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Wellington
*** Shopping-Tip: Wellington
:''You might be looking for the
Wellington City City of Wellington, the (first)
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington Duke of Wellington, or
Wellington (disambiguation) other Wellingtons
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'''Wellington'''
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Image:Wellington.PNG 250px|center
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|Population:||370,000
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|Location:||{{coor dms|41|17|20|S|174|46|38|E|type:city(370,000)_region:NZ}}
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|Mayor:||''various, see each council''
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!colspan=2 align=center bgcolor="#BFDFFF"|Urban Area
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|Extent:||Central Wellington,
Hutt Valley, Porirua,
Pukerua Bay and
Pauatahanui
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!colspan=2 align=center bgcolor="#BFDFFF"|Territorial Authority
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|Names:||
Porirua Porirua City Council
Upper Hutt Upper Hutt City Council
Lower Hutt Hutt City Council
Wellington City Council
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|Regional Council:||
Wellington Region Greater Wellington Regional Council
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|}
'''Wellington''' ('''Te Whanganui-a-Tara''' or '''Poneke''') is the capital of
New Zealand, the country's second-largest
Urban areas of New Zealand urban area and the most populous national capital in
Oceania. Wellington stands at the southern tip of the
North Island in the geographical centre of the country.
New Zealand's major financial institutions are divided between Wellington and
Auckland, and some organisations have headquarters in both cities. It is New Zealand's political centre, housing Parliament and head offices for all government departments and ministries. Wellington is often described as New Zealand's cultural centre, boasting a world-class film and theatre industry,
Te Papa (the Museum of New Zealand), the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and the Royal New Zealand Ballet. Its compact city centre supports an arts scene, café culture and nightlife much larger than most cities of a similar size.
Wellington was named in honour of
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley, the first
Duke of Wellington and victor at the
Battle of Waterloo. The Duke's title comes from the town of
Wellington, Somerset Wellington in the English county of
Somerset.
In the
MÄ?ori language Wellington goes by two names. ''
Te Whanganui-a-Tara'' refers to Wellington Harbour and means "the great harbour of Tara". The alternative name ''PÅ?neke'' is often discouraged because of a belief that it is nothing more than a transliteration of the harbour's former nickname in English, ''Port Nick'', short for ''Port Nicholson''.
Like many cities, Wellington's urban area extends well beyond the boundaries of a single local authority. ''Greater Wellington'' or the
Wellington Region means the entire urban area, plus the rural parts of the cities and the
Kapiti Coast, and across the Rimutaka Range to the
Wairarapa.
History
Image:WellingtonPanorama.jpg Wellington Cable Car thumb|250px|Panorama of Wellington including the [[Wellington Cable Car|cable car..html" title="Meaning of cable car.html" title="Meaning of thumb|250px|Panorama of Wellington including the [[Wellington Cable Car|cable car">thumb|250px|Panorama of Wellington including the [[Wellington Cable Car|cable car.">cable car.html" title="Meaning of thumb|250px|Panorama of Wellington including the [[Wellington Cable Car|cable car">thumb|250px|Panorama of Wellington including the [[Wellington Cable Car|cable car.
Settlement
The
MÄ?ori who originally settled the Wellington area knew it as ''Te Upoko o te Ika a Maui'', meaning "the head of
Maui (mythology) Maui's fish". Legend recounts that
Kupe discovered and explored the district in about the
10th century.
European settlement began with the arrival of an advance party of the
New Zealand Company on the ship ''Tory,'' on 20 September 1839, followed by 150 settlers on the ship ''Aurora'' on 22 January
Timeline of New Zealand history#1840s 1840. Legend states that the settlers constructed their first homes at Britannia (now
Petone) on the flat area at the mouth of the
Hutt River, New Zealand Hutt River but when this proved too swampy and flood-prone they transplanted the plans without regard for a more hilly terrain — Wellington has some extremely steep streets running straight up the sides of hills.
Earthquakes
Image:Wellington-FromTopOfMountVictoria.jpg thumb|250px|right|Wellington viewed from Mount Victoria
Image:Wellington 21 Jan 2006.jpg thumb|right|350px|Vodafone X*Air, an extreme sports festival held on the Wellington waterfront, 21 January 2006
Wellington suffered serious damage in a series of
earthquakes in
Timeline of New Zealand history#1840s 1848 and from another earthquake in
Timeline of New Zealand history#1850s 1855. The
1855 (Wairarapa) earthquake occurred on a fault line to the north and east of Wellington. It ranks as probably the most powerful earthquake in recorded New Zealand history, with an estimated magnitude of at least 8.2 on the Richter scale. It caused vertical movements of 2 to 3 m over a large area, including raising an area of land out of the harbour and turning it into a tidal swamp. Much of this land was subsequently reclaimed and is now part of Wellington's central
business district. For this reason the street named ''
Lambton Quay, Wellington Lambton Quay'' now runs 100 to 200 m distant from the harbour. Plaques set into the footpath along ''Lambton Quay'' indicate the location of the shoreline in
Timeline of New Zealand history#1840s 1840 and thus indicate the extent of the uplift and of subsequent reclamation.
The area has high seismic activity even by New Zealand standards, with a major fault line running through the centre of the city, and several others nearby. Several hundred more minor fault lines have been identified within the urban area. The inhabitants, particularly those in high-rise buildings, typically notice several
earthquakes every year. For many years after the 1855 earthquake, the majority of buildings constructed in Wellington were made entirely from wood. The recently restored (1996) Government Buildings, near the Railway Station and Parliament Buildings, comprise the largest wooden office building in the Southern Hemisphere. While masonry and structural steel have subsequently been used in building construction, especially for office buildings, timber framing remains the primary structural component of almost all residential construction. Residents also place their hopes of survival in good building regulations, which gradually became more stringent in the course of the 20th century.
New Zealand's capital
Image:Wellington_Parliament_n.jpg thumb|175px|left|Old Government Buildings on the left and the Beehive, Parliament's Executive Wing, in the centre
In
Timeline of New Zealand history#1860s 1865 Wellington became the capital of New Zealand, replacing
Auckland, where
William Hobson had established his capital in
Timeline of New Zealand history#1840s 1841. Parliament first sat in Wellington on
7 July Timeline of New Zealand history#1860s 1862, but the city did not become the official capital for some time. In November 1863
Alfred Domett moved a resolution before Parliament (in Auckland) that "it has become necessary that the seat of government... should be transferred to some suitable locality in Cook Strait." Apparently there was concern that the southern regions, where the gold fields were located, would form a separate colony. Commissioners from Australia (chosen for their neutral status) pronounced the opinion that Wellington was suitable because of its harbour and central location. Parliament officially sat in Wellington for the first time on
26 July Timeline of New Zealand history#1860s 1865. The population of Wellington was then 4,900 (reference Phillip Temple: ''Wellington Yesterday'').
Government House, Wellington Government House, the official residence of the
Governor-General of New Zealand Governor-General, stands next to the
Basin Reserve. The official residence formerly occupied the site where the
Beehive (building) Beehive, the Executive Wing of the
New Zealand Parliament Buildings, stands; it is occasionally referred to as
Helengrad, as a partisan joke.
Location and geographics
Image:Wellington_landsat_labelled.jpg thumb|right|270px|Satellite photo of the Wellington region. (1) Wellington (2) Lower Hutt (3) Upper Hutt (4) Porirua
Wellington stands at the south-western tip of the
North Island on
Cook Strait, the passage that separates the North and South Islands. On a clear day the snowcapped
Kaikoura Ranges are visible to the south across the strait. To the north stretch the golden beaches of the
Kapiti Coast. On the east the
Rimutaka Range divides Wellington from the broad plains of the
Wairarapa, a wine region of national acclaim.
Wellington is the southernmost national capital city in the world, with a
latitude about 41°S. It is more densely populated than most other settlements in New Zealand, due to the small amount of building space available between the harbour and the surrounding hills. Because of its location in the
Roaring Forties roaring forties latitudes and its exposure to omnipresent winds coming through
Cook Strait, the city is known to
Kiwi (people) kiwis as "Windy Wellington".
More than most cities, life in Wellington is dominated by its central business district. Approximately 62,000 people work in the Wellington CBD, only 4,000 fewer than work in
Auckland's CBD, despite that city having three times Wellington's population. Wellington's cultural and nightlife venues concentrate in Courtenay Place and surroundings located in the southern part of the
Central business district CBD, making the inner city suburb of
Te Aro the largest entertainment destination in New Zealand.
Wellington has the highest average income of a
Urban areas of New Zealand main urban area in New Zealand and the highest percentage of people with tertiary qualifications.
Image:Wellington_Te_Papa_n.jpg Te_Papa.html" title="Meaning of thumb thumb|300px|left|[[Te Papa ("Our Place"), The Museum of New Zealand.html" title="Meaning of 300px|left|[[Te Papa">thumb|300px|left|[[Te Papa ("Our Place"), The Museum of New Zealand">300px|left|[[Te Papa">thumb|300px|left|[[Te Papa ("Our Place"), The Museum of New ZealandWellington has a reputation for its picturesque natural harbour and green hillsides adorned with tiered suburbs of colonial villas. The city's CBD is sited close to Lambton Harbour, an arm of Wellington Harbour. Wellington Harbour lies along an active
geological fault, which is clearly evident on its straight western coast. The land to the west of this rises abruptly, meaning that many of Wellington's suburbs sit high above the centre of the city.
To the east of the city is the
Miramar Peninsula, connected to the rest of the city by a low-lying isthmus at Rongotai, which is the site of
Wellington International Airport. The narrow entrance to Wellington is directly to the east of the Miramar Peninsula, and contains the dangerous shallows of
Barrett Reef, where many ships have been wrecked (most famously the inter-island ferry
Wahine disaster Wahine in
Timeline of New Zealand history#1960s 1968).
On the hill west of the city centre are
Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University and
Wellington Botanic Garden. Both can be reached on a
funicular railway, the
Wellington Cable Car.
Wellington Harbour has three islands:
Matiu/Somes Island, Makaro/Ward Island and Mokopuna. Only Matiu/Somes Island is large enough for settlement. It has been used as a quarantine station for people and animals and as an internment camp during the First and Second World Wars. It is now a conservation island, providing refuge for endangered species, much like
Kapiti Island further up the coast. There is access during daylight hours by the [http://www.eastbywest.co.nz/ Dominion Post Ferry].
The city has an average annual rainfall of 1270 mm.
Demographics
As at the last census, 18.5% of people in Wellington were under the age of 15 years, compared with 22.7% for all of
New Zealand. Around 8.6% of people were aged 65 years and over compared with 12.1% for all of
New Zealand.
85.6% of people in Wellington city said they are of
European ethnic origin. Around 4.1% are
MÄ?ori, with the remainder being of
Pacific Islander,
Asian or other ethnicity.
Panoramas
Image:Wellington City Night.jpg thumb|800px|centre|Panorama of Wellington at night from Mount Victoria.
Image:Wellington City Day.jpg thumb|800px|centre|Daytime panorama from the same location.
Image:WellingtonPano.jpg Victoria University of Wellington.html" title="Meaning of thumb thumb|800px|centre|Panorama from [[Victoria University of Wellington.html" title="Meaning of 800px|centre|Panorama from [[Victoria University of Wellington">thumb|800px|centre|Panorama from [[Victoria University of Wellington">800px|centre|Panorama from [[Victoria University of Wellington">thumb|800px|centre|Panorama from [[Victoria University of Wellington
Sport
* Home of the
Wellington Hurricanes —
Super 14 (formerly
Super 12) Rugby Team
-
Wellington Lions —
National Provincial Championship Rugby Team
* Home of the [http://www.cricketwellington.co.nz Wellington Firebirds] cricket team
* Home of the
Capital Shakers —
The National Bank Cup Netball Team
* Wellington City hosted a
Wellington 500 street race for
touring car racing touring cars between 1985 to 1996.
Notable Wellingtonians
*
Karl Urban - actor
*
Jane Campion —
Academy Awards Oscar winning film maker
*
Russell Crowe — actor
*
Peter Jackson — Oscar winning film-maker
*
Katherine Mansfield — writer
*
Jack Marshall — former Prime Minister of New Zealand
*
William Hayward Pickering — electrical engineer who became the head of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California
*
Anna Paquin -
Academy Awards Oscar winning actress
*
Jon Toogood — singer and guitarist for the rock band
Shihad
*
Tana Umaga — former captain of the
All Blacks
*
Ben Hana —
Blanket Man
*
Simon Caudwell —
Mr OBU 2004
See also
*
List of suburbs in Wellington
*
Public transport in Wellington
External links
{{commons|Wellington}}
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Wellington City Council
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Greater Wellington Regional Council
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Wellington City Libraries
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What's On In Wellington
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What's on and happening in Wellington, New Zealand from restaurants and cafes to events and services
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Official NZ Tourism website for Wellington
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Wellington street map and directory
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Wellington history
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360° views of and from NZ Parliament buildings
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the wellingtonista — blog about Wellington
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wellurban — blog about urban issues in Wellington
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A different kind of Wellington — Images
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Welcome to Wellington
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City Gallery, Wellington
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Wellington Zoo
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Wellington Rugby
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National Observatory of New Zealand
Category:Wellington
Category:Capitals in Oceania
Category:Cities and towns in New Zealand
Category:Coastal cities
Category:Wellington Region
Category:Port cities
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This category is for articles relating to the geography of '''Wellington''', in the
North Island of
New Zealand. It includes articles on both the city of
Wellington (which is comprised of
Wellington City and four neighbouring cities) and the
Wellington (region) Wellington region, which is comprised of the urban area and four additional districts.
{{catmore}}
Category:Cities and towns in New Zealand
Category:Wellington Region
*** Shopping-Tip: Wellington
