Wellington Region

41°17′S 174°46′E

Greater Wellington Wellington Regional Council
Country:	New Zealand
Present day Wellington region
Regional Council
Name:	Greater Wellington
Chair:	Ian Buchanan
Population:	464,700 June 2006 estimate [1]
Land Area:	8140km²
Website:	http://www.gw.govt.nz
Cities and Towns
Cities:	Wellington, Lower Hutt, Porirua, Upper Hutt
Towns:	Otaki, Paraparaumu, Waikanae, Greytown, Masterton, Featherston, Carterton, Raumati
Constituent Territorial Authorities
Names:	Wellington City Hutt City Upper Hutt City Porirua City Kapiti Coast District Masterton District Carterton District South Wairarapa District Part of Tararua District
Websites:

The Wellington region of New Zealand occupies the southern end of the North Island.

Governance

The official Wellington Region, as administered by the Wellington Regional Council (under the brand-name "Greater Wellington") covers the conurbation around the capital city, Wellington, and the cities of Lower Hutt, Porirua, and Upper Hutt, each of which also contains a rural hinterland. It extends up the west coast of the North Island, taking in the coastal settlements of the Kapiti Coast district, which includes the southern fringe of the area commonly known as the Horowhenua, and included three largely rural districts east of the Rimutaka Range, containing most of the area known as the Wairarapa. These include the towns of Masterton and Carterton.

Regional Councillors

Function	Name	Constituency	Ticket
Chair	Fran Wilde	Wellington
Councillor	Chris Laidlaw	Wellington
Councillor	Terry McDavitt	Wellington
Councillor	Sally Baber	Wellington
Councillor	Judith Aitken	Wellington
Councillor	Chris Turver	Kapiti
Councillor	Glen Evans	Lower Hutt
Councillor	Sandra Greig	Lower Hutt
Councillor	Peter Glensor	Lower Hutt
Councillor	Rex Kirton	Upper Hutt
Councillor	Ian Buchanan	Wairarapa
Councillor	Rick Long	Wairarapa

Definitions of Wellington

In some public perception, the term "Wellington region" is much smaller. For some people, it is does not include either the Kapiti Coast or the Wairarapa, both of which have their own distinct communities and identities. It is thus centred more heavily on the four cities at the southwest of the region.

To add to the confusion, during the 19th century New Zealand was run by provincial governments. The Wellington Province extended far further north, taking in the cities of Palmerston North and Wanganui.

Geography

A composite landsat-7 image of the southwestern part of the Wellington Region

The region occupies the southern tip of the North Island, bounded to the west, south, and east by water. To the west lies the Tasman Sea and to the east the Pacific Ocean. At the southern end of the island these two bodies of water are joined by the narrow and turbulent Cook Strait, which is only 28 km wide at its narrowest point, between Cape Terawhiti and Perano Head in the Marlborough Sounds.

The region covers 7,860 km², and extends north to Otaki in the west and almost to Eketahuna in the east. Physically and topologically the region has four basic areas running roughly parallel to each other along a northeast-southwest axis.

The first of these four regions is a narrow coastal strip of plains running north from Paekakariki. This area, known as the Kapiti coast, contains numerous small towns, many of which gain at least a proportion of their wealth from tourism, largely due to their fine beaches.

Inland from this is rough hill country, formed along the same major geologic fault responsible for the Southern Alps in the South Island. Though nowhere near as mountainous as these, the Rimutaka and Tararua Ranges are still hard country and support only small populations, although it is in small coastal valleys and plains at the southern end of these ranges that the cities of Wellington and the Hutt Valley are located.

The third topological stripe of the region is the undulating hill country of the Wairarapa around the Ruamahanga River. This area, which beomes lower and flatter in the south, terminates in the wetlands around Lake Wairarapa and contains much rich farmland. The final section of the region's topology is another section of rough hill country, lower than the Tararuas but far less economic than the land around the Ruamahanga River. Both of the hillier striations of the region are still largely forested.

History

The Māori who originally settled the Wellington area knew it as Te Upoko o te Ika a Māui, meaning "the head of Māui's fish". Legend recounts that Kupe discovered and explored the district in about the tenth century.

The Wellington region was settled by Europeans in 1839 by the New Zealand Company. Wellington City became the capital of Wellington Province upon the creation of the province in 1853, until its abolition of Provinces in New Zealand in 1876. Wellington became capital of New Zealand in 1865, the third capital of New Zealand after Auckland, and Russell.

People

Aerial view of Wellington city

Over three-quarters of the region's 464,700 people (2006 estimate) reside in the four cities at the southwestern corner of the region. Other main centres of population are on the Kapiti Coast and in the fertile farming areas close to the upper Ruamahanga River in the Wairarapa.

Along the Kapiti Coast, numerous small towns sit close together, many of them occupying spaces close to popular beaches. From the north, these include Otaki, Waikanae, Paraparaumu, the twin settlements of Raumati Beach and Raumati South, Paekakariki and Pukerua Bay, the last of which is a northern suburb of Porirua. Each of these settlements has a population of between 2,000 and 10,000, making this a moderately heavily populated coastline.

In the Wairarapa the largest community by a considerable distance is Masterton, with a population of almost 20,000. Other towns in the area include Featherston, Martinborough, Carterton and Greytown.

Famous sons and daughters

• Jane Campion - film-maker
• Russell Crowe - actor
• Peter Jackson - film-maker
• Raybon Kan - comedian
• Katherine Mansfield - writer
• Jack Marshall - former Prime Minister
• Tana Umaga - former All Black Captain
• Nancy Wake - war hero
• Michael Campbell - Winner of US Open 2005
• Pollyfilla - drag queen

External links

• Semi-official map of territorial boundaries and links to their websites
• Greater Wellington official website