narrow isthmus
An isthmus (; : isthmuses or isthmi) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea count ...
between the Manukau Harbour on the Tasman Sea
The Tasman Sea 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 Abel Janszoon Tasman, who in 1642 wa ...
and the Waitematā Harbour
The Waitematā Harbour is the main access by sea to Auckland, New Zealand. The harbour forms the northern and eastern coasts of the Auckland isthmus and is crossed by the Auckland Harbour Bridge. It is matched on the southern side of the city ...
on the Pacific Ocean. Auckland is one of the few cities in the world to have a harbour on each of two separate major bodies of water.
The Auckland isthmus
The Auckland isthmus, also known as the Tāmaki isthmus, is a narrow stretch of land on the North Island of New Zealand in the Auckland Region, and the location of the central suburbs of the city of Auckland and the central business district. ...
was first settled and was valued for its rich and fertile land. The 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 Co ...
population in the area is estimated to have peaked at 20,000 before the arrival of Europeans. After a British colony
A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony governed by England, and then Great Britain or the United Kingdom within the English and later British Empire. There was usually a governor to represent the Crown, appointed by the British monarch on ...
was established in New Zealand in 1840, William Hobson
Captain William Hobson (26 September 1792 – 10 September 1842) was an Anglo-Irish officer in the British Royal Navy, who served as the first Governor of New Zealand. He was a co-author of the Treaty of Waitangi.
Hobson was dispatched f ...
, then Lieutenant-Governor of New Zealand, chose Auckland as its new capital
Capital and its variations may refer to:
Common uses
* Capital city, a municipality of primary status
** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital
** List of national capitals
* Capital letter, an upper-case letter
Econom ...
. Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei
Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei or Ngāti Whātua-o-Ōrākei is an Auckland-based Māori hapū (sub-tribe) in New Zealand. Together with Te Uri-o-Hau, Te Roroa and Te Taoū, it comprises the iwi (tribe) of Ngāti Whātua. These four hapū can act togeth ...
made a strategic gift of land to Hobson for the new capital. Māori–European conflict over land in the region led to war in the mid-19th century. In 1865, Auckland was replaced by Wellington
Wellington 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 third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...
as the capital, but continued to grow, initially because of its port and the logging and gold-mining activities in its hinterland, and later because of pastoral farming (especially dairy farming) in the surrounding area, and manufacturing in the city itself. It has been the nation's largest city throughout most of its history. Today, Auckland's central business district is New Zealand's leading economic hub.
While Europeans
Europeans are the focus of European ethnology, the field of anthropology related to the various ethnic groups that reside in the states of Europe. Groups may be defined by common ancestry, language, faith, historical continuity, etc. There are ...
continue to make up the plurality of Auckland's population, the city became multicultural and cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan may refer to:
Internationalism
* World citizen, one who eschews traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship
* Cosmopolitanism, the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community
* Cosmopolitan ...
in the late 20th century, with Asians
"Asian people" (sometimes "Asiatic people")United States National Library of Medicine. Medical Subject Headings. 2004. November 17, 200Nlm.nih.gov: ''Asian Continental Ancestry Group'' is also used for categorical purposes. is an umbrella term ...
accounting for 34.9% of the city's population in 2023. Auckland has the fourth largest foreign-born
Foreign-born (also non-native) people are those born outside of their country of residence. Foreign born are often non-citizens, but many are naturalized citizens of the country in which they live, and others are citizens by descent, typically ...
population in the world, with 39% of its residents born overseas. With its sizable population of Pasifika New Zealanders
Pasifika New Zealanders (also called Pacific Peoples) are a pan-ethnic group of New Zealanders associated with, and descended from, the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Islands (also known as Pacific Islander#New Zealand, Pacific Islanders) ou ...
, the city is also home to the largest ethnic Polynesian population in the world.
The University of Auckland
The University of Auckland (; Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Initially loc ...
, founded in 1883, is the largest university in New Zealand. The city's significant tourist attractions include national historic sites, festivals, performing arts, sports activities and a variety of cultural institutions, such as the Auckland War Memorial Museum
The Auckland War Memorial Museum (), also known as Auckland Museum, is one of New Zealand's most important museums and war memorials. Its neoclassical architecture, neoclassical building constructed in the 1920s and 1950s, stands on Observatory ...
, the Museum of Transport and Technology
The Museum of Transport and Technology (MOTAT) is a transport and technology museum located in Western Springs, Auckland, New Zealand. It is located close to the Western Springs Stadium, Auckland Zoo and the Western Springs Park. The museum has ...
, and the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki is the principal public gallery in Auckland, New Zealand. It has the most extensive collection of national and international art in New Zealand and frequently hosts travelling international exhibitions.
Set be ...
. Its architectural landmarks include the Harbour Bridge, the Town Hall
In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...
, the Ferry Building and the Sky Tower, which is the second-tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere after Thamrin Nine
Thamrin Nine is a mixed-use development complex in Jakarta, Indonesia. It covers an area of approximately 570,000 square metres with office, retail, residential, hotels, sports and entertainment facilities. Its centrepiece, the Autograph Tower (38 ...
. The city is served by Auckland Airport
Auckland Airport is an international airport serving Auckland, the most populous city of New Zealand. It is the largest and busiest airport in the country, with over 18.7 million passengers served in the year ended December 2024. The airpor ...
, which handled 18.5 million passengers in 2024. Auckland is one of the world's most liveable cities, ranking fifth in the 2024 Mercer Quality of Living Survey and at ninth place in a 2024 ranking of the Global Liveability Ranking
The Global Liveability Index is a yearly assessment published by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), ranking 173 global cities for their quality of life based on assessments of stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and inf ...
by ''The Economist
''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...
''.
Toponymy
The Māori-language name for Auckland is ', meaning "Tāmaki desired by many", in reference to the desirability of its natural resources and geography. There are various theories of the origin of the name "Tāmaki
Tāmaki is a small suburb of East Auckland, 11 kilometres from the Auckland CBD, in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located by the banks of the estuary, estuarial Tamaki River, Tāmaki River, which is a southern arm of the Hauraki Gulf ...
", which is also used to refer to an eastern suburb of Auckland. It is regarded by some to be the isthmus between the two harbours of the area, which is variously said to be named after a son of Maruiwi from Taranaki
Taranaki is a regions of New Zealand, region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano Mount Taranaki, Taranaki Maunga, formerly known as Mount Egmont.
The main centre is the ...
, a line of chiefs from the southern Taranaki, or a female leader of Ngāti Te Ata
Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori, roughly means or , and is often translated as "tribe". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, and is typically pluralised as such in English.
...
. Other versions of the name include ''Tāmakinui'' (great Tāmaki) or ''Tāmaki-herehere-ngā-waka'' (Tāmaki that binds many canoes).
William Hobson
Captain William Hobson (26 September 1792 – 10 September 1842) was an Anglo-Irish officer in the British Royal Navy, who served as the first Governor of New Zealand. He was a co-author of the Treaty of Waitangi.
Hobson was dispatched f ...
named the area after George Eden, Earl of Auckland, British First Lord of the Admiralty
First Lord of the Admiralty, or formally the Office of the First Lord of the Admiralty, was the title of the political head of the English and later British Royal Navy. He was the government's senior adviser on all naval affairs, responsible f ...
. The Earldom of Auckland was named after West Auckland, a village in County Durham
County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...
, Northern England
Northern England, or the North of England, refers to the northern part of England and mainly corresponds to the Historic counties of England, historic counties of Cheshire, Cumberland, County Durham, Durham, Lancashire, Northumberland, Westmo ...
. The name "Auckland" in West Auckland is thought to originate from the Cumbric
Cumbric is an extinct Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup spoken during the Early Middle Ages in the ''Hen Ogledd'' or "Old North", in Northern England and the southern Scottish Lowlands. It was closely related to Old Welsh and the ot ...
word "''Alclud''", which was the Kingdom of Strathclyde
Strathclyde (, "valley of the River Clyde, Clyde"), also known as Cumbria, was a Celtic Britons, Brittonic kingdom in northern Britain during the Scotland in the Middle Ages, Middle Ages. It comprised parts of what is now southern Scotland an ...
's alternative name meaning "cliff on the Clyde". It is thought 'Clyde' may be the river Gaunless
The Gaunless is a tributary river of the Wear in County Durham, England. Its name is Old Norse, meaning "useless".A Potted History of West Auckland - Martin Connolly The Gaunless Viaduct, built in 1825, was the tallest viaduct on the South D ...
' old name.
Auckland is popularly nicknamed the "City of Sails" or the "Queen City".
History
Early history
TheAuckland isthmus
The Auckland isthmus, also known as the Tāmaki isthmus, is a narrow stretch of land on the North Island of New Zealand in the Auckland Region, and the location of the central suburbs of the city of Auckland and the central business district. ...
was settled 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 Co ...
around 1350, and was valued for its rich and fertile land. Many pā
The word pā (; often spelled pa in English) can refer to any Māori people, Māori village or defensive settlement, but often refers to hillforts – fortified settlements with palisades and defensive :wikt:terrace, terraces – and also to fo ...
(fortified villages) were built, mainly on the volcanic peaks. By the early 1700s, Te Waiohua
Te Waiohua or Te Wai-o-Hua is a Māori iwi (tribe) confederation that thrived in the early 17th century. The rohe (tribal area) was primarily the central Tāmaki Makaurau area (the Auckland isthmus) and they had pā (fortified settlements) at Te ...
, a confederation of tribes such as Ngā Oho
Ngā Oho, also known as Ngā Ohomatakamokamo-o-Ohomairangi, is the name of a historical iwi (tribe) of Māori who settled in the Auckland Region. In the 17th century, Ngā Oho and two other tribes of shared heritage, Ngā Riki and Ngā Iwi, form ...
, Ngā Riki and Ngā Iwi, was the main tribal group on the Auckland isthmus, with major pā at Maungakiekie / One Tree Hill
Maungakiekie / One Tree Hill is a volcano, volcanic peak and Tūpuna Maunga o Tāmaki Makaurau, Tūpuna Maunga (ancestral mountain) in Auckland, New Zealand. It is an important place culturally and archeologically for both Māori people, Māo ...
, Māngere Mountain
Māngere Mountain, also known by the names Te Pane-o-Mataaho and Te Ara Pueru, is a volcanic cone in Māngere, Auckland. Located within Māngere Domain, it is one of the largest volcanic cones in the Auckland volcanic field, with a peak above ...
and Maungataketake
Maungataketake (also Ellett's Mount) is one of the volcanoes in the Auckland volcanic field in New Zealand. It had a 76 m high scoria cone, beside a 100 m wide crater, before they were quarried away. It was the site of a pā. Layers ...
. The confederation came to an end around 1741, when paramount chief
A paramount chief is the English-language designation for a king or queen or the highest-level political leader in a regional or local polity or country administered politically with a Chiefdom, chief-based system. This term is used occasionally ...
Kiwi Tāmaki
Kiwi Tāmaki (died ) was a Māori people, Māori warrior and paramount chief of the Waiohua confederation in Auckland region, Tāmaki Makaurau (modern-day Auckland isthmus). The third generation paramount chief of Waiohua, Kiwi Tāmaki consolid ...
was killed in battle by Te Waha-akiaki, a chief of the Ngāti Whātua
Ngāti Whātua is a Māori iwi (tribe) of the lower Northland Peninsula of New Zealand's North Island. It comprises a confederation of four hapū (subtribes) interconnected both by ancestry and by association over time: Te Uri-o-Hau, Te Roroa ...
hapū
In Māori language, Māori and New Zealand English, a ' ("subtribe", or "clan") functions as "the basic political unit within Māori society". A Māori person can belong to or have links to many hapū. Historically, each hapū had its own chief ...
Te Taoū
Te Taoū is a Māori iwi (tribe) of Northland and the Auckland Region in New Zealand. Together with Te Uri-o-Hau, Te Roroa and Ngāti Whātua-o-Ōrākei, it comprises the iwi (tribe) of Ngāti Whātua. The four iwi can act together or separate ...
. From the 1740s, Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei
Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei or Ngāti Whātua-o-Ōrākei is an Auckland-based Māori hapū (sub-tribe) in New Zealand. Together with Te Uri-o-Hau, Te Roroa and Te Taoū, it comprises the iwi (tribe) of Ngāti Whātua. These four hapū can act togeth ...
were the main tribe on the Auckland isthmus. The Māori population in the area is estimated to have been about 20,000 before the arrival of Europeans. The introduction of firearms at the end of the eighteenth century, which began in Northland, upset the balance of power and led to devastating intertribal warfare beginning in 1807, causing iwi
Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori, roughly means or , and is often translated as "tribe". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, and is typically pluralised as such in English.
...
who lacked the new weapons to seek refuge in areas less exposed to coastal raids. As a result, the region had relatively low numbers of Māori when settlement by European New Zealanders
New Zealanders of Ethnic groups in Europe, European descent are mostly of British people, British and Irish New Zealanders, Irish ancestry, with significantly smaller percentages of other European ancestries such as German New Zealanders, Germ ...
began.
On 20 March 1840 in the Manukau Harbour
The Manukau Harbour is the second largest natural harbour in New Zealand by area. It is located to the southwest of the Auckland isthmus, and opens out into the Tasman Sea.
Geography
The harbour mouth is between the northern head ("Burnett ...
area where Ngāti Whātua farmed, paramount chief Apihai Te Kawau
Apihai Te Kawau (died November 1869) was a paramount chief of the Ngāti Whātua Māori iwi (tribe) of Auckland (), New Zealand in the 19th century.
Te Kawau's father was Tarahawaiki and his grandfather was Tūperiri, the principal leader of T ...
signed the Treaty of Waitangi
The Treaty of Waitangi (), sometimes referred to as ''Te Tiriti'', is a document of central importance to the history of New Zealand, Constitution of New Zealand, its constitution, and its national mythos. It has played a major role in the tr ...
. Ngāti Whātua sought British protection from Ngāpuhi
Ngāpuhi (also known as Ngāpuhi-Nui-Tonu or Ngā Puhi) is a Māori iwi associated with the Northland regions of New Zealand centred in the Hokianga, the Bay of Islands, and Whangārei.
According to the 2023 New Zealand census, the estimate ...
as well as a reciprocal relationship with the Crown
A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, parti ...
and the Church
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...
. Soon after signing the treaty, Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei made a strategic gift of of land on the Waitematā Harbour
The Waitematā Harbour is the main access by sea to Auckland, New Zealand. The harbour forms the northern and eastern coasts of the Auckland isthmus and is crossed by the Auckland Harbour Bridge. It is matched on the southern side of the city ...
to the new Governor of New Zealand, William Hobson
Captain William Hobson (26 September 1792 – 10 September 1842) was an Anglo-Irish officer in the British Royal Navy, who served as the first Governor of New Zealand. He was a co-author of the Treaty of Waitangi.
Hobson was dispatched f ...
, for the new capital
Capital and its variations may refer to:
Common uses
* Capital city, a municipality of primary status
** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital
** List of national capitals
* Capital letter, an upper-case letter
Econom ...
, which Hobson named for George Eden, Earl of Auckland, then Viceroy of India
The governor-general of India (1833 to 1950, from 1858 to 1947 the viceroy and governor-general of India, commonly shortened to viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom in their capacity as the Emperor of ...
. Auckland was founded on 18 September 1840 and was officially declared New Zealand's capital in 1841, and the transfer of the administration from Russell (now Old Russell) in the Bay of Islands was completed in 1842. However, even in 1840 Port Nicholson
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manche ...
(later renamed Wellington
Wellington 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 third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...
) was seen as a better choice for an administrative capital because of its proximity to the South Island
The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...
, and Wellington became the capital in 1865. After losing its status as capital, Auckland remained the principal city of the Auckland Province
The Auckland Province was a province of New Zealand from 1853 until the abolition of provincial government in 1876.
Area
The province covered roughly half of the North Island of New Zealand. It was the largest of the six initial provinces, bo ...
until the provincial system was abolished in 1876.
In response to the ongoing rebellion by Hōne Heke
Hōne Wiremu Heke Pōkai ( 1807 – 7 August 1850), born Heke Pōkai and later often referred to as Hōne Heke, was a highly influential Māori rangatira (chief) of the Ngāpuhi iwi (tribe) and a war leader in northern New Zealand; he was ...
in the mid-1840s, the government encouraged retired but fit British soldiers and their families to migrate to Auckland to form a defence line around the port settlement as garrison soldiers. By the time the first Fencibles
The Fencibles (from the word ''defencible'') were British regiments raised in the United Kingdom, Isle of Man and in the colonies for defence against the threat of invasion during the Seven Years' War, the American War of Independence, the Fren ...
arrived in 1848, the Northern War had concluded. Outlying defensive towns were then constructed to the south, stretching in a line from the port village of Onehunga
Onehunga is a suburb of Auckland in New Zealand and the location of the Port of Onehunga, the city's small port on the Manukau Harbour. It is south of the city centre, close to the volcanic cone of Maungakiekie / One Tree Hill.
Onehunga is ...
in the west to Howick in the east. Each of the four settlements had about 800 settlers; the men were fully armed in case of emergency, but spent nearly all their time breaking in the land and establishing roads.
In the early 1860s, Auckland became a base against the Māori King Movement
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 Co ...
, and the 12,000 Imperial soldiers stationed there gave a strong boost to local commerce. This, and continued road building towards the south into the Waikato
The Waikato () is a region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipā District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsula, the nort ...
region, enabled Pākehā
''Pākehā'' (or ''Pakeha''; ; ) is a Māori language, Māori-language word used in English, particularly in New Zealand. It generally means a non-Polynesians, Polynesian New Zealanders, New Zealander or more specifically a European New Zeala ...
(European New Zealanders) influence to spread from Auckland. The city's population grew fairly rapidly, from 1,500 in 1841 to 3,635 in 1845, then to 12,423 by 1864. The growth occurred similarly to other mercantile
Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market.
Traders generally negotiate through a medium of cred ...
-dominated cities, mainly around the port and with problems of overcrowding and pollution. Auckland's population of ex-soldiers was far greater than that of other settlements: about 50 per cent of the population was Irish, which contrasted heavily with the majority English settlers in Wellington, Christchurch
Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...
or New Plymouth
New Plymouth () is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, in Devon, from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. The New Pl ...
. The majority of settlers in the early period were assisted by receiving cheap passage to New Zealand.
Modern history
Trams and railway lines shaped Auckland's rapid expansion in the early first half of the 20th century. However, after the Second World War, the city's transport system and urban form became increasingly dominated by the motor vehicle. Arterial roads and motorways became both defining and geographically dividing features of the urban landscape. They also allowed further massive expansion that resulted in the growth of suburban areas such as the North Shore (especially after the construction of the Auckland Harbour Bridge
The Auckland Harbour Bridge is an eight-lane motorway bridge over Waitematā Harbour in Auckland, New Zealand. It joins Saint Marys Bay, New Zealand, St Marys Bay on the Auckland city side with Northcote, Auckland, Northcote on the North Shore, ...
in the late 1950s), and Manukau City
Manukau City was a territorial authority district in Auckland, New Zealand, that was governed by the Manukau City Council. The area is also referred to as "South Auckland", although this term never possessed official recognition and does not ...
in the south.
Economic deregulation in the mid-1980s led to very dramatic changes to Auckland's economy, and many companies relocated their head offices from Wellington to Auckland. The region was now the nerve centre of the entire national economy. Auckland also benefited from a surge in tourism, which brought 75 per cent of New Zealand's international visitors through its airport. Auckland's port handled 31 per cent of the country's container trade in 2015.
The face of urban Auckland changed when the government's immigration policy began allowing immigrants from Asia in 1986. This has led to Auckland becoming a multicultural city, with people of all ethnic backgrounds. According to the 1961 census data, Māori and Pacific Islanders comprised 5 per cent of Auckland's population; Asians less than 1 per cent. The city became home to the world's largest Polynesian population by the 1990s. By 2006, the Asian population had reached 18.0 per cent in Auckland, and 36.2 per cent in the central city. New arrivals from Hong Kong, Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
and Korea
Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...
gave a distinctive character to the areas where they clustered, while a range of other immigrants introduced mosques, Hindu
Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...
temples, Buddhist
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
temples, halal
''Halal'' (; ) is an Arabic word that translates to in English. Although the term ''halal'' is often associated with Islamic dietary laws, particularly meat that is slaughtered according to Islamic guidelines, it also governs ethical practices ...
and kosher
(also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, ), from the Ashke ...
butchers and ethnic restaurants to the suburbs.
Geography
Scope
The boundaries of Auckland are imprecisely defined. The Aucklandurban area
An urban area is a human settlement with a high population density and an infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas originate through urbanization, and researchers categorize them as cities, towns, conurbations or suburbs. In urbani ...
, as it is defined by Statistics New Zealand
Statistics New Zealand (), branded as Stats NZ, is the public service department of New Zealand charged with the collection of statistics related to the economy, population and society of New Zealand. To this end, Stats NZ produces New Zealand c ...
under the ''Statistical Standard for Geographic Areas 2018'' (SSGA18), spans and extends to Long Bay in the north, Swanson
Swanson is a brand of TV dinners, broths, and canned poultry made for the North American and Hong Kong markets. The former Swanson Company was founded in Omaha, Nebraska, where it developed improvements of the frozen dinner. The TV dinner busi ...
in the north-west, and Runciman in the south. Auckland's functional urban area
The functional urban area (FUA), previously known as larger urban zone (LUZ), is a measure of the population and expanse of metropolitan and surrounding areas which may or may not be exclusively urban. It consists of a city and its commuting zo ...
(commuting zone) extends from just south of Warkworth in the north to Meremere
Meremere is a small town in the northern Waikato region in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located on the east bank of the Waikato River, 50 kilometres north of Hamilton and 63 km south of Auckland.
Meremere was the site of fighting ...
in the south, incorporating the Hibiscus Coast
The Hibiscus Coast is a populated area on a stretch of the Hauraki Gulf coast in New Zealand's Auckland Region. It has a population of making it the List of New Zealand urban areas by population, 10th most populous urban area in New Zealand, ...
in the northeast, Helensville
Helensville () is a town in the North Island of New Zealand. It is sited northwest of Auckland, close to the southern extremity of the Kaipara Harbour. State Highway 16 passes through the town, connecting it to Waimauku to the south, and Ka ...
, Parakai
Parakai is a town in the North Island of New Zealand, sited northwest of Auckland, close to the southern extremity of the Kaipara Harbour. Helensville is about to the south-east, and Waioneke is to the north-west.
The surrounding area, par ...
, Muriwai
Muriwai, also called Muriwai Beach, is a coastal community on the west coast of the Auckland Region in the North Island of New Zealand. The black-sand surf beach and surrounding area is a popular recreational area for Aucklanders. The Muriwai ...
, Waimauku
Waimauku is a small locality in the Auckland Region of New Zealand. It comes under the jurisdiction of Auckland Council, and is in the council's Rodney ward. Waimauku is approximately 4 kilometres west of Huapai on State Highway 16 at the junc ...
, Kumeū
Kumeū is a town in the Auckland Region, situated north-west of the Auckland CBD, City Centre in New Zealand. New Zealand State Highway 16, State Highway 16 and the North Auckland Line pass through the town. Huapai lies to the west, Riverhead, N ...
-Huapai
Huapai is a locality north-west of Auckland, New Zealand. New Zealand State Highway 16, State Highway 16 and the North Auckland Line, North Auckland Railway Line pass through it. Kumeū is adjacent to the east, Riverhead, New Zealand, Riverhead ...
, and Riverhead in the northwest, Beachlands-Pine Harbour and Maraetai
Maraetai is a coastal town to the east of Auckland in New Zealand, on the Pōhutukawa Coast. Part of the traditional rohe of Ngāi Tai Ki Tāmaki, the area developed into a coastal holiday community in the early 20th Century.
Geography
Maraet ...
in the east, and Pukekohe
Pukekohe is a town in the Auckland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. The town is located at the southern edge of the Auckland Region, between the southern shore of the Manukau Harbour and the mouth of the Waikato River. The hills of Puke ...
, Clarks Beach
Clarks Beach is a small town of Auckland, New Zealand. It is in the former Franklin District local government area.
Primarily a beachside rural town, situated within the Manukau Harbour, at the mouth of the Waiuku River, it fronts the harbour a ...
, Patumāhoe, Waiuku
Waiuku is a rural town in the Auckland Region of New Zealand. It is located at the southern end of the Waiuku River, which is an estuary, estuarial arm of the Manukau Harbour, and lies on the isthmus of the Āwhitu Peninsula, which extends to th ...
, Tuakau
Tuakau () is a town in the Waikato region at the foot of the Bombay Hills, formerly part of the Franklin District until 2010, when it became part of Waikato District in the North Island of New Zealand. The town serves to support local farming, ...
and Pōkeno
Pōkeno is a small town in the Waikato District of the Waikato region in New Zealand, southeast of Auckland, from Tuakau and from Mercer, New Zealand, Mercer. State Highway 1 (New Zealand), State Highway 1 originally ran through the town, but ...
(the latter two in the Waikato region) in the south. Auckland forms New Zealand's largest urban area.
The Auckland urban area lies within the Auckland Region
Auckland () is one of the 16 regions of New Zealand, which takes its name from the eponymous urban areas of New Zealand, urban area. The region encompasses the Auckland, Auckland metropolitan area, smaller towns, rural areas, and the islands o ...
, an administrative region that takes its name from the city. The region encompasses the city centre, as well as suburbs, surrounding towns, nearshore islands, and rural areas north and south of the urban area.
The Auckland central business district is the most built-up area of the region. The CBD covers in a triangular area, and is bounded by the Auckland waterfront
The Auckland waterfront (rarely the Auckland harbourfront) is a city-side stretch of the southern Waitematā Harbour coastline in Auckland, New Zealand. Previously mostly dominated by Ports of Auckland uses, from the 2000s on it is becoming i ...
on the Waitematā Harbour and the inner-city suburbs of Ponsonby, Newton
Newton most commonly refers to:
* Isaac Newton (1642–1726/1727), English scientist
* Newton (unit), SI unit of force named after Isaac Newton
Newton may also refer to:
People
* Newton (surname), including a list of people with the surname
* ...
and Parnell.
Harbours and gulf
The central areas of the city are located on the Auckland isthmus
The Auckland isthmus, also known as the Tāmaki isthmus, is a narrow stretch of land on the North Island of New Zealand in the Auckland Region, and the location of the central suburbs of the city of Auckland and the central business district. ...
, less than two kilometres wide at its narrowest point, between Māngere Inlet
Mangere Inlet is an arm of the Manukau Harbour, the southwestern of the two harbours of Auckland, New Zealand and itself an arm of the Tasman Sea. The inlet lies between the Auckland isthmus and South Auckland, and has a size of 6.6 km2 a ...
and the Tāmaki River
The Tāmaki River or Tāmaki Estuary is mostly an estuarial arm and harbour of the Hauraki Gulf, within the city of Auckland in New Zealand.
. There are two harbours surrounding this isthmus: Waitematā Harbour
The Waitematā Harbour is the main access by sea to Auckland, New Zealand. The harbour forms the northern and eastern coasts of the Auckland isthmus and is crossed by the Auckland Harbour Bridge. It is matched on the southern side of the city ...
to the north, which extends east to the Hauraki Gulf
The Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana is a coastal feature of the North Island of New Zealand. It has an area of 4000 km2,Manukau Harbour
The Manukau Harbour is the second largest natural harbour in New Zealand by area. It is located to the southwest of the Auckland isthmus, and opens out into the Tasman Sea.
Geography
The harbour mouth is between the northern head ("Burnett ...
to the south, which opens west to the Tasman Sea
The Tasman Sea 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 Abel Janszoon Tasman, who in 1642 wa ...
.
Bridges span parts of both harbours, notably the Auckland Harbour Bridge
The Auckland Harbour Bridge is an eight-lane motorway bridge over Waitematā Harbour in Auckland, New Zealand. It joins Saint Marys Bay, New Zealand, St Marys Bay on the Auckland city side with Northcote, Auckland, Northcote on the North Shore, ...
crossing the Waitematā Harbour west of the central business district. The Māngere Bridge (bridges), Māngere Bridge and the Upper Harbour Bridge
The Upper Harbour Bridge (also called the Greenhithe Bridge) is a motorway bridge in west Auckland, New Zealand. It is technically two bridges, spanning the Upper Waitematā Harbour, and connecting Hobsonville (in West Auckland) and Gree ...
span the upper reaches of the Manukau and Waitematā Harbours, respectively. In earlier times, portage
Portage or portaging ( CA: ; ) is the practice of carrying water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. A path where items are regularly carried between bodies of water is also called a '' ...
s crossed the narrowest sections of the isthmus.
Several islands of the Hauraki Gulf are administered as part of the Auckland Region, though they are not part of the Auckland urban area. Parts of Waiheke Island
Waiheke Island is the second-largest island (after Great Barrier Island) in the Hauraki Gulf of New Zealand. Its ferry terminal in Matiatia Bay at the western end is from the central-city terminal in Auckland.
It is the most populated island ...
effectively function as Auckland suburbs, while various smaller islands near Auckland are mostly zoned 'recreational open space' or are nature sanctuaries.
Climate
Under theKöppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...
, Auckland has an oceanic climate
An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...
(Köppen climate classification ''Cfb''). However, under the Trewartha climate classification
The Trewartha climate classification (TCC), or the Köppen–Trewartha climate classification (KTC), is a climate classification system first published by American geographer Glenn Thomas Trewartha in 1966. It is a modified version of the Köp ...
and according to the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research
The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research or NIWA (), is a Crown Research Institute of New Zealand. Established in 1992, NIWA conducts research across a broad range of disciplines in the environmental sciences. It also maintai ...
(NIWA), the city's climate is classified as humid subtropical climate
A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...
with warm summers and mild winters (Trewartha climate classification ''Cfbl''). It is the warmest main centre of New Zealand. The average daily maximum temperature is in February and in July. The maximum recorded temperature is on 12 February 2009, while the minimum is recorded at Riverhead Forest in June 1936.
Snowfall
Snow consists of individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes.
It consists of frozen crystalline water througho ...
is extremely rare: the most significant fall since the start of the 20th century was on 27 July 1939, when snow fell just before dawn and of snow reportedly lay on Mount Eden
Mount Eden is a suburb in Auckland, New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Z ...
. Snowflakes were also seen on 28 July 1930 and 15 August 2011.
Frost
Frost is a thin layer of ice on a solid surface, which forms from water vapor that deposits onto a freezing surface. Frost forms when the air contains more water vapor than it can normally hold at a specific temperature. The process is simila ...
s in Auckland are infrequent and often localised. Henderson Riverpark receives an annual average of 27.4 ground frost
Ground frost refers to the various coverings of ice produced by the direct deposition of water vapor on objects and trees, whose surfaces have a temperature below the freezing point of water (0 °C, 32 °F).
Types
The three main typ ...
s per year, while Auckland Airport receives an annual average of 8.7 ground frosts per year.
Average sea temperature
Sea surface temperature (or ocean surface temperature) is the temperature of ocean water close to the surface. The exact meaning of ''surface'' varies in the literature and in practice. It is usually between and below the sea surface. Sea surf ...
around Auckland varies throughout the year. The water temperature is warmest in February when it averages , while in August, the water temperature is at its coolest, averaging .
Prevailing winds
In meteorology, prevailing wind in a region of the Earth's surface is a surface wind that blows predominantly from a particular Wind direction, direction. The dominant winds are the trends in direction of wind with the highest speed over a partic ...
in Auckland are predominantly from the southwest. The mean annual wind speed for Auckland Airport is . During the summer months there is often a sea breeze
A sea breeze or onshore breeze is a wind that blows in the afternoon from a large body of water toward or onto a landmass. By contrast, a land breeze or offshore breeze is a wind that blows in the night from a landmass toward or onto a large ...
in Auckland which starts in the morning and dies down again in the evening. The early morning calm on the isthmus during settled weather, before the sea breeze rises, was described as early as 1853: "In all seasons, the beauty of the day is in the early morning. At that time, generally, a solemn stillness holds, and a perfect calm prevails...".''Auckland, the Capital of New Zealand'' – Swainson, William, Smith Elder, 1853
Fog
Fog is a visible aerosol consisting of tiny water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. Reprint from Fog can be considered a type of low-lying cloud usually resembling stratus and is heavily influenc ...
is a common occurrence for Auckland, especially in autumn and winter. Whenuapai Airport experiences an average of 44 fog days per year.
Auckland occasionally suffers from air pollution due to fine particle
Particulate matter (PM) or particulates are microscopic particles of solid or liquid matter suspended in the air. An ''aerosol'' is a mixture of particulates and air, as opposed to the particulate matter alone, though it is sometimes defined ...
emissions. There are also occasional breaches of guideline levels of carbon monoxide
Carbon monoxide (chemical formula CO) is a poisonous, flammable gas that is colorless, odorless, tasteless, and slightly less dense than air. Carbon monoxide consists of one carbon atom and one oxygen atom connected by a triple bond. It is the si ...
. While maritime winds normally disperse the pollution relatively quickly it can sometimes become visible as smog, especially on calm winter days.
Volcanoes
The city of Auckland straddles theAuckland Volcanic Field
The Auckland volcanic field is an area of monogenetic volcanoes covered by much of the metropolitan area of Auckland, New Zealand's largest city, located in the North Island. The approximately 53 volcanoes in the field have produced a divers ...
, an area which in the past, produced at least 53 small volcanic
A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface.
On Earth, volcanoes are most often fo ...
centres over the last ~193,000 years, represented by a range of surface features including maars
A maar is a broad, low-relief volcanic crater caused by a phreatomagmatic eruption (an explosion which occurs when groundwater comes into contact with hot lava or magma). A maar characteristically fills with water to form a relatively shallow ...
(explosion craters), tuff ring
Phreatomagmatic eruptions are volcanic eruptions resulting from interaction between magma and water. They differ from exclusively magmatic eruptions and phreatic eruptions. Unlike phreatic eruptions, the products of phreatomagmatic eruptions cont ...
s, scoria
Scoria or cinder is a pyroclastic, highly vesicular, dark-colored volcanic rock formed by ejection from a volcano as a molten blob and cooled in the air to form discrete grains called clasts.Neuendorf, K.K.E., J.P. Mehl, Jr., and J.A. Jackso ...
cones, and lava
Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a Natural satellite, moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a Fissure vent, fractu ...
flows. It is fed entirely by basaltic
Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron ( mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90% ...
magma
Magma () is the molten or semi-molten natural material from which all igneous rocks are formed. Magma (sometimes colloquially but incorrectly referred to as ''lava'') is found beneath the surface of the Earth, and evidence of magmatism has also ...
sourced from the mantle at a depth of 70–90 km below the city, and is unrelated to the explosive, subduction
Subduction is a geological process in which the oceanic lithosphere and some continental lithosphere is recycled into the Earth's mantle at the convergent boundaries between tectonic plates. Where one tectonic plate converges with a second p ...
-driven volcanism of the Taupō Volcanic Zone
The Taupō Volcanic Zone (TVZ) is a volcano, volcanic area in the North Island of New Zealand. It has been active for at least the past two million years and is still highly active.
Mount Ruapehu marks its south-western end and the zone runs n ...
in the Central North Island region of Aotearoa, New Zealand, ~250 km away. The Auckland Volcanic Field is considered to be a monogenetic volcanic field
A monogenetic volcanic field is a type of volcanic field consisting of a group of small monogenetic volcanoes, each of which erupts only once, as opposed to polygenetic volcanoes, which erupt repeatedly over a period of time. The small monogenetic ...
, with each volcano erupting only a single time, usually over a timeframe of weeks to years before cessation of activity. Future eruptive activity remains a threat to the city, and will likely occur at a new, unknown location within the field. The most recent activity occurred approximately 1450 AD at the Rangitoto Volcano. This event was witnessed 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 Co ...
occupants of the area, making it the only eruption within the Auckland Volcanic Field thus far to have been observed by humans.
The Auckland Volcanic Field has contributed greatly to the growth and prosperity of the Auckland Region since the area was settled by humans. Initially, the maunga (scoria cones) were occupied and established as pā
The word pā (; often spelled pa in English) can refer to any Māori people, Māori village or defensive settlement, but often refers to hillforts – fortified settlements with palisades and defensive :wikt:terrace, terraces – and also to fo ...
(fortified settlements) by Māori due to the strategic advantage their elevation provided in controlling resources and key portages between the Waitematā and Manukau
Manukau (), or Manukau Central, is a suburb of South Auckland, New Zealand, centred on the Manukau City Centre business district. It is located 23 kilometres south of the Auckland Central Business District, west of the Southern Motorway, ...
harbours. The rich volcanic soils found in these areas also proved ideal for the cultivation of crops, such as kūmara
The sweet potato or sweetpotato (''Ipomoea batatas'') is a dicotyledonous plant in the morning glory family, Convolvulaceae. Its sizeable, starchy, sweet-tasting tuberous roots are used as a root vegetable, which is a staple food in parts of the ...
. Following European arrival, many of the maunga were transformed into quarries to supply the growing city with aggregate and building materials, and as a result were severely damaged or entirely destroyed. A number of the smaller maar craters and tuff rings were also removed during earthworks. Most of the remaining volcanic centres are now preserved within recreational reserves administered by Auckland Council
Auckland Council () is the local government council for the Auckland Region in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority that also has the responsibilities, duties and powers of a regional council and so is a unitary authority, according to t ...
, the Department of Conservation
Department may refer to:
* Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility
Government and military
*Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
, and the Tūpuna Maunga o Tāmaki Makaurau Authority.
Demographics
The Auckland urban area, as defined by Statistics New Zealand, covers . The urban area has an estimated population of as of , percent of New Zealand's population. The city has a population larger than the entire South Island
The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...
().
The urban area had a population of 1,402,275 in the 2023 New Zealand census
The 2023 New Zealand census, which took place on 7 March 2023, was the thirty-fifth national census in New Zealand. It implemented measures that aimed to increase the Census' effectiveness in response to the issues faced with the 2018 census, i ...
, an increase of 56,442 people (4.2%) since the 2018 census, and an increase of 178,734 people (14.6%) since the 2013 census. There were 692,490 males, 704,607 females and 5,178 people of other genders in 454,239 dwellings. 4.9% of people identified as LGBTIQ+
LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The group is ...
. The median age was 35.1 years (compared with 38.1 years nationally). There were 270,384 people (19.3%) aged under 15 years, 307,065 (21.9%) aged 15 to 29, 651,645 (46.5%) aged 30 to 64, and 173,178 (12.3%) aged 65 or older.
Of those at least 15 years old, 290,814 (25.7%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, 464,022 (41.0%) had a post-high school certificate or diploma, and 298,851 (26.4%) people exclusively held high school qualifications. The median income was $44,600, compared with $41,500 nationally. 160,164 people (14.2%) earned over $100,000 compared to 12.1% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 605,601 (53.5%) people were employed full-time, 132,180 (11.7%) were part-time, and 39,441 (3.5%) were unemployed.
Culture and identity
Many ethnic groups, since the late 20th century, have had an increasing presence in Auckland, making it by far the country's most cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan may refer to:
Internationalism
* World citizen, one who eschews traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship
* Cosmopolitanism, the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community
* Cosmopolitan ...
city. Historically, Auckland's population has been of majority European
European, or Europeans, may refer to:
In general
* ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe
** Ethnic groups in Europe
** Demographics of Europe
** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other West ...
origin, though the proportion of those of Asian or other non-European origins has increased in recent decades due to the removal of restrictions directly or indirectly based on race. Europeans continue to make up the plurality of the city's population, but no longer constitute a majority after decreasing in proportion from 54.6% to 48.1% between the 2013 and 2018 censuses. Asians
"Asian people" (sometimes "Asiatic people")United States National Library of Medicine. Medical Subject Headings. 2004. November 17, 200Nlm.nih.gov: ''Asian Continental Ancestry Group'' is also used for categorical purposes. is an umbrella term ...
now form the second-largest ethnic group, making up nearly one-third of the population. Auckland is home to the largest ethnic Polynesia
Polynesia ( , ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of more than 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are called Polynesians. They have many things in ...
n population of any city in the world, with a sizeable population of Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
s ( Pasifika) and indigenous Māori people
Māori () are the Indigenous peoples of Oceania, indigenous Polynesians, Polynesian people of mainland New Zealand. Māori originated with settlers from East Polynesia, who arrived in New Zealand in several waves of Māori migration canoes, c ...
.
In the 2023 census, where people could identify as more than one ethnicity, the results were 44.0% European
European, or Europeans, may refer to:
In general
* ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe
** Ethnic groups in Europe
** Demographics of Europe
** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other West ...
(Pākehā
''Pākehā'' (or ''Pakeha''; ; ) is a Māori language, Māori-language word used in English, particularly in New Zealand. It generally means a non-Polynesians, Polynesian New Zealanders, New Zealander or more specifically a European New Zeala ...
); 12.2% 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 Co ...
; 18.7% Pasifika; 34.9% Asian; 2.9% Middle Eastern, Latin American and African New Zealanders (MELAA); and 1.7% other, which includes people giving their ethnicity as "New Zealander". English was spoken by 91.5%, Māori language by 2.7%, Samoan by 5.3% and other languages by 32.0%. No language could be spoken by 2.4% (e.g. too young to talk). New Zealand Sign Language
New Zealand Sign Language or NZSL () is the main language of the deaf community in New Zealand. It became an official language of New Zealand in April 2006 under the New Zealand Sign Language Act 2006. The purpose of the act was to create rights ...
was known by 0.4%. The percentage of people born overseas was 44.9, compared with 28.8% nationally.
At the 2023 census the Pasifika population formed the majority in the Māngere-Ōtāhuhu local board area and the plurality in the Ōtara-Papatoetoe and Manurewa
Manurewa is a suburb in South Auckland, New Zealand, located south of Manukau, Manukau Central, and southeast of the Auckland City Centre. It is home to the Auckland Botanic Gardens, which receives over a million visitors a year. Manurewa h ...
local board areas. The Asian population formed the majority in the Howick and Puketāpapa
Puketāpapa, also known as Pukewīwī and Mount Roskill, is a volcanic peak and Tūpuna Maunga (ancestral mountain) in Auckland, New Zealand. It is located in the suburb that shares its English name, Mount Roskill.
Description
The mountain ...
local board areas and the plurality in the Whau local board area. Europeans formed the plurality in the Henderson-Massey
Henderson-Massey Local Board is one of the 21 local boards of the Auckland Council, and is overseen by the council's Waitākere Ward councillors.
The board's administrative area includes the suburbs of Glendene, Henderson, Massey, Rānui ...
, Maungakiekie-Tāmaki
Maungakiekie-Tāmaki is a local government area in Auckland, in New Zealand's Auckland Region. It is governed by the Maungakiekie-Tāmaki Local Board and Auckland Council, and aligns with the council's Maungakiekie-Tāmaki Ward.
Geography
The ...
and Papakura
Papakura is a suburb of South Auckland, in northern New Zealand. It is located on the shores of the Pahurehure Inlet, approximately south of the Auckland CBD, Auckland City Centre. It is under the authority of the Auckland Council.
The ar ...
local board areas, and formed the majority in the remaining 11 local board areas. Māori did not form a majority or plurality in any local board area but are in the highest concentrations in the Manurewa and Papakura local board areas.
Immigration to New Zealand is heavily concentrated towards Auckland (partly for job market reasons). This strong focus on Auckland has led the immigration services to award extra points towards immigration visa requirements for people intending to move to other parts of New Zealand. Immigration from overseas into Auckland is partially offset by the net emigration of people from Auckland to other regions of New Zealand. In 2021 and 2022, Auckland recorded its only decreases in population, primarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
and the associated lack of international migration.
At the 2018 Census, in the local board areas of Upper Harbour, Waitematā, Puketāpapa and Howick, overseas-born residents outnumbered those born in New Zealand. The most common birthplaces of overseas-born residents were mainland China (6.2%), India (4.6%), England (4.4%), Fiji (2.9%), Samoa (2.5%), South Africa (2.4%), Philippines (2.0%), Australia (1.4%), South Korea (1.4%), and Tonga (1.3%). A study from 2016 showed Auckland has the fourth largest foreign-born
Foreign-born (also non-native) people are those born outside of their country of residence. Foreign born are often non-citizens, but many are naturalized citizens of the country in which they live, and others are citizens by descent, typically ...
population in the world, only behind Dubai
Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...
, Toronto and Brussels
Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
, with 39% of its residents born overseas.
Religion
Religious affiliations in the 2023 census were 35.7%Christian
A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
, 6.1% Hindu
Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...
, 3.3% Islam
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
, 0.9% Māori religious beliefs
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 Co ...
, 2.1% Buddhist
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
, 0.3% New Age
New Age is a range of Spirituality, spiritual or Religion, religious practices and beliefs that rapidly grew in Western world, Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclecticism, eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise d ...
, 0.2% Jewish
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
, and 2.8% other religions. People who answered that they had no religion were 42.7%, and 6.0% of people did not answer the census question.
Recent immigration from Asia has added to the religious diversity of the city, increasing the number of people affiliating with Buddhism
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
, Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...
, Islam
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
and Sikhism
Sikhism is an Indian religion and Indian philosophy, philosophy that originated in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent around the end of the 15th century CE. It is one of the most recently founded major religious groups, major religio ...
, although there are no figures on religious attendance. There is also a small, long-established Jewish community.
Future growth
Auckland is experiencing substantial population growth via immigration (two-thirds of growth) and natural population increases (one-third), and is set to grow to an estimated 1.9 million inhabitants by 2031Executive Summary(from the Auckland Regional Growth Strategy document, ARC, November 1999. Retrieved 14 October 2007.)Mapping Trends in the Auckland Region
Statistics New Zealand
Statistics New Zealand (), branded as Stats NZ, is the public service department of New Zealand charged with the collection of statistics related to the economy, population and society of New Zealand. To this end, Stats NZ produces New Zealand c ...
, 2010. Retrieved 2010) in a medium-variant scenario. This substantial increase in population will have a huge impact on transport, housing and other infrastructure that are, particularly in the case of housing, that are considered to be under pressure already. The high-variant scenario shows the region's population growing to over two million by 2031.
In July 2016, Auckland Council released, as the outcome of a three-year study and public hearings, its Unitary Plan for Auckland. The plan aims to free up to 30 percent more land for housing and allows for greater intensification of the existing urban area, creating 422,000 new dwellings in the next 30 years.
Government
Local
In 1851, Auckland was constituted as an independent borough, the first in the country. The borough was in size and went as far west as the Whau River
The Whau River () is an estuarial arm of the southwestern Waitemata Harbour (rather than a river) within the Auckland metropolitan area in New Zealand. It flows north for from its origin at the confluence of the Avondale Stream and Whau Stream ...
and as far east as Howick. The large boundary included 4,000 Europeans in the urban areas; 2,500 in the Fencible settlements; and 1,500 in the rural parts. An inability to collect rates and a divide between urban and rural interests led to the borough becoming defunct in 1852. In 1854, the Auckland Provincial Council
The Auckland Province was a Provinces of New Zealand, province of New Zealand from 1853 until the abolition of provincial government in 1876.
Area
The province covered roughly half of the North Island of New Zealand. It was the largest of the ...
established Auckland City under the Auckland City Council Act. This city had boundaries equivalent to the City of Auckland electorate. The legality of this city was challenged and it was later dissolved in March 1855 before finally being repealed by an act in April 1856. An Auckland Harbour Board
The Auckland Harbour Board was a public body that operated the ports of both Auckland and Onehunga from 1871 to 1988 and was dissolved in 1989. Its successor organisation is Ports of Auckland, which assumed the possessions and responsibilities o ...
was also established and repealed during the same period. In 1863, the Town of Auckland was incorporated within the same boundaries of the East Town, Middle Town, and West Town wards of the borough. On 24 April 1871, Auckland became a city under ''The Municipal Corporations Act, 1867''.
The Auckland Council is the local authority
Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state.
Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...
with jurisdiction over the city of Auckland, along with surrounding rural areas, parkland, and the islands of the Hauraki Gulf.
From 1989 to 2010, Auckland was governed by several city and district councils, with regional oversight by Auckland Regional Council
The Auckland Regional Council (ARC) was the regional council (one of the former local government authorities) of the Auckland Region. Its predecessor the Auckland Regional Authority (ARA) was formed in 1963 and became the ARC in 1989. The ARC ...
. In the late 2000s, New Zealand's central government and parts of Auckland's society felt that this large number of councils, and the lack of strong regional government (with the Auckland Regional Council having only limited powers), were hindering Auckland's progress.
A Royal Commission on Auckland Governance
The Royal Commission on Auckland Governance was established by the New Zealand Government to investigate the local government arrangements of Auckland.
The Labour Government of the time announced a Royal Commission into the governance of Auc ...
was set up in 2007; in 2009, it recommended a unified local governance structure for Auckland by amalgamating the councils. The government subsequently announced that a "super city" would be set up with a single mayor by the time of New Zealand's local body elections in 2010.
In October 2010, Manukau City
Manukau City was a territorial authority district in Auckland, New Zealand, that was governed by the Manukau City Council. The area is also referred to as "South Auckland", although this term never possessed official recognition and does not ...
mayor Len Brown
Leonard Charles Brown (born 1 October 1956)) is a former mayor of Auckland, New Zealand, and former head of the Auckland Council. He won the 2010 Auckland mayoral election on 9 October 2010 and was sworn in as Mayor of Auckland on 1 November 2 ...
was elected mayor of the amalgamated Auckland Council
Auckland Council () is the local government council for the Auckland Region in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority that also has the responsibilities, duties and powers of a regional council and so is a unitary authority, according to t ...
. He was re-elected for a second term in October 2013. Brown did not stand for re-election in the 2016 mayoral election, and was succeeded by successful candidate Phil Goff
Philip Bruce Goff (born 22 June 1953) is a New Zealand retired politician and former diplomat. He was a member of the New Zealand Parliament from 1981 to 1990 and again from 1993 to 2016. He served as Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party, le ...
in October 2016. Twenty councillors comprise the remainder of the Auckland Council governing body, elected from thirteen electoral wards.
National
Between 1842 and 1865, Auckland was the capital city of New Zealand. Parliament met in what is now Old Government House on the University of Auckland
The University of Auckland (; Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Initially loc ...
's City campus. The capital was moved to the more centrally located Wellington
Wellington 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 third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...
in 1865.
Auckland, due to its large population, is covered by 23 general electorates and three Māori electorates
In Politics of New Zealand, New Zealand politics, Māori electorates, colloquially known as the Māori seats (), are a special category of New Zealand electorates, electorate that give Reserved political positions, reserved positions to repre ...
, each returning one member to the New Zealand House of Representatives
The House of Representatives () is the Unicameral, sole chamber of the New Zealand Parliament. The House passes Law of New Zealand, laws, provides Ministers in the New Zealand Government, ministers to form the Cabinet of New Zealand, Cabinet, ...
. The National Party National Party or Nationalist Party may refer to:
Active parties
* National Party of Australia, commonly known as ''The Nationals''
* Bangladesh:
** Bangladesh Nationalist Party
** Jatiya Party (Ershad) a.k.a. ''National Party (Ershad)''
* Californ ...
holds 14 general electorates, the Labour Party six, ACT two and the Greens one. The three Māori electorates are held by Te Pāti Māori
(), also known as the Māori Party, is a left-wing political party in New Zealand advocating Māori people, Māori rights. With the exception of a handful of New Zealand electorates#Electorates in the 53rd Parliament, general electorates, co ...
.
Economy
In 1891, the three main items exported from Auckland's port were: kauri gum
Kauri gum is resin from kauri trees (''Agathis australis''), which historically had several important industrial uses. It can also be used to make crafts such as jewellery. Kauri forests once covered much of the North Island of New Zealand, bef ...
, gold, and wool. These exports were collectively worth almost a million pounds.
Auckland is the major economic and financial centre of New Zealand. It has an advanced market economy
A market economy is an economic system in which the decisions regarding investment, production, and distribution to the consumers are guided by the price signals created by the forces of supply and demand. The major characteristic of a mark ...
with strengths in finance, commerce, and tourism. Most major international corporations have an Auckland office; the most expensive office space is around lower Queen Street and the Viaduct Basin
Viaduct Harbour, formerly known as Viaduct Basin, is a former commercial harbour on the Auckland waterfront that has been turned into a development of mostly upscale apartments, office space and restaurants. It is located on the site of a form ...
in the Auckland CBD
The Auckland Central Business District (CBD), or Auckland city centre, is the geographical and economic heart of the Auckland, Auckland metropolitan area. It is the area in which Auckland was established in 1840, by William Hobson on land gifted ...
, where many financial and business services are located, which constitute a large percentage of the CBD economy.Auckland's CBD at a glance(CBD website of the
Auckland City Council
Auckland City Council was the local government authority for Auckland City, New Zealand, from 1989 to 1 November 2010, when it and Auckland's six other city and district councils were amalgamated to form the Auckland Council. It was an elec ...
) The largest commercial and industrial areas of the Auckland Region are Auckland CBD and the western parts of Manukau
Manukau (), or Manukau Central, is a suburb of South Auckland, New Zealand, centred on the Manukau City Centre business district. It is located 23 kilometres south of the Auckland Central Business District, west of the Southern Motorway, ...
, mostly bordering the Manukau Harbour
The Manukau Harbour is the second largest natural harbour in New Zealand by area. It is located to the southwest of the Auckland isthmus, and opens out into the Tasman Sea.
Geography
The harbour mouth is between the northern head ("Burnett ...
and the Tāmaki River
The Tāmaki River or Tāmaki Estuary is mostly an estuarial arm and harbour of the Hauraki Gulf, within the city of Auckland in New Zealand.
estuary.
Auckland is classified by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network
The Globalization and World Cities Research Network (GaWC) is a British think tank that studies the relationships between world cities in the context of globalization. It is based in the geography department of Loughborough University in Leic ...
as a Beta + World City
A global city (also known as a power city, world city, alpha city, or world center) is a city that serves as a primary node in the global economic network. The concept originates from geography and urban studies, based on the thesis that glo ...
because of its importance in commerce, the arts
The arts or creative arts are a vast range of human practices involving creative expression, storytelling, and cultural participation. The arts encompass diverse and plural modes of thought, deeds, and existence in an extensive range of m ...
, and education.
According to the 2013 census, the primary employment industries of Auckland residents are professional, scientific and technical services (11.4 percent), manufacturing (9.9 percent), retail trade (9.7 percent), health care and social assistance (9.1 percent), and education and training (8.3 percent). Manufacturing is the largest employer in the Henderson-Massey, Howick, Māngere-Ōtāhuhu, Ōtara-Papatoetoe, Manurewa and Papakura local board areas, retail trade is the largest employer in the Whau local board area, while professional, scientific and technical services are the largest employer in the remaining urban local board areas.
The sub-national GDP of the Auckland Region was estimated at NZ$143 billion in 2023, almost 40 percent of New Zealand's national GDP. The per-capita GDP of Auckland was estimated at $86,734, the second-highest in the country after the Wellington region, and above the national average of $75,311.
Architecture
Auckland has a diversity of architectural styles, resulting from its early beginnings as a settlement, theVictorian
Victorian or Victorians may refer to:
19th century
* Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign
** Victorian architecture
** Victorian house
** Victorian decorative arts
** Victorian fashion
** Victorian literatur ...
period, the 20th century and through to the contemporary era of the 21st century. Legislation is in effect to protect the remaining heritage, with the key piece being the Resource Management Act of 1991. Prepared under this legislation is the Auckland Unitary Plan, which indicates how land can be used or developed. Prominent historic buildings in Auckland include the Dilworth Building, the Auckland Ferry Terminal
The Auckland Ferry Terminal, also called the Downtown Ferry Terminal, is the hub of the Auckland ferry network, which connects the Auckland CBD with suburbs in North Shore, West Auckland, and South Auckland, and islands in the Hauraki Gulf. T ...
, Guardian Trust Building, Old Customs House, Landmark House, the Auckland Town Hall
The Auckland Town Hall is an Edwardian architecture, Edwardian building on Queen Street, Auckland, Queen Street in the Auckland CBD, New Zealand, known both for its original and ongoing use for administrative functions (such as Local authority, ...
and the Britomart Transport Centre
Britomart Station, officially Waitematā railway station, and formerly known as Britomart Transport Centre, is the public transport hub in the central business district of Auckland and the northern terminus of the North Island Main Trunk rai ...
– many of these are located on Queen Street, the main street.
Housing
Housing varies considerably, between suburbs that have state-owned housing in lower income neighbourhoods, to palatial waterfront estates, especially in areas close to theWaitematā Harbour
The Waitematā Harbour is the main access by sea to Auckland, New Zealand. The harbour forms the northern and eastern coasts of the Auckland isthmus and is crossed by the Auckland Harbour Bridge. It is matched on the southern side of the city ...
. Traditionally, the most common residence of Aucklanders was a standalone dwelling on a 'quarter acre
In Australian and New Zealand English, a quarter acre is a term for a suburban plot of land. Traditionally, Australians and New Zealanders aspired to own a 3- or 4-bedroom house or bungalow on a section of around a quarter of an acre (about 1,000 ...
' (1,000 m2). However, subdividing such properties with 'infill housing' has long been the norm. Auckland's housing stock has become more diverse in recent decades, with many more apartments being built since the 1970s, particularly since the 1990s in the CBD. Nevertheless, the majority of Aucklanders live in single dwelling housing and are expected to continue to do so, even with most of future urban growth being through intensification.
Auckland has been described as having "the most extensive range of timbered housing with its classical details and mouldings in the world", many of them built in the Victorian and Edwardian eras. In some areas, the Victorian villa
A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house that provided an escape from urban life. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the f ...
s have been torn down to make way for redevelopment. The demolition of the older houses is being combated through increased heritage protection for older parts of the city.
Auckland's housing is amongst the least affordable in the world, based on comparing average house prices with average household income levels and house prices have grown way well above the rate of inflation in recent decades. In August 2022, the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) reported the median house price in the Auckland Region was $1,100,000, ranging from $900,000 in the former Papakura District area to $1,285,000 in the former North Shore City area, This is compared to a median price of $700,000 outside of Auckland. There is significant public debate around why Auckland's housing is so expensive, often referring to a lack of land supply, the easy availability of credit for residential investment and Auckland's high level of liveability.
In the lead-up to 2010, a housing crisis began in Auckland, with the market not being able to sustain the demand for affordable homes. The Housing Accords and Special Housing Areas Act 2013 mandated that a minimum of 10 percent of new builds in certain housing areas be subsidised to make them affordable for buyers who had incomes on par with the national average. In a new subdivision at Hobsonville Point, 20 percent of new homes were reduced to below $550,000. Some of the demand for new housing at this time was attributed to the 43,000 people who moved into Auckland between June 2014 and June 2015. Research has found that Auckland is set to become even more densely populated in future which could ease the burden by creating higher density housing in the city centre. From around November 2021 to May 2022, house prices dropped 11.68%. It has continued to fall since due to inflation, bank interest rates, and a variety of other factors.
Culture and lifestyle
Positive aspects of Auckland life are its mild climate, plentiful employment and educational opportunities, as well as numerous leisure facilities. Meanwhile, traffic problems, the lack of good public transport, and increasing housing costs have been cited by many Aucklanders as among the strongest negative factors of living there,Central Transit Corridor Project(
Auckland City
Auckland City () was a territorial authority area with city status covering the central isthmus of the urban area of Auckland, New Zealand. It was governed by the Auckland City Council from 1989 to 2010, and as a territory within the wider Au ...
website, includes mention of effects of transport on public satisfaction) together with crime that has been rising in recent years. Nonetheless, Auckland ranked third in a survey of the quality of life of 215 major cities of the world (2015 data).Quality of Living global city rankings 2009(
Mercer Management Consulting
Oliver Wyman, LLC is an American management consulting firm. Founded in New York City in 1984 by former Booz Allen Hamilton partners Alex Oliver and Bill Wyman, the firm has more than 60 offices in Europe, North America, the Middle East, and A ...
. Retrieved 2 May 2009).
Leisure
One of Auckland's nicknames, the "City of Sails", is derived from the popularity of sailing in the region. 135,000yacht
A yacht () is a sail- or marine propulsion, motor-propelled watercraft made for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a ...
s and launches are registered in Auckland, and around 60,500 of the country's 149,900 registered yachtsmen are from Auckland, with about one in three Auckland households owning a boat. The Viaduct Basin
Viaduct Harbour, formerly known as Viaduct Basin, is a former commercial harbour on the Auckland waterfront that has been turned into a development of mostly upscale apartments, office space and restaurants. It is located on the site of a form ...
, on the western edge of the CBD, hosted three America's Cup
The America's Cup is a sailing competition and the oldest international competition still operating in any sport. America's Cup match races are held between two sailing yachts: one from the yacht club that currently holds the trophy (known ...
challenges ( 2000 Cup, 2003 Cup and 2021 Cup).
The Waitematā Harbour
The Waitematā Harbour is the main access by sea to Auckland, New Zealand. The harbour forms the northern and eastern coasts of the Auckland isthmus and is crossed by the Auckland Harbour Bridge. It is matched on the southern side of the city ...
is home to several notable yacht clubs and marinas, including the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron
The Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron is a New Zealand yacht club, and the club behind New Zealand's America's Cup campaigns, under the guises of New Zealand Challenge and Team New Zealand. It held the America's Cup from 1995 until 2003, beco ...
and Westhaven Marina
Westhaven Marina in Auckland, New Zealand, is the largest yacht marina in the Southern Hemisphere. The marina has nearly two thousand berths and swing moorings, and tends to be continually booked. Auckland, known as 'City of Sails', is gene ...
, the largest of the Southern Hemisphere. The Waitematā Harbour has several swimming beaches, including Mission Bay and Kohimarama
Kohimarama is a coastal residential Auckland suburb, located to the east of the city. Kohimarama is situated between Mission Bay and St Heliers and has an accessible beach with a boardwalk and green recreational spaces located amongst reside ...
on the south side of the harbour, and Stanley Bay on the north side. On the eastern coastline of the North Shore, where the Rangitoto Channel divides the inner Hauraki Gulf islands from the mainland, there are popular swimming beaches at Cheltenham and Narrow Neck in Devonport, Takapuna
Takapuna is a suburb located on the North Shore, New Zealand, North Shore of Auckland, New Zealand. The suburb is an isthmus between Shoal Bay, New Zealand, Shoal Bay, arm of the Waitematā Harbour, and the Hauraki Gulf. Lake Pupuke, a volca ...
, Milford Milford may refer to:
Place names Canada
* Milford (Annapolis), Nova Scotia
* Milford (Halifax), Nova Scotia
* Milford, Ontario
England
* Milford, Derbyshire
* Milford, Devon, a place in Devon
* Milford on Sea, Hampshire
* Milford, Shro ...
, and the various beaches further north in the area known as East Coast Bays.
The west coast has popular surf beaches such as Piha
Piha is a coastal settlement in West Auckland, on the western coast of the Auckland Region in New Zealand. It is one of the most popular beaches in the area and a major day-trip destination for Aucklanders throughout the year, and especially ...
, Muriwai
Muriwai, also called Muriwai Beach, is a coastal community on the west coast of the Auckland Region in the North Island of New Zealand. The black-sand surf beach and surrounding area is a popular recreational area for Aucklanders. The Muriwai ...
and Te Henga (Bethells Beach)
Te Henga, or Bethells Beach, is a coastal community in West Auckland, New Zealand. The Māori name for the area, "Te Henga", is in reference to the long foredunes which run along the beach and look like the or gunwale of an upturned waka hu ...
. The Whangaparāoa Peninsula
The Whangaparāoa Peninsula is a suburban area about 30–50 km north of Auckland, New Zealand. It had residents in It stretches from Red Beach, New Zealand, Red Beach, where it connects to Kingsway, Orewa and Silverdale, and exte ...
, Orewa
Orewa () is a settlement in the northern Auckland Region of New Zealand. It is a suburb of the Hibiscus Coast, just north of the base of the Whangaparāoa Peninsula and north of central Auckland. The Auckland Northern Motorway, Northern Motor ...
, Ōmaha
Ōmaha is a small beach town on Ōmaha Bay in the Auckland Region, in the north of New Zealand. It is located 74.7 km north of central Auckland. It is on a sandspit that adjoins Tāwharanui Peninsula and separates Whangateau Harbour from ...
and Pākiri
Pākiri is a locality in Auckland, in the former Rodney District of New Zealand. Leigh is about to the south-east. The Pākiri River flows through the area and into the Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana to the north-east.
The area is named for the ...
, to the north of the main urban area, are also nearby. Many Auckland beaches are patrolled by surf lifesaving
Surf lifesaving is a multifaceted social movement that comprises key aspects of voluntary lifeguard services and competitive surf sport. Originating in early 20th century Australia, the movement has expanded globally to other countries, in ...
clubs, such as Piha Surf Life Saving Club
Piha Surf Life Saving Club (sometimes called Piha Lifeguard Service) is a surf lifesaving club for the southern section of Piha, on the west coast of Auckland Region, Auckland, New Zealand, some 45 km from the Auckland central business dist ...
the home of Piha Rescue
''Piha Rescue'' is a New Zealand reality series following the daily actions of the Piha Surf Life Saving Club lifeguards on Piha surf beach, one of the country's most popular beaches. Piha is one of the many beaches located on the North Islan ...
. All surf lifesaving clubs are part of the Surf Life Saving Northern Region
Surf Life Saving Northern Region is the largest of four regions that make up Surf Life Saving New Zealand. As of the 2021/2022 season, it is made up of 18 clubs that look after 22 patrol locations from Ahipara to Raglan on the West Coast and fr ...
.
Shopping
Queen Street, Britomart, Ponsonby Road
Ponsonby () is an inner-city suburb of Auckland located 2 km west of the Auckland CBD. The suburb is oriented along a ridge running north–south, which is followed by the main street of the suburb, Ponsonby Road.
Ponsonby was originally ...
, Karangahape Road
Karangahape Road (commonly known as K' Road) is one of the main streets in the Auckland CBD, central business district (CBD) of Auckland, New Zealand. The massive expansion of motorways through the nearby inner city area – and subsequent flig ...
, Newmarket and Parnell are major retail areas. Major markets include those held in Ōtara
Ōtara is a suburb of South Auckland, New Zealand (formerly Manukau City), situated 18 kilometres to the southeast of the Auckland CBD, Auckland City Centre. Ōtara lies near the head of the Tāmaki River. The area is traditionally part of t ...
and Avondale on weekend mornings. A number of shopping centres are located in the middle- and outer-suburbs, with Westfield Newmarket, Sylvia Park, Botany Town Centre
Botany Town Centre is a large shopping mall and lifestyle centre located in Auckland, New Zealand. It has more than 200 stores spread across three complexes, including restaurants and entertainment buildings such as cinemas. It is situated at t ...
and Westfield Albany
Westfield Albany is a shopping centre in the Auckland suburb of Albany, New Zealand, opposite the Albany Lakes Civic Park. It is majority owned (51%) by Scentre Group with the remainder owned by the Singapore Government's GIC. Until 2014 it wa ...
being the largest.
Arts
A number of arts events are held in Auckland, including theAuckland Festival
Formerly known as Auckland Festival, Auckland Arts Festival or is an annual arts and cultural festival held in Auckland, New Zealand. The Festival features works from New Zealand, the Pacific, Asia and beyond, including world premieres of new wo ...
, the Auckland Triennial, the New Zealand International Comedy Festival
The New Zealand International Comedy Festival (NZICF; sometimes the NZ Intl Comedy Fest) is a comedy festival in both Auckland and Wellington, New Zealand. The festival is run by the New Zealand Comedy Trust, and is held across three weeks duri ...
, and the New Zealand International Film Festival
The New Zealand International Film Festival (NZIFF) () is a film festival held annually across New Zealand. The festival is operated by the New Zealand Film Festival Trust. It programmes international and New Zealand films.
History
The festiva ...
. The Auckland Philharmonia
The Auckland Philharmonia (formerly Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, APO) is a symphony orchestra based in Auckland, New Zealand. Its principal concert venue is the Auckland Town Hall, and it is also the accompanying ensemble for Auckland stage ...
is the city and region's resident full-time symphony orchestra, performing its own series of concerts and accompanying opera and ballet. Events celebrating the city's cultural diversity include the Pasifika Festival
The Pasifika Festival is a festival celebrating Pasifika New Zealanders and their pan-cultural identity, held annually in Western Springs Reserve, Auckland. Celebrated since 1993, it is the largest festival of its type in the world and attra ...
, Polyfest, and the Auckland Lantern Festival, all of which are the largest of their kind in New Zealand. Additionally, Auckland regularly hosts the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra
The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (NZSO) is a symphony orchestra based in Wellington, New Zealand. The national orchestra of New Zealand, the NZSO is an autonomous Crown entity owned by the New Zealand Government, per the New Zealand Symphony ...
and Royal New Zealand Ballet
The Royal New Zealand Ballet is a ballet company based in Wellington, New Zealand. It was originally known as The New Zealand Ballet Company.
History
New Zealand Ballet was established in 1953 as an independent charitable trust by Royal Danis ...
. Auckland is part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network
The UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) is a flagship city programme of UNESCO launched in 2004 to promote cooperation among cities which have recognized culture and creativity as strategic drivers of sustainable urban development
Urban means ...
in the category of music.
Important institutions include the Auckland Art Gallery
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki is the principal public gallery in Auckland, New Zealand. It has the most extensive collection of national and international art in New Zealand and frequently hosts travelling international exhibitions.
Set be ...
, Auckland War Memorial Museum
The Auckland War Memorial Museum (), also known as Auckland Museum, is one of New Zealand's most important museums and war memorials. Its neoclassical architecture, neoclassical building constructed in the 1920s and 1950s, stands on Observatory ...
, New Zealand Maritime Museum
The New Zealand Maritime Museum Hui Te Ananui A Tangaroa is a maritime museum in Auckland, New Zealand. It is located on Hobson Wharf, adjacent to the Viaduct Harbour in central Auckland. It houses exhibitions spanning New Zealand's maritime hist ...
, National Museum of the Royal New Zealand Navy, and the Museum of Transport and Technology
The Museum of Transport and Technology (MOTAT) is a transport and technology museum located in Western Springs, Auckland, New Zealand. It is located close to the Western Springs Stadium, Auckland Zoo and the Western Springs Park. The museum has ...
. The Auckland Art Gallery is the largest stand-alone gallery in New Zealand with a collection of over 17,000 artworks, including prominent New Zealand and Pacific Island artists, as well as international painting, sculpture and print collections ranging in date from 1376 to the present day.
In 2009, the Gallery was promised a gift of fifteen works of art by New York art collectors and philanthropists Julian and Josie Robertson – including well-known paintings by Paul Cézanne
Paul Cézanne ( , , ; ; ; 19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) was a French Post-Impressionism, Post-Impressionist painter whose work introduced new modes of representation, influenced avant-garde artistic movements of the early 20th century a ...
, Pablo Picasso
Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...
, Henri Matisse
Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual arts, visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, ...
, Paul Gauguin
Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (; ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramist, and writer, whose work has been primarily associated with the Post-Impressionist and Symbolist movements. He was also an influ ...
and Piet Mondrian
Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan (; 7 March 1872 – 1 February 1944), known after 1911 as Piet Mondrian (, , ), was a Dutch Painting, painter and Theory of art, art theoretician who is regarded as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. He w ...
. This is the largest gift ever made to an art museum in Australasia.
Other important art galleries include Mangere Arts Centre, Tautai Pacific Arts Trust, Te Tuhi
Te Tuhi, formerly known as Te Tuhi Centre for the Arts, Te Tuhi - The Mark, Te Tuhi Gallery and Pakuranga Arts Society is a public contemporary art gallery situated in Pakuranga, Auckland, New Zealand.
Managed by Te Tuhi Contemporary Art Trust a ...
, Te Uru Waitākere Contemporary Gallery
Te Uru Waitākere Contemporary Gallery (commonly known as Te Uru, formerly known as Lopdell House Gallery) is a contemporary art gallery located in Titirangi, Auckland. The gallery, which serves the West Auckland region, was originally opened wi ...
, Gow Langsford Gallery
Gow Langsford Gallery is a commercial art gallery in Auckland, New Zealand. The gallery was established in 1987 by John Gow and Gary Langsford. Gow Langsford represents many significant New Zealand and international artists, including Max Gim ...
, Michael Lett Gallery, Starkwhite, and Bergman Gallery
Bergman Gallery is an international commercial art gallery with an original gallery in Rarotonga, Cook Islands, and a second gallery in Auckland, New Zealand. Bergman Gallery represents and has represented many significant international artist ...
.
Parks and nature
Auckland Domain
The Auckland Domain, also known as Pukekawa / Auckland Domain, is a large park in Auckland, New Zealand. Consisting of of land, Auckland Domain is the oldest park in the city. Located in the central suburb of Grafton, New Zealand, Grafton, the ...
is one of the largest parks in the city. It is close to the Auckland CBD
The Auckland Central Business District (CBD), or Auckland city centre, is the geographical and economic heart of the Auckland, Auckland metropolitan area. It is the area in which Auckland was established in 1840, by William Hobson on land gifted ...
and has a good view of the Hauraki Gulf
The Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana is a coastal feature of the North Island of New Zealand. It has an area of 4000 km2,Rangitoto Island
Rangitoto Island is a volcanic island in the Hauraki Gulf near Auckland, New Zealand. The wide island is a symmetrical shield volcano cone capped by central scoria cones, reaching a height of . Rangitoto is the youngest and largest of the appr ...
. Smaller parks close to the city centre are Albert Park, Myers Park, Western Park and Victoria Park.
While most volcanic cones in the Auckland volcanic field
The Auckland volcanic field is an area of monogenetic volcanoes covered by much of the metropolitan area of Auckland, New Zealand's largest city, located in the North Island. The approximately 53 volcanoes in the field have produced a divers ...
have been affected by quarrying, many of the remaining cones are now within parks, and retain a more natural character than the surrounding city. Prehistoric earthworks and historic fortifications are in several of these parks, including Maungawhau / Mount Eden
Maungawhau / Mount Eden is a scoria cone and '' Tūpuna Maunga'' (ancestral mountain) in Mount Eden, Auckland, New Zealand. The cone is part of the Auckland volcanic field, the tallest located on the isthmus.
Geography
The cone is a dormant vol ...
, North Head and Maungakiekie / One Tree Hill
Maungakiekie / One Tree Hill is a volcano, volcanic peak and Tūpuna Maunga o Tāmaki Makaurau, Tūpuna Maunga (ancestral mountain) in Auckland, New Zealand. It is an important place culturally and archeologically for both Māori people, Māo ...
.
Other parks around the city are in Western Springs Reserve
Western Springs Reserve, also known as Western Springs Lakeside Te Wai Ōrea, consists of a sanctuary for wildlife, surrounding a lake fed by the natural springs. There are walking paths surrounding the lake with bridges going across sections of ...
, which has a large park bordering the MOTAT
The Museum of Transport and Technology (MOTAT) is a transport and technology museum located in Western Springs, Auckland, New Zealand. It is located close to the Western Springs Stadium, Auckland Zoo and the Western Springs Park. The museum ...
museum and the Auckland Zoo
Auckland Zoo () is a zoo, zoological garden in Auckland, New Zealand, situated next to Western Springs Park not far from Auckland's Auckland CBD, central business district. It is run by Auckland Council with the Zoological Society of Auckland as ...
. The Auckland Botanic Gardens
Auckland Botanic Gardens is a botanical garden in the New Zealand city of Auckland. It is located in the suburb of Manurewa, in the Manurewa (local board area), Manurewa Local Board Area. The garden covers , and holds more than 10,000 plants.Auc ...
are further south, in Manurewa
Manurewa is a suburb in South Auckland, New Zealand, located south of Manukau, Manukau Central, and southeast of the Auckland City Centre. It is home to the Auckland Botanic Gardens, which receives over a million visitors a year. Manurewa h ...
.
Ferries provide transport to parks and nature reserves at Devonport, Waiheke Island
Waiheke Island is the second-largest island (after Great Barrier Island) in the Hauraki Gulf of New Zealand. Its ferry terminal in Matiatia Bay at the western end is from the central-city terminal in Auckland.
It is the most populated island ...
, Rangitoto Island and Tiritiri Matangi. The Waitākere Ranges
The Waitākere Ranges is a mountain range in New Zealand. Located in West Auckland, New Zealand, West Auckland between metropolitan Auckland and the Tasman Sea, the ranges and its foothills and coasts comprise some of public and private land. ...
Regional Park to the west of Auckland has relatively unspoiled bush territory, as do the Hunua Ranges
The Hunua Ranges is a mountain range and regional park to the southeast of Auckland city, in the Auckland and Waikato regions of New Zealand's North Island. The ranges cover some and rise to 688 metres (2255 ft) at Kohukohunui.
to the south.
Transport
During the 19th century the main forms of transport to and from Auckland were ferries and trains, with horses being used for shorter distances and trips within the city. From 1902 electric trams provided transport for the central isthmus and resulted in residential expansion in the area. Following the First World War car ownership started to increase and concrete and bitumen roads were built to accommodate this.
The State Highway network connects the different parts of Auckland, with 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 numbered S ...
the major north–south thoroughfare through the city (including both the Northern
Northern may refer to the following:
Geography
* North
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating ...
and Southern Motorways) and the main connection to the adjoining regions of Northland and Waikato
The Waikato () is a region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipā District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsula, the nort ...
. The Northern Busway runs alongside part of the Northern Motorway on the North Shore. Other state highways within Auckland include State Highway 16 (the Northwest Motorway), State Highway 18 (the Upper Harbour Motorway) and State Highway 20 (the Southwest Motorway). State Highway 22 is a non-motorway rural arterial connecting Pukekohe
Pukekohe is a town in the Auckland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. The town is located at the southern edge of the Auckland Region, between the southern shore of the Manukau Harbour and the mouth of the Waikato River. The hills of Puke ...
to the Southern Motorway at Drury Drury may refer to:
Places
* Drury, New Zealand, a town
* Drury, a village near Buckley, Flintshire, Wales
* Drury, Kansas, United States, an unincorporated community
* Drury, a village in Florida, Massachusetts, United States
* Drury, Missouri, ...
.
The Auckland Harbour Bridge
The Auckland Harbour Bridge is an eight-lane motorway bridge over Waitematā Harbour in Auckland, New Zealand. It joins Saint Marys Bay, New Zealand, St Marys Bay on the Auckland city side with Northcote, Auckland, Northcote on the North Shore, ...
, opened in 1959, is the main connection between the North Shore and the rest of Auckland. The bridge provides eight lanes of vehicle traffic and has a moveable median barrier for lane flexibility, but does not provide access for rail, pedestrians or cyclists. The Central Motorway Junction
The Central Motorway Junction or CMJ (best known as Spaghetti Junction and rarely as Central Motorway Intersection or CMI), is the intersection of State Highways 1 and 16, just south of the central business district of Auckland. A multilevel ...
, also called 'Spaghetti Junction' for its complexity, is the intersection between the two major motorways of Auckland (State Highway 1 and State Highway 16).
Two of the longest arterial roads within the Auckland Region are Great North Road and Great South Road – the main connections in those directions before the construction of the State Highway network. Numerous arterial roads also provide regional and sub-regional connectivity, with many of these roads (especially on the isthmus) previously used to operate Auckland's former tram network.
Auckland has four railway lines (Western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
, Onehunga
Onehunga is a suburb of Auckland in New Zealand and the location of the Port of Onehunga, the city's small port on the Manukau Harbour. It is south of the city centre, close to the volcanic cone of Maungakiekie / One Tree Hill.
Onehunga is ...
, Eastern
Eastern or Easterns may refer to:
Transportation
Airlines
*China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai
* Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways
*Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 192 ...
and Southern). These lines serve the western, southern and eastern parts of Auckland from the Waitematā railway station
Britomart Station, officially Waitematā railway station, and formerly known as Britomart Transport Centre, is the public transport hub in the central business district of Auckland and the northern terminus of the North Island Main Trunk rai ...
in downtown Auckland, the terminal station for all lines, where connections are also available to ferry and bus services. Work began in late 2015 to provide more route flexibility and connect Britomart, now named Waitematā, more directly to the western suburbs on the Western Line via an underground rail tunnel known as the City Rail Link
The City Rail Link (CRL) is a rail project currently under construction in Auckland, New Zealand. The project consists of a double-track rail tunnel underneath Auckland's city centre, between Britomart and Maungawhau (Mount Eden) railway st ...
project. A plan for a light rail network was cancelled in 2024.
Auckland Airport
Auckland Airport is an international airport serving Auckland, the most populous city of New Zealand. It is the largest and busiest airport in the country, with over 18.7 million passengers served in the year ended December 2024. The airpor ...
, New Zealand's largest and busiest, is in the southern suburb of Māngere on the shores of the Manukau Harbour. It services both domestic and international flights. There are also several small regional airports.
Auckland's ports are the second largest in the country, behind the Port of Tauranga
The Port of Tauranga is situated in Tauranga, New Zealand. It is the largest port in the country both in terms of total cargo volume, and in terms of container throughput with container volumes exceeding 1.2 million TEUs (Twenty Foot Equiv ...
, and a large part of both inbound and outbound New Zealand commerce travels through them, mostly via the facilities northeast of Auckland CBD. Freight usually arrives at or is distributed from the port via road, though the port facilities also have rail access. Auckland is a major cruise ship stopover point, with the ships usually tying up at Princes Wharf. Auckland CBD is connected to the coastal suburbs, to the North Shore and to outlying islands by ferry.
Travel modes
Private vehicles are the main form of transportation within Auckland, with around seven percent of journeys in the Auckland Region undertaken by bus in 2006, and two percent undertaken by train and ferry. For trips to the city centre at peak times, the use of public transport is much higher, with more than half of trips undertaken by bus, train or ferry. In 2010, Auckland ranked quite low in its use of public transport, having only 46 public transport trips per capita per year, while Wellington has almost twice this number at 91, and Sydney has 114 trips. This strong dependence on roads results in substantialtraffic congestion
Traffic congestion is a condition in transport that is characterized by slower speeds, longer trip times, and increased vehicular queueing. Traffic congestion on urban road networks has increased substantially since the 1950s, resulting in m ...
during peak times. This car reliance means 56% of the city's energy usage goes towards transportation, and emissions will increase by 20% in the next 10 years.
Bus services in Auckland are mostly radial, with few cross-town routes. Late-night services (i.e. past midnight) are limited, even on weekends. A major overhaul of Auckland's bus services was implemented during 2016–18, significantly expanding the reach of frequent bus services: those that operate at least every 15 minutes during the day and early evening, every day of the week. Auckland is connected with other cities through bus services operated by InterCity
InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the train categories in Europe, classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to InterRegio, regional train, r ...
.
Rail services operate along four lines between the CBD and the west, south and south-east of Auckland, with longer-distance trains operating to Wellington only a few times each week. Following the opening of Waitematā railway station
Britomart Station, officially Waitematā railway station, and formerly known as Britomart Transport Centre, is the public transport hub in the central business district of Auckland and the northern terminus of the North Island Main Trunk rai ...
in 2003, major investment in Auckland's rail network occurred, involving station upgrades, rolling stock refurbishment and infrastructure improvements. The rail upgrade has included electrification of Auckland's rail network, with electric trains constructed by Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles
Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (Grupo CAF, ) is a Spanish publicly listed company which manufactures railway vehicles and equipment and buses through its Solaris Bus & Coach subsidiary. It is based in Beasain, Basque Autonomous Comm ...
commencing service in April 2014. A number of proposed projects to further extend Auckland's rail network were included in the 2012 Auckland Plan, including the City Rail Link
The City Rail Link (CRL) is a rail project currently under construction in Auckland, New Zealand. The project consists of a double-track rail tunnel underneath Auckland's city centre, between Britomart and Maungawhau (Mount Eden) railway st ...
, the Auckland Airport Line, the Avondale-Southdown Line and rail to the North Shore.
Research at Griffith University
Griffith University is a public university, public research university in South East Queensland on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of Australia. The university was founded in 1971, but was not officially opened until 1975. Griffith ...
has indicated that from the 1950s to the 1980s, Auckland engaged in some of the most pro-automobile transport policies anywhere in the world.Backtracking Auckland: Bureaucratic rationality and public preferences in transport planning
'' – Mees, Paul; Dodson, Jago; Urban Research Program Issues Paper 5,
Griffith University
Griffith University is a public university, public research university in South East Queensland on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of Australia. The university was founded in 1971, but was not officially opened until 1975. Griffith ...
, April 2006 With public transport declining heavily during the second half of the 20th century (a trend mirrored in most Western countries, such as the US), and increased spending on roads and cars, New Zealand (and specifically Auckland) now has the second-highest vehicle ownership rate in the world, with around 578 vehicles per 1000 people.Sustainable TransportNorth Shore City Council website Auckland has also been called a very pedestrian- and cyclist-unfriendly city, though some efforts are being made to change this,
Big steps to change City of Cars
'' – ''
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 in New Zealand, ...
'', Friday 24 October 2008 with Auckland being a major participant in the government's "Urban Cycleways" initiative, and with the "SkyPath" project for a walk and cycleway on the Auckland Harbour Bridge having received Council support, and planning consent.
Infrastructure and services
Electricity
Vector
Vector most often refers to:
* Euclidean vector, a quantity with a magnitude and a direction
* Disease vector, an agent that carries and transmits an infectious pathogen into another living organism
Vector may also refer to:
Mathematics a ...
owns and operates the majority of the distribution network in urban Auckland, with Counties Energy owning and operating the network south of central Papakura. The city is supplied from Transpower's national grid from thirteen substations across the city. There are no major electricity generation stations located within the city or north of Auckland, so almost all of the electricity for Auckland and Northland must be transmitted from power stations in the south, mainly from Huntly Power Station
The Huntly Power Station is the largest thermal power station in New Zealand and is located in the town of Huntly in the Waikato. It is operated by Genesis Energy Limited, a publicly listed company (currently 51% owned by the NZ Government). Th ...
and the Waikato River
The Waikato River is the longest river in New Zealand, running for through the North Island. It rises on the eastern slopes of Mount Ruapehu, joining the Tongariro River system and flowing through Lake Taupō, New Zealand's largest lake. It th ...
hydroelectric stations. The city had two natural gas-fired power stations (the 404 MW Ōtāhuhu B and the 175 MW Southdown), but both shut down in 2015.
There have been several notable power outages in Auckland. The five-week-long 1998 Auckland power crisis blacked out much of the CBD after a cascade failure occurred on the four main underground cables supplying the CBD. The 2006 Auckland Blackout interrupted supply to the CBD and many inner suburbs after an earth wire shackle at Transpower's Otāhuhu substation broke and short-circuited the lines supplying the inner city.
In 2009, much of the northern and western suburbs, as well as all of Northland, experienced a blackout when a forklift accidentally came into contact with the Ōtāhuhu to Henderson 220 kV line, the only major line supplying the region. Transpower spent $1.25 billion in the early 2010s reinforcing the supply into and across Auckland, including a 400 kV-capable transmission line from the Waikato River to Brownhill substation (operating initially at 220 kV), and 220 kV underground cables between Brownhill and Pakuranga, and between Pakuranga and Albany via the CBD. These reduced the Auckland Region's reliance on Ōtāhuhu substation and northern and western Auckland's reliance on the Ōtāhuhu to Henderson line.
Natural gas
Auckland 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 340 km long high-pressure pipeline from the field in Taranaki to the city was completed. Auckland was connected to theMaui gas field
The Maui natural gas field is the largest gas, natural gas condensate and oil field in New Zealand, producing nearly three-quarters of the country's hydrocarbons, as well as providing energy for electricity generation. It is located in the Tasma ...
in 1982 following the completion of a high-pressure pipeline from the Maui gas pipeline near Huntly
Huntly ( or ''Hunndaidh'') is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, formerly known as Milton of Strathbogie or simply Strathbogie. It had a population of 4,460 in 2004 and is the site of Huntly Castle. Its neighbouring settlements include Keith ...
, via the city, to Whangārei in Northland.
The high-pressure transmission pipelines supplying the city are now owned and operated by First Gas
First Gas Limited is a natural gas transmission and distribution company in New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Isl ...
, with Vector
Vector most often refers to:
* Euclidean vector, a quantity with a magnitude and a direction
* Disease vector, an agent that carries and transmits an infectious pathogen into another living organism
Vector may also refer to:
Mathematics a ...
owning and operating the medium and low-pressure distribution pipelines in the city.
Sport
Rugby union
Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...
, cricket
Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...
, rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...
, association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
(soccer) and netball
Netball is a ball sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of seven players. The primary objective is to shoot a ball through the defender's goal ring while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own. It is one of a ...
are widely played and followed.
There are three racecourses
A race track (racetrack, racing track or racing circuit) is a facility built for racing of vehicles, athletes, or animals (e.g. horse racing or greyhound racing). A race track also may feature grandstands or concourses. Race tracks are also us ...
within the city ( Ellerslie and Avondale for thoroughbred racing, and Alexandra Park for harness racing
Harness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait (a trot or a pace). They usually pull a two-wheeled cart called a sulky, spider, or chariot occupied by a driver. In Europe, and less frequently in Australia ...
). A fourth racecourse is located at Pukekohe
Pukekohe is a town in the Auckland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. The town is located at the southern edge of the Auckland Region, between the southern shore of the Manukau Harbour and the mouth of the Waikato River. The hills of Puke ...
, straddling the boundary between Auckland and the neighbouring Waikato
The Waikato () is a region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipā District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsula, the nort ...
region. Greyhound racing
Greyhound racing is an organized, competitive sport in which greyhounds are raced around an oval track. The sport originates from Hare coursing, coursing. Track racing uses an artificial lure (usually a form of windsock) that travels ahead of th ...
is held at Manukau Stadium.
Major sporting venues:
* Eden Park
Eden Park is a sports venue in Auckland, New Zealand. It is located three kilometres southwest of the Auckland CBD, on the boundary between the suburbs of Mount Eden and Kingsland. The main stadium has a nominal capacity of 50,000, and is s ...
is the city's primary stadium and a frequent home for international rugby union and cricket matches, in addition to 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 has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the S ...
matches where the Blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...
play their home games. It is also the home ground of Auckland
Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
in the Mitre 10 Cup
The mitre (Commonwealth English) or miter (American English; see spelling differences; both pronounced ; ) is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of bishops and certain abbots in traditional Christianity. Mi ...
, and Auckland
Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
in domestic cricket.
* Mt Smart Stadium
Mount Smart Stadium, currently known as Go Media Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in the suburb of Penrose, Auckland, New Zealand. It is the main home ground of the New Zealand Warriors of the National Rugby League a ...
is used mainly for rugby league and association football matches and is home to the New Zealand Warriors
The Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as the Aucklan ...
of the NRL
The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...
and Auckland FC
Auckland Football Club, commonly known as Auckland FC, is a professional football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the A-League Men, the top flight of Australian soccer. Established on 14 March 2024, the club is under lic ...
of the A-League
A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...
, and is also used for concerts, previously hosting the Auckland show of the annual Big Day Out
The Big Day Out (BDO) was an annual music festival that was held in five Australian cities: Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Queensland, Gold Coast, Adelaide, and Perth, as well as Auckland, New Zealand. The festival was held during summer, typi ...
music festival and the 1990 Commonwealth Games
The 1990 Commonwealth Games () were held in Auckland, New Zealand from 24 January – 3 February 1990. It was the 14th Commonwealth Games, and part of New Zealand's 1990 sesquicentennial celebrations. Participants competed in ten sports: at ...
.
* North Harbour Stadium
North Harbour Stadium is a stadium situated in Albany, in North Shore City, New Zealand. It was opened in 1997, after nearly a decade of discussion, planning and construction. Rugby union, association football, rugby league, and baseball are a ...
is mainly used for rugby union and football (soccer) matches, but is also used for concerts. It is the home ground for North Harbour North Harbour or North Harbor may refer to:
Canada
* North Harbour, St. Mary's Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador, a community on St. Mary's Bay
* North Harbour, Placentia Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador, a community on Placentia Bay
* North Harbour, ...
in the Mitre 10 Cup
The mitre (Commonwealth English) or miter (American English; see spelling differences; both pronounced ; ) is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of bishops and certain abbots in traditional Christianity. Mi ...
.
* ASB Tennis Centre
The Manuka Doctor Arena (formerly ASB Tennis Centre) is a tennis facility located in the Parnell, New Zealand, Parnell district of Auckland, New Zealand. The centre was opened on 18 November 1922 by the Auckland Lawn Tennis Association (now Ten ...
is Auckland's primary tennis venue, hosting international tournaments for men and women ( ASB Classic) in January each year. ASB Bank took over the sponsorship of the men's tournament from 2016, the event formerly being known as the Heineken Open.
* Spark Arena
Spark Arena (also known as Auckland City Arena, and formerly as Vector Arena) is a multipurpose arena in Auckland, New Zealand. The venue is located at Quay Park, Parnell, very close to Britomart Transport Centre and The Strand Station. The ...
, previously known as Vector Arena, is an indoor auditorium primarily used for concerts and is the home of the New Zealand Breakers
The New Zealand Breakers (also known as the Bank of New Zealand, BNZ Breakers for sponsorship reasons) are a New Zealand professional basketball team based in Auckland. The Breakers are the only non-Australian side currently competing in Austral ...
basketball team. It also hosts international netball.
* Trusts Arena is an indoor venue which primarily hosts netball matches, and is the home of the Northern Mystics
Northern Mystics are a New Zealand netball team based in Auckland. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship. Since 2017 they have represented Netball Northern in the ANZ Premiership. Netball Northern is the governing body t ...
of the ANZ Premiership
The ANZ Premiership is the top level netball league featuring teams from New Zealand. In 2017 it replaced the ANZ Championship, which also included teams from Australia, as the top level netball league in New Zealand. It is organised by Netbal ...
. It is also where the 2007 World Netball Championships
The 2007 World Netball Championships was the 12th edition of the INF Netball World Cup, a quadrennial premier event in international netball co-ordinated by the International Federation of Netball Associations (IFNA). Sixteen nations contested t ...
were held. Since 2015, an annual event on the World Series of Darts
The World Series of Darts is a series of darts tournaments organised by the Professional Darts Corporation.
Beginning in 2013, the World Series has comprised between two and seven tournaments across the world, where a mixture of the top-ranked P ...
has been held there.
* North Shore Events Centre
Eventfinda Stadium (known from 1992–2018 as the North Shore Events Centre) is an indoor arena located in Wairau Valley, on the North Shore of Auckland, New Zealand. The arena opened in 1992 and has a capacity of 4,179.
It was previously ...
is an indoor arena which is used for a variety of sporting events, as well as concerts and expos. It was formerly home to the New Zealand Breakers
The New Zealand Breakers (also known as the Bank of New Zealand, BNZ Breakers for sponsorship reasons) are a New Zealand professional basketball team based in Auckland. The Breakers are the only non-Australian side currently competing in Austral ...
and hosted much of the 2009 FIBA Under-19 World Championship
The 2009 FIBA Under-19 World Championship (Maori: 2009 FIBA I-Raro I Te 19 Tau Toa o Te Ao) was the 9th edition of the FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup, FIBA U19 World Championship, the biennial international men's youth basketball championship ...
.
* Vodafone Events Centre
Due Drop Events Centre (previously known as the Vodafone Events Centre and TelstraClear Pacific Events Centre) is a multi-purpose event centre located in Manukau, Auckland, New Zealand (suburb of the former Manukau City), with an indoor arena, ...
is an indoor arena which hosts a variety of events, and is the home of the Northern Stars
Northern Stars are a New Zealand netball team based in South Auckland. Since 2017 they have competed in the ANZ Premiership. The team was named after the Matariki star cluster which is also featured on the team's logo. They were grand finalist ...
netball team of the ANZ Premiership
The ANZ Premiership is the top level netball league featuring teams from New Zealand. In 2017 it replaced the ANZ Championship, which also included teams from Australia, as the top level netball league in New Zealand. It is organised by Netbal ...
.
* Pukekohe Park Raceway
Pukekohe Park Raceway was a former car racing track that was situated on the outside of the Pukekohe Park Thoroughbred Racetrack, located in the surrounds of Pukekohe.
The Raceway was opened in 1963 as a permanent track, replacing Ardmore Ae ...
is a thoroughbred horse-racing venue that used to host a leg of the V8 Supercars
The Supercars Championship, also known as the Repco Supercars Championship under sponsorship and historically as V8 Supercars, is a touring car racing category in Australia and New Zealand, running as an International Series under Fédération I ...
series annually, along with other motorsports events. The most important horse-racing meeting is held annually at the end of November, featuring the Group 2 Counties Cup and three other stakes races.
* Western Springs Stadium
Western Springs Stadium is a stadium in Auckland, New Zealand. Built within a natural amphitheatre, it is primarily used for rugby union matches during the winter and for speedway racing during the summer. It is also occasionally used for large ...
has since 1929 hosted speedway racing during the summer. It also hosts concerts, with many of New Zealand's largest-ever concerts having taken place at the stadium. It is also the home of Ponsonby RFC
Ponsonby District Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club based in Auckland, New Zealand. The club was established in 1874 and is affiliated with the Auckland Rugby Football Union. Ponsonby is the oldest extant member of the Auckland union, ...
.
Major teams based in Auckland who compete in national or transnational competitions are:
* Formerly Auckland Blues, the Blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...
compete in 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 has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the S ...
. Auckland is also home to three Mitre 10 Cup
The mitre (Commonwealth English) or miter (American English; see spelling differences; both pronounced ; ) is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of bishops and certain abbots in traditional Christianity. Mi ...
rugby union teams: Auckland
Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
, North Harbour North Harbour or North Harbor may refer to:
Canada
* North Harbour, St. Mary's Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador, a community on St. Mary's Bay
* North Harbour, Placentia Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador, a community on Placentia Bay
* North Harbour, ...
and Counties Manukau.
* Previously Auckland Warriors, the New Zealand Warriors
The Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as the Aucklan ...
are a team in Australia's National Rugby League
The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...
competition. They play their home games at Mt Smart Stadium. The Akarana Falcons and Counties Manukau compete in the National Competition.
* Auckland's men's first class cricket team, the Auckland Aces
The Auckland cricket team represent the Auckland region and are one of six New Zealand domestic first class cricket teams. Governed by the Auckland Cricket Association they are the most successful side having won 28 Plunket Shield titles, ten ...
, play their home matches at Eden Park, generally on the outer oval. The women's team, the Auckland Hearts
The Auckland Hearts is the women's representative cricket team for the New Zealand region of Auckland. They play their home games at Eden Park Outer Oval. They compete in the Hallyburton Johnstone Shield one-day competition and the Women's S ...
, play at Melville Park in Epsom
Epsom is a town in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain ...
.
* Auckland FC
Auckland Football Club, commonly known as Auckland FC, is a professional football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the A-League Men, the top flight of Australian soccer. Established on 14 March 2024, the club is under lic ...
are a professional football club that compete in the A-League Men
A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Association football, soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as ...
competition, and will join A-League Women
A-League Women (currently known as the Ninja A-League for sponsorship reasons), formerly the W-League, is the top-division women's soccer league in Australia. The W-League was established in 2008 by Football Australia (then known as Football Fe ...
in the 2025–26 season. The football club play their home games at Mt Smart Stadium
* Auckland City
Auckland City () was a territorial authority area with city status covering the central isthmus of the urban area of Auckland, New Zealand. It was governed by the Auckland City Council from 1989 to 2010, and as a territory within the wider Au ...
, Auckland United, and Eastern Suburbs are football teams play in the Northern League.
* Northern Mystics
Northern Mystics are a New Zealand netball team based in Auckland. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship. Since 2017 they have represented Netball Northern in the ANZ Premiership. Netball Northern is the governing body t ...
and Northern Stars
Northern Stars are a New Zealand netball team based in South Auckland. Since 2017 they have competed in the ANZ Premiership. The team was named after the Matariki star cluster which is also featured on the team's logo. They were grand finalist ...
are netball teams who compete in the ANZ Premiership
The ANZ Premiership is the top level netball league featuring teams from New Zealand. In 2017 it replaced the ANZ Championship, which also included teams from Australia, as the top level netball league in New Zealand. It is organised by Netbal ...
. The Mystics play their home games at Trusts Stadium
The Trusts Arena is an indoor arena located in Henderson, Auckland, New Zealand. It is a multi-purpose stadium that primarily holds sports events and music concerts. The Arena was opened by then Prime Minister of New Zealand Helen Clark on 11 ...
and the Stars at the Vodafone Events Centre
Due Drop Events Centre (previously known as the Vodafone Events Centre and TelstraClear Pacific Events Centre) is a multi-purpose event centre located in Manukau, Auckland, New Zealand (suburb of the former Manukau City), with an indoor arena, ...
.
* New Zealand Breakers
The New Zealand Breakers (also known as the Bank of New Zealand, BNZ Breakers for sponsorship reasons) are a New Zealand professional basketball team based in Auckland. The Breakers are the only non-Australian side currently competing in Austral ...
are a basketball team who compete in the Australian National Basketball League
The National Basketball League (NBL) is a men's professional basketball league in Australasia, currently composed of ten teams: nine in Australia and one in New Zealand. It is the premier professional men's basketball league in Australia and ...
and play their home games primarily at Spark Arena. The Auckland Tuatara Auckland Tuatara may refer to:
* Auckland Tuatara (baseball)
* Auckland Tuatara (basketball)
{{Disambiguation ...
and Franklin Bulls
The Franklin Bulls are a New Zealand professional basketball team based in Pukekohe. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball League (NBL), playing their home games at the Franklin Pool and Leisure Centre, known as the Stockyard.
Team hi ...
play in the New Zealand National Basketball League.
* Botany Swarm and West Auckland Admirals compete in the New Zealand Ice Hockey League
The New Zealand Ice Hockey League (NZIHL) is New Zealand's top-level ice hockey league. Established in 2005 by Guenther Birgel, the NZIHL is sanctioned by New Zealand Ice Hockey Federation (a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation). T ...
.
* Auckland Tuatara Auckland Tuatara may refer to:
* Auckland Tuatara (baseball)
* Auckland Tuatara (basketball)
{{Disambiguation ...
had previously competed in the Australian Baseball League
The Australian Baseball League (ABL) is a professional baseball league in Australia. The league is governed by the Australian Baseball Federation (ABF). It uses the same name as a now-defunct competition held during the 1990s, and though it s ...
.
Annual sporting events include:
* The ATP Auckland Open
The ATP Auckland Open, commonly known by its sponsored name ASB Classic, is a professional men's tennis tournament in Auckland, New Zealand. The tournament is played at the ASB Tennis Centre, in Parnell. It is part of the ATP World Tour 250 s ...
and the WTA Auckland Open
The WTA Auckland Open (currently sponsored by ASB Bank and called the ASB Classic) is a professional women's tennis tournament in Auckland, New Zealand. The tournament is played annually, in the first week of January, at the ASB Tennis Centre in ...
(both known for sponsorship reasons as the ASB Classic), are men's and women's tennis tournaments, respectively, which are held annually at the ASB Tennis Centre
The Manuka Doctor Arena (formerly ASB Tennis Centre) is a tennis facility located in the Parnell, New Zealand, Parnell district of Auckland, New Zealand. The centre was opened on 18 November 1922 by the Auckland Lawn Tennis Association (now Ten ...
in January. The men's tournament has been held since 1956, and the women's tournament since 1986.
* The Auckland Super400
The Auckland SuperSprint was an annual motor racing event for Supercars, held at Pukekohe Park Raceway in Pukekohe, New Zealand. The event was a regular part of the Supercars Championship—and its previous incarnations, the Shell Championship Se ...
(known for sponsorship reasons as the ITM Auckland Super 400) was a Supercars Championship
The Supercars Championship, also known as the Repco Supercars Championship under sponsorship and historically as V8 Supercars, is a touring car racing category in Australia and New Zealand, running as an International Series under Fédération I ...
race held at Pukekohe Park Raceway
Pukekohe Park Raceway was a former car racing track that was situated on the outside of the Pukekohe Park Thoroughbred Racetrack, located in the surrounds of Pukekohe.
The Raceway was opened in 1963 as a permanent track, replacing Ardmore Ae ...
. The race has been held intermittently since 1996
* The Auckland Marathon
The Barfoot & Thompson Auckland Marathon and Half Marathon is an annual running event held in Auckland, New Zealand. The event is held in October or early November of each year, which is during the spring in New Zealand. The main feature of the ...
(and half-marathon) is an annual marathon It is the largest marathon in New Zealand and draws in the vicinity of 15,000 entrants. It has been held annually since 1992.
* The Auckland Anniversary Regatta
The first Auckland Anniversary Day, Auckland Anniversary Regatta took place in 1840 and has grown to become one of the largest single day regattas and is the oldest sporting event in New Zealand. As a yachting event it pre-dates the Americas Cup, ...
is a sailing regatta which has been held annually since 1840, the year of Auckland's founding. It is held over Auckland Anniversary
Auckland Anniversary Day is a public holiday observed in the northern half of the North Island of New Zealand, being the area's provincial anniversary day. It is observed throughout the historic Auckland Province, even though the provinces of Ne ...
weekend and attracts several hundred entrants each year. It is the largest such regatta, and the oldest sporting event, in New Zealand.
* Auckland Cup Week
Auckland Cup Week is one of New Zealand's major annual thoroughbred racing carnivals and is the country's richest offering stakes. Held in Auckland
Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an u ...
is an annual horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...
carnival, which has been held in early March since its inception in 2006. It is the richest such carnival in New Zealand, and incorporates several of New Zealand's major thoroughbred horse races, including the Auckland Cup
The Auckland Cup is an annual race held by the Auckland Racing Club (ARC). It is an Open Handicap for thoroughbred racehorses competed on the flat turf over 3200 metres (two miles) at Ellerslie Racecourse in Auckland, New Zealand.
The race was ...
, held since 1874, and New Zealand Derby
The New Zealand Derby is a set-weights Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds, run over a distance of 2,400 metres (12 furlongs) at Ellerslie Racecourse in Auckland, New Zealand. It is held in March each year.
History
The New Zealand Derby i ...
, held since 1875.
* The Auckland Harbour Crossing Swim
The Auckland Harbour Crossing, also called the Sovereign Harbour Crossing after the sponsoring company, is an annual ocean swim event / race in Auckland, New Zealand. It involves a swim across the Waitematā Harbour, with the route going from ...
is an annual summer swimming event. The swim crosses the Waitematā Harbour
The Waitematā Harbour is the main access by sea to Auckland, New Zealand. The harbour forms the northern and eastern coasts of the Auckland isthmus and is crossed by the Auckland Harbour Bridge. It is matched on the southern side of the city ...
, from the North Shore to the Viaduct Basin
Viaduct Harbour, formerly known as Viaduct Basin, is a former commercial harbour on the Auckland waterfront that has been turned into a development of mostly upscale apartments, office space and restaurants. It is located on the site of a form ...
covering 2.8 km (often with some considerable counter-currents). The event has been held since 2004 and attracts over a thousand mostly amateur entrants each year, making it New Zealand's largest ocean swim.
* Round the Bays is an annual fun-run. The course travels eastwards along the Auckland waterfront, with the run starting in the CBD and ending in St Heliers
St Heliers is a seaside suburb of Auckland with a population of as of This suburb is popular amongst visitors for the beaches, cafés, and views of Rangitoto Island, the distinctive volcanic island in the Hauraki Gulf.
St Heliers is locate ...
, the total length being . It is the largest fun-run in New Zealand and attracts tens of thousands of entrants each year, with the number of entrants reported to have peaked at 80,000 in 1982. It has been held annually since 1972
Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...
.
Major events previously held in Auckland include the 1950 British Empire Games
The 1950 British Empire Games were the fourth staging of what is now called the Commonwealth Games. It was held in Auckland, New Zealand, between 4 and 11 February 1950, after a 12-year gap from the third edition of the games. A documentary fil ...
and the Commonwealth Games in 1990,What's Doing In; Auckland
'' – ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', 25 November 1990 and a number of matches (including the semi-finals and the final) of the 1987 Rugby World Cup
The 1987 Rugby World Cup was the first Rugby World Cup. It was co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia – New Zealand hosted 21 matches (17 pool stage matches, two semi-finals, the third-place play-off and the final) while Australia hosted 11 mat ...
and 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 World Rugby, International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japa ...
. Auckland hosted the America's Cup
The America's Cup is a sailing competition and the oldest international competition still operating in any sport. America's Cup match races are held between two sailing yachts: one from the yacht club that currently holds the trophy (known ...
and Louis Vuitton Cup
The Louis Vuitton Cup is the name of the Challenger (America's Cup), Challenger Selection Series sailing competition from 1983, named after its Sponsor (commercial), sponsor, Louis Vuitton. The winner of the competition became the Challenger (A ...
in 2000, 2003, and 2021. The 2007 World Netball Championships
The 2007 World Netball Championships was the 12th edition of the INF Netball World Cup, a quadrennial premier event in international netball co-ordinated by the International Federation of Netball Associations (IFNA). Sixteen nations contested t ...
were held at the Trusts Stadium. The ITU World Triathlon Series
The World Triathlon Championship Series is an annual series of triathlon events organised by World Triathlon. The series is used to crown an annual world champion since 2008. Previously, the ITU (the former name of World Triathlon) world champi ...
held a Grand Final event in the Auckland CBD
The Auckland Central Business District (CBD), or Auckland city centre, is the geographical and economic heart of the Auckland, Auckland metropolitan area. It is the area in which Auckland was established in 1840, by William Hobson on land gifted ...
from 2012 until 2015. The NRL Auckland Nines
The NRL Nines is a rugby league nines competition, normally held during the NRL preseason each year. It was initially held in Auckland, New Zealand, between 2014 and 2017 before going on hiatus.
Returning in 2020, hosting duties moved to Per ...
was a rugby league nines
Rugby league nines (or simply nines) is a version of rugby league football played with nine players on each side. The game is substantially the same as full rugby league, with some differences in rules and shorter games. Nines is usually played i ...
preseason competition played at Eden Park from 2014 to 2017. The 2017 World Masters Games
The World Masters Games is an international multi-sport event held every four years which, in terms of competitor numbers, has developed into the largest of its kind. Governed by the International Masters Games Association (IMGA), the World Mas ...
were held at a number of venues around Auckland. The Auckland Darts Masters was held annually at The Trusts Arena
The Trusts Arena is an indoor arena located in Henderson, Auckland, New Zealand. It is a multi-purpose stadium that primarily holds sports events and music concerts. The Arena was opened by then Prime Minister of New Zealand Helen Clark on 11 ...
from 2015 to 2018.
Education
The Auckland urban area has 340 primary schools, 80 secondary schools, and 29 composite (primary/secondary combined) schools as of February 2012, catering for roughly 250,000 students. The majority are state schools, but 63 schools are state-integrated and 39 are private.
The city is home to some of the largest schools in terms of students in New Zealand, including Mt Albert Grammar School
Mount Albert Grammar School, commonly known as MAGS, is a co-educational state secondary school in Mount Albert in Auckland, New Zealand. It teaches students in year levels 9 to 13. , Mount Albert Grammar School is the second largest school in N ...
, the second-largest school in New Zealand with a student population of 3035, and Rangitoto College
Rangitoto College is a state coeducational secondary school, located on the North Shore City, North Shore of Auckland, New Zealand. Serving years 9 to 13, Rangitoto has a school roll of as of making it the largest "brick-and-mortar" school in ...
in the East Coast Bays area, the largest school in New Zealand with students as of
Auckland has some of the largest universities in the country. Five of New Zealand's eight universities and eight of its fifteen polytechnics have campuses in Auckland. The University of Auckland
The University of Auckland (; Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Initially loc ...
, Auckland University of Technology
Auckland University of Technology ( AUT; ) is a university in New Zealand, formed on 1 January 2000 when a former technical college (originally established in 1895) was granted university status. AUT is New Zealand's third largest university i ...
, Manukau Institute of Technology
Established in 1970, Manukau Institute of Technology (MIT) () is a Category One Institute of technology in Auckland, New Zealand.
Category One is the highest possible educational rating as evaluated by the New Zealand Qualifications Authorit ...
, and Unitec Institute of Technology
Unitec ( Māori: Te Whare Wānanga o Wairaka) is the largest institute of technology in Auckland, New Zealand. 16,844 students study programmes from certificate to postgraduate degree level (levels 1 to 9) across a range of subjects.
The main c ...
are based in Auckland. Of institutions based in other regions, the University of Otago
The University of Otago () is a public university, public research university, research collegiate university based in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. Founded in 1869, Otago is New Zealand's oldest university and one of the oldest universities in ...
, Victoria University of Wellington
Victoria University of Wellington (), also known by its shorter names "VUW" or "Vic", is a public university, public research university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and w ...
, Massey University
Massey University () is a Public university, public research university in New Zealand that provides internal and distance education. The university has campuses in Auckland, Palmerston North, and Wellington. Data from Universities New Zealand ...
and several polytechnics have satellite campuses in Auckland.
Auckland is a major centre of overseas language education, with large numbers of foreign students (particularly East Asians) coming to the city for several months or years to learn English or study at universities – although numbers New Zealand-wide have dropped substantially since peaking in 2003. , there are around 50 New Zealand Qualifications Authority
The New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA; ) is the New Zealand government Crown entity tasked with administering educational assessment and qualifications. It was established by the Education Act 1989.
NZQA administers the National Cert ...
(NZQA) certified schools and institutes teaching English in the Auckland area.
Cultural references
* Advocates of the city sometimes like to quoteRudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English journalist, novelist, poet, and short-story writer. He was born in British Raj, British India, which inspired much ...
's invocation its remoteness: "Last, loneliest, loveliest, exquisite, apart", from his poem "The Song of the Cities" (1893).
* Different works of Robert Heinlein
Robert Anson Heinlein ( ; July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific acc ...
refer to a fictional human colony on Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...
as "New Auckland".
International relationships
Auckland Council engages internationally through formal sister city relationships, strategic alliances and cooperation arrangements with other cities and countries, and participation in international city networks and forums. Auckland Council maintains relationships with the following cities and countries. Sister cities: *Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
, United States (1971)
*Utsunomiya
is the capital and largest city of Tochigi Prefecture in the northern Kantō region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 513,584, and a population density of . The total area of the city is . Utsunomiya is famous for its ''gyoza'' ...
, Japan (1982)
*Fukuoka
is the List of Japanese cities by population, sixth-largest city in Japan and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancient times. ...
, Japan (1986)
*Brisbane
Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...
, Australia (1988)
*Guangzhou
Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...
, China (1989)
* Kakogawa, Japan (1992)
*Busan
Busan (), officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second list of cities in South Korea by population, most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.3 million as of 2024. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economi ...
, South Korea (1996)
*Taichung
Taichung (, Wade–Giles: '), officially Taichung City, is a special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality in central Taiwan. Taichung is Taiwan's second-largest city, with more than 2.85 million residents, making it the largest city in Ce ...
, Taiwan (1996)
*Ningbo
Ningbo is a sub-provincial city in northeastern Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. It comprises six urban districts, two satellite county-level cities, and two rural counties, including several islands in Hangzhou Bay and the Eas ...
, China (1998)
*Qingdao
Qingdao, Mandarin: , (Qingdao Mandarin: t͡ɕʰiŋ˧˩ tɒ˥) is a prefecture-level city in the eastern Shandong Province of China. Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, Qingdao was long an important fortress. In 1897, the city was ceded to G ...
, China (2008)
Friendship and Cooperation cities:
* Tomioka, Japan (1983)
* Shinagawa
is a special ward in the Tokyo Metropolis in Japan. The Ward refers to itself as Shinagawa City in English. The Ward is home to ten embassies.
, the Ward had an estimated population of 380,293 and a population density of 16,510 persons per ...
, Japan (1993)
* Galway
Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...
, Ireland (2002)
* Nadi
Nadi (, ) is the second-largest city in Fiji. It is located on the western side of the main island of Viti Levu, and had a population of 59,707 at the most recent census, in 2017. Nadi is multiracial with many of its inhabitants Asians, India ...
, Fiji (2006)
* Hamburg
Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
, Germany (2007)
* Pohang
Pohang (; ), formerly spelled Po-Hang, is the largest city in North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea, with a List of cities in South Korea, population of 499,363 as of 2022, bordering the Sea of Japan, East Sea to the east, Yeongcheon to the w ...
, South Korea (2008)
* Shanghai, China (2012)
Cooperation countries:
* Cook Islands
The Cook Islands is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of 15 islands whose total land area is approximately . The Cook Islands' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers of ocean. Avarua is its ...
(2012)
* Samoa
Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...
(2012)
* Tonga
Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...
(2012)
See also
* Jafa, a sometimes pejorative term for Aucklanders * :People from AucklandReferences
External links
Auckland
in Te Ara the Encyclopedia of New Zealand
(from the ARC map website) {{Authority control Former national capitals of New Zealand Former provincial capitals of New Zealand Populated coastal places in New Zealand Populated places established in 1840 1840 establishments in New Zealand Port cities in New Zealand Former colonial capitals Populated places around the Hauraki Gulf Populated places around the Waitematā Harbour Populated places around the Manukau Harbour