Auckland is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of approximately 1,547,200 (June 2025). It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and the islands of the Hauraki Gulf, and which has a total population of 1,816,000 as of June 2025. It is the most populous city of New Zealand and the fifth-most populous city in Oceania.
The city lies between the Hauraki Gulf to the east, the Hunua Ranges to the south-east, the Manukau Harbour to the south-west, and the Waitākere Ranges and smaller ranges to the west and north-west. The surrounding hills are covered in rainforest and the landscape is dotted with 53 volcanic centres that make up the Auckland Volcanic Field. The central part of the urban area occupies a narrow isthmus between the Manukau Harbour on the Tasman Sea and the Waitematā Harbour on the Pacific Ocean. Auckland is one of the few cities in the world to have a harbour on each of two separate major bodies of water.
The Auckland isthmus was first settled c. 1350 and was valued for its rich and fertile land. The Māori population in the area is estimated to have peaked at tens of thousands before the arrival of Europeans. After a British colony was established in New Zealand in 1840, William Hobson, then Lieutenant-Governor of New Zealand, chose Auckland as its new capital. Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei made a strategic gift of land to Hobson for the new capital. During the New Zealand wars many fencibles and soldiers were stationed in and around Auckland. In 1865, Auckland was replaced by Wellington as the capital, but continued to grow, initially because of its port and the logging and gold-mining activities in its hinterland, and later because of pastoral farming (especially dairy farming) in the surrounding area, and manufacturing in the city itself. It has been the nation's largest city throughout most of its history. Today, Auckland's central business district is New Zealand's leading economic hub.
While Europeans continue to make up the plurality of Auckland's population, the city became multicultural and cosmopolitan in the late 20th century, with Asians accounting for 34.9% of the city's population in 2023. In 2023 Auckland had the fourth largest foreign-born population in the world, with 43% of its residents born overseas. With its sizeable population of Pasifika New Zealanders, the city is also home to the largest ethnic Polynesian population in the world.
The University of Auckland, founded in 1883, is the largest university in New Zealand. The city's significant tourist attractions include national historic sites, festivals, performing arts, sports activities and a variety of cultural institutions, such as the Auckland War Memorial Museum, the Museum of Transport and Technology, and the Auckland Art Gallery. Its architectural landmarks include the Harbour Bridge, the Town Hall, the Ferry Building and the Sky Tower, which is the second-tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere after Thamrin Nine. The city is served by Auckland Airport, which handled 18.5 million passengers in 2024. Auckland is one of the world's most liveable cities, ranking fifth in the 2024 Mercer Quality of Living Survey and ninth in the 2024 Global Liveability Ranking by The Economist.
Toponymy
The Māori-language name for Auckland is Tāmaki Makaurau, meaning "Tāmaki desired by many", in reference to the desirability of its natural resources and geography. There are various theories of the origin of the name Tāmaki, which is also used to refer to an eastern suburb of Auckland. It is regarded by some to be the isthmus between the two harbours of the area, which is variously said to be named after a son of Maruiwi from Taranaki, a line of chiefs from the southern Taranaki, or a female leader of Ngāti Te Ata. Other versions of the name include Tāmakinui (great Tāmaki) or Tāmaki-herehere-ngā-waka (Tāmaki that binds many canoes).
William Hobson named the area after George Eden, Earl of Auckland, British First Lord of the Admiralty. The Earldom of Auckland was named after West Auckland, a village in County Durham, Northern England. The name "Auckland" in West Auckland is thought to originate from the Cumbric word "Alclud", which was the Kingdom of Strathclyde's alternative name meaning "cliff on the Clyde". It is thought 'Clyde' may be the river Gaunless' old name.
Auckland is popularly nicknamed the "City of Sails" or the "Queen City".
History
Early history
The Auckland isthmus was settled by Māori around 1350, and was valued for its rich and fertile land. Many pā (fortified villages) were built, mainly on the volcanic peaks. By the early 1700s, Te Waiohua, a confederation of tribes such as Ngā Oho, Ngā Riki and Ngā Iwi, was the main tribal group on the Auckland isthmus, with major pā at Maungakiekie / One Tree Hill, Māngere Mountain and Maungataketake. The confederation came to an end around 1741 when paramount chief Kiwi Tāmaki was killed in battle by Te Waha-akiaki, a chief of the Ngāti Whātua hapū Te Taoū. From the 1740s, Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei were the main tribe on the Auckland isthmus. The Māori population in the area is estimated to have been about 20,000 before the arrival of Europeans. The introduction of firearms at the end of the eighteenth century, which began in Northland, upset the balance of power and led to devastating intertribal warfare beginning in 1807, 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 settlement by European New Zealanders began.
On 20 March 1840 in the Manukau Harbour area where Ngāti Whātua farmed, paramount chief Apihai Te Kawau signed the Treaty of Waitangi. Ngāti Whātua sought British protection from Ngāpuhi as well as a reciprocal relationship with the Crown and the Church. Soon after signing the treaty, Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei made a strategic gift of 3,500 acres (1,400 ha) of land on the Waitematā Harbour to the new Governor of New Zealand, William Hobson, for the new capital, which Hobson named for George Eden, Earl of Auckland, then Viceroy of India. Auckland was founded on 18 September 1840 and was officially declared New Zealand's capital in 1841, and the transfer of the administration from Russell (now Old Russell) in the Bay of Islands was completed in 1842. However, even in 1840 Port Nicholson (later renamed Wellington) was seen as a better choice for an administrative capital because of its proximity to the South Island, and Wellington became the capital in 1865. After losing its status as capital, Auckland remained the principal city of the Auckland Province until the provincial system was abolished in 1876.
In response to the ongoing rebellion by Hōne Heke in the mid-1840s, the government encouraged retired but fit British soldiers and their families to migrate to Auckland to form a defence line around the port settlement as garrison soldiers. By the time the first Fencibles arrived in 1848, the Northern War had concluded. Outlying defensive towns were then constructed to the south, stretching in a line from the port village of Onehunga in the west to Howick in the east. Each of the four settlements had about 800 settlers.
In the early 1860s, Auckland became a base against the Māori King Movement, and the 12,000 Imperial soldiers stationed there gave a strong boost to local commerce. This, and continued road building towards the south into the Waikato region, enabled Pākehā (European New Zealanders) influence to spread from Auckland. The city's population grew fairly rapidly, from 1,500 in 1841 to 3,635 in 1845, then to 12,423 by 1864. The growth occurred similarly to other mercantile-dominated cities, mainly around the port and with problems of overcrowding and pollution. Auckland's population of ex-soldiers was far greater than that of other settlements: about 50 per cent of the population was Irish, which contrasted heavily with the majority English settlers in Wellington, Christchurch or New Plymouth. The majority of settlers in the early period were assisted by receiving cheap passage to New Zealand.
Modern history
Trams and railway lines shaped Auckland's rapid expansion in the early first half of the 20th century. However, after the Second World War, the city's transport system and urban form became increasingly dominated by the motor vehicle. Arterial roads and motorways became both defining and geographically dividing features of the urban landscape. They also allowed further massive expansion that resulted in the growth of suburban areas such as the North Shore (especially after the construction of the Auckland Harbour Bridge in the late 1950s), and Manukau City in the south.
Economic deregulation in the mid-1980s led to very dramatic changes to Auckland's economy, and many companies relocated their head offices from Wellington to Auckland. The region was now the nerve centre of the entire national economy. Auckland also benefited from a surge in tourism, which brought 75 per cent of New Zealand's international visitors through its airport. Auckland's port handled 31 per cent of the country's container trade in 2015.
The face of urban Auckland changed when the government's immigration policy began allowing immigrants from Asia in 1986. This has led to Auckland becoming a multicultural city, with people of all ethnic backgrounds. According to the 1961 census data, Māori and Pacific Islanders made up five per cent of Auckland's population; Asians less than one per cent. The city became home to the world's largest Polynesian population by the 1990s. By 2006, the Asian population had reached 18.0 per cent in Auckland, and 36.2 per cent in the central city. New arrivals from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Korea gave a distinctive character to the areas where they clustered, while a range of other immigrants introduced mosques, Hindu temples, Buddhist temples, halal and kosher butchers and ethnic restaurants to the suburbs.
Geography
Scope
The boundaries of Auckland are imprecisely defined. The Auckland urban area, as it is defined by Statistics New Zealand under the Statistical Standard for Geographic Areas 2018 (SSGA18), spans 607.07 square kilometres (234.39 sq mi) and extends to Long Bay in the north, Swanson in the north-west, and Runciman in the south. Auckland's functional urban area (commuting zone) extends from just south of Warkworth in the north to Meremere in the south, incorporating the Hibiscus Coast in the northeast, Helensville, Parakai, Muriwai, Waimauku, Kumeū-Huapai, and Riverhead in the northwest, Beachlands-Pine Harbour and Maraetai in the east, and Pukekohe, Clarks Beach, Patumāhoe, Waiuku, Tuakau and Pōkeno (the latter two in the Waikato region) in the south. Auckland forms New Zealand's largest urban area.
The Auckland urban area lies within the Auckland Region, an administrative region that takes its name from the city. The region encompasses the city centre, as well as suburbs, surrounding towns, nearshore islands, and rural areas north and south of the urban area.
The Auckland central business district is the most built-up area of the region. The CBD covers 433 hectares (1,070 acres) in a triangular area, and is bounded by the Auckland waterfront on the Waitematā Harbour and the inner-city suburbs of Ponsonby, Newton and Parnell.
Harbours and gulf
The central areas of the city are located on the Auckland isthmus, less than two kilometres wide at its narrowest point, between Māngere Inlet and the Tāmaki River. There are two harbours surrounding this isthmus: Waitematā Harbour to the north, which extends east to the Hauraki Gulf and thence to the Pacific Ocean, 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 Waitematā Harbour west of the central business district. The Māngere Bridge and the Upper Harbour Bridge span the upper reaches of the Manukau and Waitematā Harbours, respectively. In earlier times, portages crossed the narrowest sections of the isthmus.
Several islands of the Hauraki Gulf are administered as part of the Auckland Region, though they are not part of the Auckland urban area. Parts of Waiheke Island effectively function as Auckland suburbs, while various smaller islands near Auckland are mostly zoned 'recreational open space' or are nature sanctuaries.
Climate
Under the Köppen climate classification, Auckland has an oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification Cfb). However, under the Trewartha climate classification and according to the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA), the city's climate is classified as humid subtropical climate with warm summers and mild winters (Trewartha climate classification Cfbl). It is the warmest main centre of New Zealand.
Snowfall is extremely rare: the most significant fall since the start of the 20th century was on 27 July 1939, when snow fell just before dawn and five centimetres (2 in) of snow reportedly lay on Mount Eden. Snowflakes were also seen on 28 July 1930 and 15 August 2011.
Frosts in Auckland are infrequent and often localised. Henderson Riverpark receives an annual average of 27.4 ground frosts per year, while Auckland Airport receives an annual average of 8.7 ground frosts per year.
Average sea temperature around Auckland varies throughout the year. The water temperature is warmest in February when it averages 21 °C (70 °F), while in August, the water temperature is at its coolest, averaging 14 °C (57 °F).
Prevailing winds in Auckland are predominantly from the southwest. The mean annual wind speed for Auckland Airport is 18 kilometres per hour (11 mph). During the summer months there is often a sea breeze in Auckland which starts in the morning and dies down again in the evening. The early morning calm on the isthmus during settled weather, before the sea breeze rises, was described as early as 1853: "In all seasons, the beauty of the day is in the early morning. At that time, generally, a solemn stillness holds, and a perfect calm prevails...".
Fog is a common occurrence for Auckland, especially in autumn and winter. Whenuapai Airport experiences an average of 44 fog days per year.
Auckland occasionally suffers from air pollution due to fine particle emissions. There are also occasional 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.
The record low temperature is −5.7 °C (21.7 °F) recorded at Riverhead Forest in June 1936, while the maximum recorded temperature is 34.0 °C (93.2 °F) on 12 February 2009. The record lowest daily maximum is 8.0 °C (46.4 °F) recorded on both 13 June 1976 and 16 August 2011. The record highest daily minimum is 23.6 °C (74.5 °F) on 12 February 2022. The record highest dew point is 25.0 °C (77.0 °F) recorded on 10 March 1972. The most humid month on record was January 2018 with an average dew point of 18.0 °C (64.4 °F). The warmest month on record was February 1990 with an average mean temperature of 22.1 °C (71.8 °F).