Auckland City (orange). The darker orange shows the urban area within the (grey) greater Auckland conurbation's urban area. The city centre is ringed. Note that the city also encompasses the islands of the inner Hauraki Gulf (upper right) and the outer Gulf (not shown).
Auckland City coat of arms
This article is about the City of Auckland. For a more general overview about the whole metropolitan area, see the main article Auckland.
Auckland City is the largest city in New Zealand, with the provisional estimated resident population being 425,400 as at 20 June 2005.The Auckland Regional Council is based in Auckland City. The city's mayor is Dick Hubbard.
In 1989 central Government restructured local authorities throughout New Zealand. Auckland City was merged with eight smaller local authorities to form a new Auckland City. The new city had double the population of the old and the amalgamation set the present-day boundaries of the city.
The mainland part of Auckland City lies on an isthmus. The Waitemata Harbour, which opens to the Hauraki Gulf, separates the isthmus from North Shore City and north. The Manukau Harbour, which opens to the Tasman Sea, separates the isthmus from Manukau City and the south.
The islands of the inner gulf include Rangitoto, Motutapu, Browns Island, Motuihe, Rakino, Ponui and Waiheke, while the outer gulf islands include Little Barrier, Great Barrier and the Mokohinau Islands.A significant portion of Auckland's CBD is built on land reclaimed over the last 100 years. Substantial development of such under-utilised areas to the west of the CBD has been projected, with large businesses beginning to relocate there as of 2006.
