🇳🇿 New Zealand
Auckland
Auckland (Tāmaki Makaurau in Māori — "Tāmaki desired by many," a name reflecting the fertility and desirability of the Auckland isthmus that was fought over by Māori tribes for centuries) is the largest city in New Zealand (population 1.7 million in the Auckland urban area — 35% of New Zealand's entire population in a single city) and the commercial, cultural and sporting capital of the country. Auckland is built on one of the most geologically active urban landscapes in the world: the Auckland Volcanic Field (53 volcanoes, of which the youngest (Rangitoto Island) erupted only 600 years ago): the city sits on a 2km-wide isthmus between the Waitemata Harbour (the Pacific Ocean side) and the Manukau Harbour (the Tasman Sea side) — the narrowest point in New Zealand — and the extinct volcanic cones (now grassy hills within the city) provide the most dramatic urban topography in the Southern Hemisphere. Auckland is also one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the world: 39% of Auckland residents were born outside New Zealand, the third highest proportion of any major city (after Dubai and Brussels), with large communities from the Pacific Islands (Samoa, Tonga, Fiji — Auckland is the largest Polynesian city in the world), India, China and the UK.