Wellington

Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the southwestern 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), and is the administrative centre of the Wellington Region. It is the world's southernmost capital of a sovereign state. Wellington features a temperate maritime climate, and is the world's windiest city by average wind speed. Māori oral tradition tells that Kupe discovered and explored the region in about the 10th century. The area was initially settled by Māori iwi such as Rangitāne and Muaūpoko. The disruptions of the Musket Wars led to them being overwhelmed by northern iwi such as Te Āti Awa in the early 19th century. Wellington's current form was originally designed by Captain William Mein Smith, the first Surveyor General for Edward Wakefield's New Zealand Company, in 1840. Smith's plan included a series of interconnected grid plans, expanding along valleys and lower hill slopes, but without actually taking the terrain into account. The Wellington urban area, which only includes urbanised areas within Wellington City, has a population of 209,800 as of June 2025. The wider Wellington metropolitan area, including the cities of Lower Hutt, Porirua and Upper Hutt, has a population of 433,900 as of June 2025. The city has served as New Zealand's capital since 1865, a status that is not defined in legislation, but established by convention; the New Zealand Government and Parliament, the Supreme Court and most of the public services are based in the city. Wellington's economy is primarily service-based, with an emphasis on government, finance, business services, and the film industry. It is the centre of New Zealand's film and special effects industries, and increasingly a hub for information technology and innovation,...