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Legends recount that Kupe discovered and explored the district in about the 10th century. The earliest date with hard evidence for Maori living in New Zealand is about 1280. European settlement began with the arrival of an advance party of the New Zealand Company on the ship Tory on 20 September 1839, followed by 150 settlers on the Aurora on 22 January 1840. The settlers constructed their first homes at Petone (which they called Britannia for a time) on the flat area at the mouth of the Hutt River. When that proved swampy and flood prone they transplanted the plans, which had been drawn without regard for the hilly terrain. National capital In 1865, Wellington became the capital city in place of Auckland, which William Hobson had made the capital in 1841. The Parliament of New Zealand had first met in Wellington on 7 July 1862, on a temporary basis; in November 1863, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Alfred Domett, placed a resolution before Parliament in Auckland that "... it has become necessary that the seat of government ... should be transferred to some suitable locality in Cook Strait [region]." Apparently there had been some concerns that the more populous South Island (where the goldfields were located) would choose to form a separate colony in the British Empire. Several Commissioners invited from Australia, chosen for their neutral status, declared that Wellington was a suitable location because of its central location in New Zealand and good harbour. Parliament officially met in Wellington for the first time on 26 July 1865. At that time, the population of Wellington was just 4,900.[11] Wellington's status as capital is by constitutional convention rather than statute.[12] Wellington is the location of the highest court, the Supreme Court of New Zealand, and the historic former High Court building has been enlarged and restored for its use. Government House, the official residence of the Governor-General, is in Newtown, opposite the Basin Reserve. Premier House, the official residence of the Prime Minister, is in Thorndon on Tinakori Road. Importance Wellington is at the south-western tip of the North Island on Cook Strait, separating the North and South Islands. On a clear day the snowcapped Kaikoura Ranges are visible to the south across the strait. To the north stretch the golden beaches of the Kapiti Coast. On the east the Rimutaka Range divides Wellington from the broad plains of the Wairarapa, a wine region of national notability. With a latitude of 41° 17' South, Wellington is the southernmost capital city in the world.[17] It is also the most remote capital city, the farthest away from any other capital. It is more densely populated than most other cities in New Zealand due to the restricted amount of land that is available between its harbour and the surrounding hills. It has very few open areas in which to expand, and this has brought about the development of the suburban towns. Because of its location in the Roaring Forties and its exposure to the winds blowing through Cook Strait, Wellington is known as "Windy Wellington". The Wellington Urban Area (pink) is administered by four city councils Wellington's scenic natural harbour and green hillsides adorned with tiered suburbs of colonial villas are popular with tourists. The CBD is close to Lambton Harbour, an arm of Wellington Harbour, which lies along an active geological fault, clearly evident on its straight western shore. The land to the west of this rises abruptly, meaning that many suburbs sit high above the centre of the city. There is a network of bush walks and reserves maintained by the Wellington City Council and local volunteers. These include Otari-Wilton's Bush, dedicated to the protection and propagation of native plants. The Wellington region has 500 square kilometres (190 sq mi) of regional parks and forests. In the east is the Miramar Peninsula, connected to the rest of the city by a low-lying isthmus at Rongotai, the site of Wellington International Airport. The narrow entrance to the harbour is to the east of the Miramar Peninsula, and contains the dangerous shallows of Barrett Reef, where many ships have been wrecked (notably the inter-island ferry TEV Wahine in 1968).[18] The harbour has three islands: Matiu/Somes Island, Makaro/Ward Island and Mokopuna Island. Only Matiu/Somes Island is large enough for habitation. It has been used as a quarantine station for people and animals, and was an internment camp during World War I and World War II. It is a conservation island, providing refuge for endangered species, much like Kapiti Island farther up the coast. There is access during daylight hours by the Dominion Post Ferry. Wellington is primarily surrounded by water, but some of near-by locations are listed below. Neighbouring cities, towns and places. Kapiti, Tararua Forest Park and Masterton Rimutaka Forest Park Wellington Suburbs Main articles: Wellington City Council and Lower Hutt Wellington Botanical Gardens The urban area stretches across the areas administered by the city councils of Wellington, Hutt (covering Lower Hutt), Upper Hutt and Porirua. Climate The city averages 2025 hours (or about 169 days) of sunshine per year.[19] The climate is a temperate marine one, (Köppen: Cfb ) is generally moderate all year round, and rarely sees temperatures above 25 °C (77 °F) or below 4 °C (39 °F). The hottest recorded temperature is 31.1 °C (88 °F), while −1.9 °C (29 °F) is the coldest. The city is notorious for its southerly blasts in winter, which may make the temperature feel much colder. It is generally very windy all year round with high rainfall; average annual rainfall is 1,249 mm (49 in), June and July being the wettest months. Frosts are quite common in the hill suburbs and the Hutt Valley between May and September. Snow is very rare at low altitudes, although snow fell on the city and many other parts of the Wellington region during separate events in July and August 2011.[20][21] [hide]Climate data for Wellington, New Zealand (1981−2010) Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year Average high °C (°F) 20.3 (68.5) 20.6 (69.1) 19.1 (66.4) 16.6 (61.9) 14.3 (57.7) 12.2 (54) 11.4 (52.5) 12.2 (54) 13.7 (56.7) 14.9 (58.8) 16.6 (61.9) 18.5 (65.3) 15.9 (60.6) Daily mean °C (°F) 16.9 (62.4) 17.2 (63) 15.8 (60.4) 13.7 (56.7) 11.7 (53.1) 9.7 (49.5) 8.9 (48) 9.4 (48.9) 10.8 (51.4) 12.0 (53.6) 13.5 (56.3) 15.4 (59.7) 12.9 (55.2) Average low °C (°F) 13.5 (56.3) 13.8 (56.8) 12.6 (54.7) 10.7 (51.3) 9.1 (48.4) 7.2 (45) 6.3 (43.3) 6.7 (44.1) 7.9 (46.2) 9.0 (48.2) 10.3 (50.5) 12.2 (54) 9.9 (49.8) Precipitation mm (inches) 75.7 (2.98) 69.8 (2.748) 87.1 (3.429) 83.6 (3.291) 112.9 (4.445) 132.8 (5.228) 137.5 (5.413) 113.7 (4.476) 97.8 (3.85) 114.9 (4.524) 97.0 (3.819) 84.4 (3.323) 1,207.1 (47.524) Avg. precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) 7.2 7.0 8.7 8.7 10.8 13.4 12.6 12.5 10.6 12.1 9.3 8.8 121.6 % humidity 81.0 83.3 82.6 83.2 85.2 86.1 86.3 84.7 80.8 81.3 79.7 80.7 82.9 Mean monthly sunshine hours 246.9 210.9 205.2 161.3 132.7 99.1 118.9 147.3 163.2 192.8 209.3 222.8 2,110.3 Source: NIWA[22] Earthquakes See also: Earthquakes in New Zealand New Zealand government "Beehive" and the Parliament Buildings Wellington suffered serious damage in a series of earthquakes in 1848[23] and from another earthquake in 1855. The 1855 Wairarapa earthquake occurred on the Wairarapa Fault to the north and east of Wellington. It was probably the most powerful earthquake in recorded New Zealand history,[24] with an estimated magnitude of at least 8.2 on the Moment magnitude scale. It caused vertical movements of two to three metres over a large area, including raising land out of the harbour and turning it into a tidal swamp. Much of this land was subsequently reclaimed and is now part of the central business district. For this reason the street named Lambton Quay is 100 to 200 metres (325 to 650 ft) from the harbour – plaques set into the footpath mark the shoreline in 1840, indicating the extent of reclamation. The area has high seismic activity even by New Zealand standards, with a major fault line running through the centre of the city, and several others nearby. Several hundred minor fault lines have been identified within the urban area. Inhabitants, particularly in high-rise buildings, typically notice several earthquakes every year. For many years after the 1855 earthquake, the majority of buildings were made entirely from wood. The 1996-restored Government Buildings[25] near Parliament is the largest wooden building in the Southern Hemisphere. While masonry and structural steel have subsequently been used in building construction, especially for office buildings, timber framing remains the primary structural component of almost all residential construction. Residents place their confidence in good building regulations, which became more stringent in the 20th century. Since the Canterbury earthquakes of 2010 and 2011, earthquake readiness has become even more of an issue, with buildings declared by Wellington City Council to be earthquake-prone,[26][27] and the costs of meeting new standards.[28][29] Every five years a year-long slow quake occurs beneath Wellington, stretching from Kapiti to the Marlborough Sounds. It was first measured in 2003, and reappeared in 2008 and 2013.[30] It releases as much energy as a magnitude 7 quake, but as it happens slowly there is no damage. During July 2013 there were many earthquakes, mostly in Cook Strait near Seddon.[31] On 21 July 2013 a magnitude 6.5 earthquake hit the city, but no tsunami report was confirmed nor any major damage.[32] On 16 August 2013 at 2:31 pm another earthquake struck, this time magnitude 6.6, but again no major damage occurred, though many buildings were evacuated.[33] On 20 January 2014 at 3:52 pm a rolling 6.2 magnitude earthquake struck the lower North Island 15 km east of Eketahuna and was felt in Wellington, but little damage was reported initially, except at Wellington Airport where one of the two giant eagle sculptures commemorating The Hobbit became detached from the ceiling.[34] Demographics Wellingtonians gathered for the Anzac Day dawn service The four cities comprising Wellington had a total population of 397,700 (June 2014 estimate),[3] and the urban area contained 99% of that population. The remaining areas are largely mountainous and sparsely farmed or parkland and are outside the urban area boundary. More than most cities, life is dominated by its central business district (CBD). Approximately 62,000 people work in the CBD, only 4,000 fewer than work in Auckland's CBD, despite that city having four times the population. Another major population area is the Kapiti Coast, north of Porirua and including the towns of Paraparaumu, Waikanae, Raumati and Otaki. The population was 51100. The beach and garden zones of these townships attract life-stylers and retired people: 24.6% were aged 65+ as at June 2011 estimates: See Waikanae River and Otaki Beach. Counts from the 2013 census gave totals by area, sex, and age. Wellington City had the largest population of the four cities with 197,019 people, followed by Lower Hutt, Porirua and Upper Hutt. Women outnumbered men in all four areas, according to data from Statistics New Zealand, particularly in Wellington city.[35] Population density in Wellington region (2008) based on census data Wellington population by city and sex (2006 Census) City Total Men Women Wellington 179,466 86,932 92,532 Lower Hutt 97,701 47,703 49,998 Upper Hutt 38,415 19,088 19,317 Porirua 48,546 23,634 24,912 Total four cities 364,128 177,369 186,759 Source:Statistics New Zealand (2006 Census)[35] An increasing number of Wellingtonians profess no religious belief, with the most recent census in 2013 showing 44% in that category. The largest religious group was Christians at 39%. That meant more people in the city had no religion than believed in Christianity. A significant change, as only 7 years earlier at the previous census, over 50% of the population gave Christianity as their religion.[36][37][38] At the 2013 Census, just over 27% of Wellington's population was born overseas. The most common overseas birthplace is the United Kingdom, with 7.1% of the urban area's population born there. Other common countries of origin are Samoa (2.0%), India (1.8%), China (1.7%), Australia (1.6%), the Philippines (1.2%), South Africa (1.1%), Fiji (1.0%), the United States (0.8%) and Malaysia (0.6%).[39][40] Age distribution Age distributions for the four cities are given (see table below). The age structure closely matches the national distribution. The relative lack of older people in Wellington is less marked when Kapiti Coast District is included - nearly 7% of Kapiti Coast residents are over 80. Wellington area – age distribution by city City Under 20 20–39 40–59 60–79 80 and over Wellington 25% 37% 26% 10% 2% Lower Hutt 30% 27% 27% 12% 3% Upper Hutt 30% 25% 28% 14% 3% Porirua 34% 27% 26% 10% 1% Total four cities 28% 32% 27% 11% 2% New Zealand 29% 27% 27% 14% 3% Source:Statistics New Zealand (2006 Census)[41] Architecture Night harbour view Te Aro Park in downtown Wellington Wellington showcases a variety of architectural styles from the past 150 years – 19th-century wooden cottages, such as the Italianate Katherine Mansfield Birthplace in Thorndon; streamlined Art Deco structures such as the old Wellington Free Ambulance headquarters, the Central Fire Station, Fountain Court Apartments, the City Gallery, and the former Post and Telegraph Building; and the curves and vibrant colours of post-modern architecture in the CBD. The oldest building is the 1858 Colonial Cottage in Mount Cook.[42] The tallest building is the Majestic Centre on Willis Street at 116 metres high,[43] the second tallest being the structural expressionist State Insurance Building at 103 metres.[44] For a full list see: List of tallest buildings in Wellington. Futuna Chapel in Karori was the first bicultural building in New Zealand, and is considered one of the most significant New Zealand buildings of the 20th century. Museum of Wellington City & Sea heritage building Old St Paul's is an example of 19th-century Gothic Revival architecture adapted to colonial conditions and materials, as is St Mary of the Angels. Sacred Heart Cathedral is a Palladian Revival Basilica with the Portico of a Roman or Greek temple. The Museum of Wellington City & Sea in the Bond Store is in the Second French Empire style, and the Wellington Harbour Board Wharf Office Building is in a late English Classical style. There are several restored theatre buildings: the St James Theatre, the Opera House and the Embassy Theatre. Civic Square is surrounded by the Town Hall and council offices, the Michael Fowler Centre, the Wellington Central Library, Capital E (home of the National Theatre for Children), the City-to-Sea Bridge, and the City Gallery. As the capital city, there are many notable government buildings. The conical Executive Wing of New Zealand Parliament Buildings, on the corner of Lambton Quay and Molesworth Street, was constructed between 1969 and 1981 and is commonly referred to as the Beehive. Across the road is the largest wooden building in the Southern Hemisphere,[45] part of the old Government Buildings which now houses part of Victoria University of Wellington's Law Faculty. The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is on the waterfront. Other notable buildings include Wellington Town Hall, Wellington Railway Station, Dominion Museum (now Massey University), State Insurance Building, Westpac Stadium, and Wellington Airport at Rongotai. Leading architects include Frederick Thatcher, Frederick de Jersey Clere, W. Gray Young, Bill Alington, Ian Athfield, Roger Walker and Pynenburg and Collins. Wellington contains many iconic sculptures and structures, such as the Bucket Fountain in Cuba Street and Invisible City by Anton Parsons on Lambton Quay. Kinetic sculptures have been commissioned, such as the Zephyrometer.[46] This 26-metre orange spike built for movement by artist Phil Price has been described as "tall, soaring and elegantly simple", which "reflects the swaying of the yacht masts in the Evans Bay Marina behind it" and "moves like the needle on the dial of a nautical instrument, measuring the speed of the sea or wind or vessel."[47] Housing and real estate Apartments at Oriental Bay Wellington experienced a real estate boom in the early 2000s and the effects of the international property bust at the start of 2007. In 2005, the market was described as "robust".[48] By 2008, property values had declined by about 9.3% over a 12-month period, according to one estimate. More expensive properties declined more steeply, sometimes by as much as 20%.[49] "From 2004 to early 2007, rental yields were eroded and positive cash flow property investments disappeared as house values climbed faster than rents. Then that trend reversed and yields slowly began improving," according to two New Zealand Herald reporters writing in May 2009.[50] In the middle of 2009 house prices had dropped, interest rates were low, and buy-to-let property investment was again looking attractive, particularly in the Lambton precinct, according to these two reporters.[50] A Wellington City Council survey conducted in March 2009 found the typical central city apartment dweller was a New Zealand native aged 24 to 35 with a professional job in the downtown area, with household income higher than surrounding areas.[51] Three quarters (73%) walked to work or university, 13% travelled by car, 6% by bus, 2% bicycled (although 31% own bicycles), and did not travel very far since 73% worked or studied in the central city.[51] The large majority (88%) did not have children in their apartments; 39% were couples without children; 32% were single-person households; 15% were groups of people flatting together.[51] Most (56%) owned their apartment; 42% rented (of renters, 16% paid NZ$351 to NZ$450 per week, 13% paid less and 15% paid more – only 3% paid more than NZ$651 per week).[51] The report continued: "The four most important reasons for living in an apartment were given as lifestyle and city living (23%), close to work (20%), close to shops and cafes (11%) and low maintenance (11%) ... City noise and noise from neighbours were the main turnoffs for apartment dwellers (27%), followed by a lack of outdoor space (17%), living close to neighbours (9%) and apartment size and a lack of storage space (8%)."[51][52] Households are primarily one-family, making up 66.9% of households, followed by single-person households (24.7%); there were fewer multiperson households and even fewer households containing two or more families. These counts are from the 2013 census for the Wellington region (which includes the surrounding area in addition to the four cities).[53] Economy The Government sector has long been a mainstay of the economy, which has typically risen and fallen with it. Traditionally, its central location meant it was the location of many head offices of various sectors – particularly finance, technology and heavy industry – many of which have since relocated to Auckland following economic deregulation and privatisation.[54][55] In recent years, tourism, arts and culture, film, and ICT have played a bigger role in the economy. Wellington's median income is well above the average in New Zealand,[56] and the highest of all New Zealand cities.[57] It has a much higher proportion of people with tertiary qualifications than the national average.[58] Major companies headquartered in Wellington include: Centreport Chorus Networks Contact Energy The Cooperative Bank Datacom Group Infratil KiwiRail Meridian Energy NZ Post NZX Todd Corporation Trade Me Weta Digital Wellington International Airport Xero Tourism Wellington Harbour and city from Brooklyn Wellington Harbour and cable car – view from Kelburn Tourism is a major contributor to the economy, injecting approximately NZ$1.3 billion into the region annually and accounting for 9% of total FTE employment.[59] The city is consistently named as New Zealanders’ favourite destination in the quarterly FlyBuys Colmar Brunton Mood of the Traveller survey[60] and it was fourth in Lonely Planet Best in Travel 2011’s Top 10 Cities to Visit in 2011.[5] New Zealanders make up the largest visitor market, with 3.6 million visits each year. New Zealand visitors spend on average NZ$2.4 million a day.[61] There are approximately 540,000 international visitors each year, who spend 3.7 million nights and NZ$436 million. The largest international visitor market is Australia, with over 210,000 visitors spending approximately NZ$334 million annually.[62] Wellington is marketed as the 'coolest little capital in the world' by Positively Wellington Tourism, an award-winning regional tourism organisation[63] set up as a council controlled organisation by Wellington City Council in 1997.[64] The organisation’s council funding comes through the Downtown Levy commercial rate.[65] In the decade to 2010, the city saw growth of over 60% in commercial guest nights. It has been promoted through a variety of campaigns and taglines, starting with the iconic Absolutely Positively Wellington advertisements.[66] The long-term domestic marketing strategy was a finalist in the 2011 CAANZ Media Awards.[67] Popular tourist attractions include Museum of Wellington City & Sea, Wellington Zoo, Zealandia and Wellington Cable Car. Cruise tourism is experiencing a major boom in line with nationwide development. The 2010/11 season saw 125,000 passengers and crew visit on 60 liners. There were 80 vessels booked for visits in the 2011/12 season – estimated to inject more than NZ$31 million into the economy and representing a 74% increase in the space of two years.[68] Wellington is a popular conference tourism destination due to its compact nature, cultural attractions, award-winning restaurants and access to government agencies. In the year ending March 2011, there were 6495 conference events involving nearly 800,000 delegate days; this injected approximately NZ$100 million into the economy.[69] Wellington is New Zealand's political centre, housing Parliament, the head offices of all Government Ministries and Departments and the bulk of the foreign diplomatic missions. It is an important centre of the film and theatre industry, and second to Auckland in terms of numbers of screen industry businesses.[13] Te Papa Tongarewa (the Museum of New Zealand), the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, the Royal New Zealand Ballet, Museum of Wellington City & Sea and the biennial New Zealand International Arts Festival are all sited there. Wellington had the 12th best quality of living in the world in 2014,[4] a ranking up from 13th place in 2012, according to a 2014 study by consulting company Mercer. Of cities with English as the primary language, it ranked fourth in 2007.[14] Of cities in the Asia Pacific region, it ranked third (2014) behind Auckland and Sydney.[4] It became much more affordable in terms of cost of living relative to cities worldwide, with its ranking moving from 93rd (more expensive) to 139th (less expensive) in 2009, probably as a result of currency fluctuations during the global economic downturn from March 2008 to March 2009.[15] "Foreigners get more bang for their buck in Wellington, which is among the cheapest cities in the world to live", according to a 2009 article, which reported that currency fluctuations make New Zealand cities affordable for multi-national firms to do business: "New Zealand cities were now more affordable for expatriates and were competitive places for overseas companies to develop business links and send employees".[16] Lonely Planet named Wellington 'the coolest little capital in the world' in its 'Best In Travel 2011' guide book. It is home to Weta Workshop, associated with Peter Jackson, behind critically acclaimed films like The Lord of the Rings, King Kong and Avatar. Wellington takes its name from Arthur Wellesley (1769-1852), the first Duke of Wellington and victor of the Battle of Waterloo (1815): his title comes from the town of Wellington in the English county of Somerset. It was named in November 1840 by the original settlers of the New Zealand Company on the suggestion of the directors of the same, in recognition of the Duke's strong support for the company's principles of colonisation and his "strenuous and successful defence against its enemies of the measure for colonising South Australia". One of the founders of the settlement, Edward Jerningham Wakefield, reported that the settlers "took up the views of the directors with great cordiality and the new name was at once adopted".[6] In Māori, Wellington has three names. Te Whanga-nui-a-Tara refers to Wellington Harbour and means "the great harbour of Tara";[7] 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);[8] 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, deriving from the legend of the fishing up of the island by the demi-god Māui. In New Zealand Sign Language, the name is signed by raising the index, middle and ring fingers of one hand, palm forward, to form a "W", and shaking it slightly from side to side twice while mouthing "Wellington".[9] The city's location close to the mouth of the narrow Cook Strait leads to its vulnerability to strong southerly gales, leading to the city's nickname of "Windy Wellington" or "The Windy City".[10] Wellington (/ˈwɛlɪŋtən/) is the capital city and second most populous urban area of New Zealand, with 393,600 residents.[3] It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range. It is the major population centre of the southern North Island, and is the administrative centre of the Wellington Region, which also includes the Kapiti Coast and Wairarapa. Wellington is the world's southernmost capital city of a sovereign state. The Wellington urban area comprises four cities: Wellington city, on the peninsula between Cook Strait and Wellington Harbour, contains the central business district and about half the population; Porirua on Porirua Harbour to the north is notable for its large Māori and Pacific Island communities; Lower Hutt and Upper Hutt are largely suburban areas to the northeast, together known as the Hutt Valley. The 2014 Mercer Quality of Living Survey ranked Wellington 12th in the world.[4] In 2011 Lonely Planet Best in Travel 2011 named Wellington as fourth in its Top 10 Cities to Visit in 2011, referring to it as the "coolest little capital in the world".[5] |
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