[[Image:Auckland - New Zealand.jpg|thumb|The city and harbor]]
'''Auckland''' (Maori: Tāmaki-makau-rau) is the largest city in [[New Zealand]], located on the North Island. It is a city of 1.3 million people. It is colloquially known as the "City of Sails" due to the high number of yachts and its favorable conditions for sailing. It hosted the [[America's Cup]] in 2000 and 2004. Auckland has the largest population of Polynesian people in the world. It is located on an isthmus between two harbors, the Manukau and Waitemata. Due to it's significant urban sprawl, Auckland encompasses has four administrative regions; Auckland city, Waitakere city, Manukau city and North Shore city. Auckland is situated in an area with many extinct volcanoes. This resulted in heavy indigenous inhabitation, as the volcanoes produced fertile land and easily defensible terrain.
==Economy==
In the mid 20th century, Auckland was also center of iron making industry, manufacturing much bog iron from the numerous swamps in the surrounding area. The iron industry in Auckland produced a variety of goods including stoves tacks (Field Tack Company) and machinery. Founded by Thomas Pearce which produced machinery for the textile industry, as well as steam locomotives. The Auckland locomotive region also operated in the city during this time.
[[Category:New Zealand Cities and Towns]]