Wellington Introduction

Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand, located in the south of the North Island of New Zealand. It is the second largest city of New Zealand, and together with Sydney and Melbourne, it is the cultural center of Oceania. Wellington is famous for its beautiful natural ports and the green hills. The hills are decorated by the foreign-styled houses with tile-roofs built during the colonial era. The business center of the city is located near the ports. The Nixon Harbor stretches along an active geological fault. The sharp-risen terrain in the west leads to the result that many urban districts are higher than the city center. There are many examples of ancient architectures in Wellington, The National Museum of New Zeal - Te Papa, from which you can overlook the harbors and is a place than should never be missed. In Wellington, you can go to Mount Victoria Park to visit the filming location of the film The Lord of Rings. To get to the observatory, you can take the cable car with a history of over a hundred years, etc. The nightlife here is wonderful as well. Many festivals, concerts, and exhibitions are held here and it is also a shopping paradise.

History and Culture

The Polyniesans came to settle here in 10 A. D. In 1840, after the UK signed an treaty with the Kuaumatua (head of the Moris), a great number of English immigrants came here. At first, it was called “Britainian,” which means “the place of Britain,” afterwards it was developed into a town and then expanded to the scale we see today. In 1815, it was named after the well-known English captain Lord Wellington who defeated Napoleon. After New Zealand become the colony of the UK, Oakland was set as the capital, but people lived in the South Island thought that Oakland, located in the north of the North Island, was unsuitable to be the capital. After many disagreements, Wellington was chosen as the capital in 1865. Disputes of lands and floods damaged the development of the colony during the early periods. In 1852, sea reclamation began in Wellington and helped to overcome the shortage of the land and allowed the city to flourish. The 8.2-magnitude earthquake in 1855 has directly led to the expansion of the sea reclamation. Wellington is one of the famous tourism cities in the Pacific Ocean. The ancient buildings that are still preserved in the city include the Government Building, built in 1876, which is the one of the most splendid wooden structure building in the southern Pacific area; the marvelous Paul Cathedral built in 1866; the City Hall built in 1904. The prestigious War Memorial was built in 1932. There are 49 bells hanging on the carillon inside, on which the names of battlefields which the New Zealanders had attended in World War I were carved.