Wellington

Wellington is the capital of New Zealand, at the southern tip of the North Island on the shores of Cook Strait. It is named after Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington, and its Māori name Te Whanganui-a-Tara means the great harbor of Tara.

Māori tradition tells that the explorer Kupe found the harbor, and Te Āti Awa and other iwi lived on its shores. Settlers of the New Zealand Company arrived in 1840 and moved from the beach at Petone to the site of the present center. Wellington replaced Auckland as the capital in 1865, chosen for its place in the middle of the country. The Wellington Cable Car opened in the early 1900s to carry passengers up the hill from Lambton Quay to Kelburn.

Wētā Workshop and Wētā FX, both based in the Miramar district, made the props, costumes and visual effects for Peter Jackson's films of The Lord of the Rings. Xero, founded in Wellington, sells accounting software for small businesses online, and Trade Me runs an online marketplace from its office in the city.

Te Papa, the national museum, holds Māori treasures and a colossal squid in its building on the waterfront. Zealandia, a valley ringed by a predator-proof fence, protects native birds such as the takahē and the kākā. Cuba Street, a pedestrian street of cafés, bookshops and the bucket fountain, keeps the bohemian side of the city. The lookout on Mount Victoria shows the harbor, the airport runway and the hills around the city.