Wellington City by Night

“Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand. The urban area is situated on the southwestern tip of the country’s North Island, and lies between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range. It is home to approx 386,000 residents, with an additional 3,700 residents living in the surrounding rural areas.

The Wellington urban area is the major population centre of the southern North Island, and is the seat of the Wellington Region that in addition to the urban area covers the Kapiti Coast and Wairarapa. The urban area includes four cities: Wellington City, on the peninsula between Cook Strait and Wellington Harbour, contains the central business district and about half of Wellington’s population; Porirua City on Porirua Harbour to the north is notable for its large Māori and Pacific Island communities; Lower Hutt City and Upper Hutt City are largely suburban areas to the northeast, together known as the Hutt Valley.

Wellington was named after Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington and victor of the Battle of Waterloo. The Duke’s title comes from the town of Wellington in the English county of Somerset. In Māori, Wellington goes by three names :: Te Whanga-nui-a-Tara refers to Wellington Harbour and means “the great harbour of Tara”. Pōneke is a transliteration of Port Nick, short for Port Nicholson (the city’s central marae, the community supporting it and its kapa haka have the pseudo-tribal name of Ngāti Pōneke). Te Upoko-o-te-Ika-a-Māui, meaning The Head of the Fish of Māui (often shortened to Te Upoko-o-te-Ika), a traditional name for the southernmost part of the North Island, derives from the legend of the fishing up of the island by the demi-god Māui.

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