Auckland is the largest and most populous urban area in New Zealand with a population approaching 1.4 million residents. It is one of the few cities in the world to have harbours on two separate major bodies of water.
The isthmus was first settled around 1350 and was valued for its rich and fertile land.
After the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in February 1840, the new Governor of New Zealand, William Hobson, chose the area as his new capital until Wellington replaced it in 1865.