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; Mount Albert, Mount Eden and One Tree Hill. It's estimated that the Māori population peaked at 20,000 in the region in pre-settlement times.

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.

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