Auckland History | Auckland Climate | Auckland Suburbs | Auckland Information | Auckland Things to Do | Auckland Places to see

The Auckland metropolitan area in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with over 1.3 million residents, 31 percent of the country's population.

Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world

In Māori its name is Tāmaki-makau-rau, or the transliterated version of Auckland, Ākarana.

Auckland lies between the Hauraki Gulf of the Pacific Ocean to the east, the low Hunua Ranges to the south-east, the Manukau Harbour to the south-west, and the Waitakere Ranges and smaller ranges to the west and north-west.

The central part of the urban area occupies a narrow isthmus between the Manukau Harbour on the Tasman Sea and the Waitemata Harbour on the Pacific Ocean.

It is one of the few cities in the world to have harbours on two separate major bodies of water.

Auckland is popularly known as the "City of Sails" because the harbour is often dotted with hundreds of yachts and has more per capita than any other city in the world, with around 135,000 yachts and launches estimated. Around 60,500 of the country's 149,900 registered yachtsmen also come from the Auckland Region.

Newmarket and Parnell are up-market shopping areas, while Otara's and Avondale's famous fleamarkets offer a colourful alternative shopping experience. Newer shopping centre-type developments in the Auckland area tend to be outside of the older city centres, with Sylvia Park (Sylvia Park, Auckland City), Botany Town Centre (Howick, Manukau City) and Westfield Albany (Albany, North Shore City) being the three largest.

The Auckland Town Hall and Aotea Centre host conferences and cultural events such as theatre, kapa haka, and opera.

Auckland also boasts a full time professional symphonic ensemble in the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra.

Many national treasures are displayed at the Auckland Art Gallery, such as the work of Colin McCahon. , while many other significant cultural artefacts reside at the Auckland War Memorial Museum, the National Maritime Museum, or the Museum of Transport and Technology (MOTAT).

Exotic creatures can be observed at the Auckland Zoo and Kelly Tarlton's Underwater World.

Movies and rock concerts (notably, the "Big Day Out") are also well patronised.

BRIEF HISTORY

The isthmus was first settled around 1350 and was valued for its rich and fertile land. Many pā (fortified villages) were created, mainly on the volcanic peaks. Māori population in the area is estimated at about 20,000 people before the arrival of Europeans.

The subsequent introduction of firearms, which began in Northland, upset the balance of power and led to devastating inter-tribal warfare, causing iwi 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 European settlement of New Zealand began.

On 27 January 1832, Joseph Brooks Weller, eldest of the Weller brothers of Otago and Sydney bought land including the sites of the modern cities of Auckland and North Shore and part of Rodney District, for "one large cask of powder" from "Cohi Rangatira".

Volcanoes

Auckland straddles the volcanoes of the Auckland Volcanic Field. The approximately 50 volcanic vents in the field take the form of cones, lakes, lagoons, islands and depressions, and several have produced extensive lava flows. Most of the cones have been partly or completely quarried away. The individual volcanoes are all considered extinct, although the volcanic field itself is merely dormant. The most recent and by far the largest volcano, Rangitoto Island, was formed within the last 1000 years, and its eruptions destroyed the Māori settlements on neighbouring Motutapu Island some 700 years ago.

Rangitoto's size, its symmetry, its position guarding the entrance to Waitemata Harbour and its visibility from many parts of the Auckland region make it Auckland's most iconic natural feature.

HARBOURS

There are two harbours in the Auckland urban area surrounding this isthmus: Waitemata Harbour to the north, which opens east to the Hauraki Gulf, and Manukau Harbour to the south, which opens west to the Tasman Sea. Bridges span parts of both harbours, notably the Auckland Harbour Bridge crossing the Waitemata Harbour west of the Auckland Central Business District (CBD).

The Mangere Bridge and the Upper Harbour Bridge span the upper reaches of the Manukau and Waitemata Harbours, respectively.

CLIMATE

Auckland has a warm-temperate climate, with warm, humid summers and mild, damp winters. It is the warmest main centre of New Zealand and is also one of the sunniest, with an average of 2060 sunshine hours per annum

The average daily maximum temperature is 23.7 °C in February, and 14.5 °C in July, the absolute maximum recorded temperature is 30.5 °C, while the absolute minimum is -2.5°C.

High levels of rainfall occur almost year-round with an average of 1240 mm per year spread over 137 'rain days'.

On 27 July 1939 Auckland received its only recorded snowfall.

As car ownership rates are very high and emissions controls relatively weak, Auckland suffers from some air pollution, especially in regards to fine particles emissions. There are also regular breaches of guideline levels of carbon monoxide. While maritime winds normally disperse the pollution relatively quickly it can sometimes become visible as smog, especially on calm winter days.

PARKS AND NATURE

Auckland Domain is one of the largest parks within the city, situated close to the CBD and having a good view of the Gulf and of Rangitoto island.

Smaller parks also close to the city centre are Albert Park, Myers Park, Western Park and Victoria Park.

While most volcanic cones in the Auckland Volcanic Field have been affected by quarrying, many of the remaining cones are now ensconced within parks, and retain a somewhat more natural character than the surrounding city.

Prehistoric earthworks and historic fortifications feature in several of these parks, including Mount Eden, North Head and One Tree Hill (Maungakiekie). Other parks around the city are in Western Springs, which has a large park bordering on the MOTAT museum and the Auckland Zoo.

The Auckland Botanic Gardens are located further south in Manurewa.

Ferries provide transport to parks and nature reserves at Devonport, Waiheke Island, Rangitoto Island and Tiritiri Matangi. The Waitakere Ranges Regional Park to the west of Auckland offers beautiful and relatively unspoiled bush territory, as do the Hunua Ranges to the south.

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