• Auckland

Māori settlers

The area, Tamaki Makau Rau ("Isthmus of One Thousand Lovers"), now known as Auckland, was first settled by Māori around 1350. The Māori valued the area for its rich and fertile land, and constructed terraced pa (fortified villages) on the many volcanic peaks that dot the Auckland landscape (see: Auckland Volcanic Field). Earthworks are still evident today around some of the larger volcanoes such as; MountAlbert, MountEden and OneTreeHill. It's estimated that the Māori population peaked at 20,000 in the region in pre-settlement times.

Ngāti Whātua and Tainui were the two main tribes living in the Auckland area. European settlement caused Maori numbers in what is now central Auckland city to be greatly reduced because of the introduction of formerly unknown diseases like smallpox and tuberculosis which had a devastating effect on Māori health.

By 1840 Te Kawau, the chief of Ngāti Whātua, cautious of attack from the Nga Puhi offered Governor Hobson land around the present central city. The sale price for the initial 3,000 acres (12 km²) was for cash and goods to the value of £341.

As Māori population declined for nearly a century, so did the quantity of land held by Ngāti Whātua. Within 20 years, 40% of their lands were lost, some through government land confiscation. Ngāti Whātua land holding was reduced to a few acres at Orakei, land which Te Kawau had declared "a last stand".

Birth of Auckland

After the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in February 1840 the new Governor of New Zealand, William Hobson, had the task of choosing a capital for the colony. At the time Kororareka, now called Old Russell, in the Bay of Islands, served as the effective capital. However, Kororareka's geographical position made it very remote, inaccessible and off-centre from the rest of New Zealand, and the town had a notorious reputation for drunkenness and immorality.

Even in 1840 Port Nicholson (now Wellington) probably seemed the obvious choice for an administrative capital. Centrally situated at the south of the North Island, close to the South Island, and growing fast, it had a lot to commend it. But the New Zealand Company and the Wakefield brothers had founded and continued to dominate Port Nicholson. Furthermore, it already had a bad reputation with the Māori for unscrupulous or even illegal occupation of land.

On the initial recommendation of the missionary Henry Williams, supported by the Surveyor General, Felton Mathew, and the offer of land from Ngāti Whātua, Hobson selected the south side of Waitemata Harbour as his future capital. The Chief Magistrate, Captain William Cornwallis Symonds, soon purchased the further land from Ngāti Whātua, and a foundation ceremony took place at 1pm on 18 September 1840, probably on the higher ground at the top end of present-day Queen Street. Hobson named the new settlement in honour of George Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland, a patron and friend of his. The New Zealand Government Gazette announced the royal approval of the name on 26 November 1842.

From the outset a steady flow of new arrivals from within New Zealand and from overseas came to the new capital. Initially settlers from New South Wales predominated, but the first immigrant ships sailing directly from Britain started to arrive as early as 1842. From early times the eastern side of the settlement remained reserved for government officials while mechanics and artisans, the so-called "unofficial" settlers, congregated on the western side. This social division still persists in modern Auckland.

Eventually Port Nicholson became the capital and, now known as Wellington, remains so today. The advantages of a central position became even more obvious as the South Island grew in prosperity with the discovery of gold in Otago, and with the development of sheep farming and refrigeration, especially refrigerated ships which allowed chilled meat to be safely shipped to Britain. Parliament met for the first time in Wellington in 1862. In 1868 Government House moved there too.

Auckland Today

There are more than 180 ethnic groups now living in Auckland and a third of all Aucklanders were born outside of New Zealand. Seven out of 10 new settlers to New Zealand choose Auckland as their place of residence. Approximately 401,500 people live within the city boundary and 1.25 million in the greater Auckland area. This represents about one third of the population of the whole country.

Climate

Auckland has a warm-temperate climate, with warm, humid summers and cool, but damp and lengthy, winters. High levels of rainfall occur almost year-round (over 1100 mm per year), especially in winter. Climatic conditions vary in different parts of the city owing to geography such as hills, trees and ocean wind currents. See: Weather

Sister Cities

• Los Angeles, United States
• Brisbane, Australia
• Guangzhou, China
• Fukuoka, Japan
• Pusan, South Korea

Parts of this article are modified from: Auckland