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Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island), and is the administrative centre of the Wellington Region. It is the world's southernmost capital of a sovereign state. (2026). 9781904994367, Guinness World Records Ltd. ISBN 9781904994367 Wellington features a temperate maritime climate, and is the world's windiest city by average wind speed.
Māori oral tradition tells that Kupe discovered and explored the region in about the 10th century. The area was initially settled by Māori iwi such as Rangitāne and Muaūpoko. The disruptions of the Musket Wars led to them being overwhelmed by northern iwi such as Te Āti Awa in the early 19th century.
Wellington's current form was originally designed by Captain William Mein Smith, the first Surveyor General for Edward Wakefield's New Zealand Company, in 1840. Smith's plan included a series of interconnected , expanding along valleys and lower hill slopes, but without actually taking the terrain into account. The Wellington urban area, which only includes urbanised areas within Wellington City, has a population of as of . The wider Wellington metropolitan area, including the cities of Lower Hutt, Porirua and Upper Hutt, has a population of as of . The city has served as New Zealand's capital since 1865, a status that is not defined in legislation, but established by convention; the New Zealand Government and Parliament, the Supreme Court and most of the public services are based in the city.
Wellington's economy is primarily Service sector-based, with an emphasis on government, finance, business services, and the film industry. It is the centre of New Zealand's film and special effects industries, and increasingly a hub for information technology and innovation, with two public research universities. Wellington is one of New Zealand's chief seaports and serves both domestic and international shipping. The city is chiefly served by Wellington Airport in Rongotai, the country's third-busiest airport. Wellington's transport network includes train and bus lines, which reach as far as the Kāpiti Coast and Wairarapa, and ferries connect the city to the South Island.
Often referred to as New Zealand's cultural capital, the culture of Wellington is diverse and often youth-driven. One of the world's most liveable cities, the 2021 Global Livability Ranking tied Wellington with Tokyo as fourth in the world. From 2017 to 2018, Deutsche Bank ranked it first in the world for both liveability and non-pollution. Cultural precincts such as Cuba Street and Newtown are renowned for creative innovation, "Charity shop", historic character, and food. Wellington is a leading financial centre in the Asia-Pacific region, being ranked 46th in the world by the Global Financial Centres Index for 2024. The global city has grown from a bustling Māori settlement, to a colonial outpost, and from there to an capital that has experienced a "remarkable creative resurgence".
In the Māori language, Wellington has three names:
The legendary Māori explorer Kupe, a chief from Hawaiki (the homeland of Polynesian explorers, of unconfirmed geographical location, not to be confused with Hawaii), was said to have stayed in the harbour prior to 1000 CE. Here, it is said he had a notable impact on the area, with local mythology stating he named the two islands in the harbour after his daughters, Matiu (Somes Island), and Mākaro (Ward Island).
In New Zealand Sign Language, the name is signed by raising the index, middle, and ring fingers of one hand, palm forward, to form a "W", and shaking it slightly from side to side twice.
The city's location close to the mouth of the narrow Cook Strait leaves it vulnerable to strong gales, leading to the nickname of "Windy Wellington".
Before the 1820s, most of the inhabitants of the Wellington region identified as being Whatonga's descendants.Waitangi Tribunal, Te Whanganui a Tara me ona Takiwa, page 18
At about 1820, the people living there were Ngāti Ira and other groups who claimed descent from the explorer Whatonga, including Rangitāne and Muaūpoko.Waitangi Tribunal (2026). 186956264X, Legislation Direct. 186956264X However, these groups were eventually forced out of Te Whanganui-a-Tara by a series of migrations by other iwi (Māori tribes) from the north. The migrating groups were Ngāti Toa, which came from Kawhia Harbour, Ngāti Rangatahi, from near Taumarunui, and Te Ātiawa, Ngāti Tama, Ngāti Mutunga, Taranaki and Ngāti Ruanui from Taranaki. Ngāti Mutunga later moved on to the Chatham Islands. The Waitangi Tribunal has found that at the time of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, Te Ātiawa, Taranaki, Ngāti Ruanui, Ngāti Tama, and Ngāti Toa held mana whenua interests in the area, through conquest and occupation.
European settlement began with the arrival of an advance party of the New Zealand Company on the ship Tory on 20 September 1839, followed by 150 settlers on the Aurora on 22 January 1840. Thus, the Wellington settlement preceded the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi (on 6 February 1840). The 1840 settlers constructed their first homes at Petone (which they called Britannia for a time) on the flat area at the mouth of the Hutt River. Within months that area proved swampy and flood-prone, and most of the newcomers transplanted their settlement across Wellington Harbour to Thorndon in present-day Wellington. The town's layout was originally designed by Captain William Mein Smith, the first Surveyor General for the New Zealand Company, in 1840. Smith's plan included a series of interconnected , expanding along valleys and lower hill slopes, but without actually taking the terrain into account. Early growth was quick, with 700 buildings constructed by 1843. By 1865, the city had only grown to 1,200 buildings, the majority in Te Aro, with Newtown largely undeveloped. (2026). 9781927242568, Steele Roberts Aotearoa. ISBN 9781927242568
Wellington became the capital city in place of Auckland, which William Hobson had made the capital in 1841. The New Zealand Parliament had first met in Wellington on 7 July 1862, temporarily; in November 1863, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Alfred Domett, placed a resolution before Parliament in Auckland that "... it has become necessary that the seat of government ... should be transferred to some suitable locality in Cook Strait region." There had been some concerns that the more populous South Island (where the goldfields were located) would choose to form a separate colony in the British Empire. Several commissioners (delegates) invited from Australia, chosen for their neutral status, declared that the city was a suitable location because of its central location in New Zealand and its good harbour; it was believed that the whole Royal Navy fleet could fit into the harbour. Wellington's status as the capital is a result of constitutional convention rather than statute.
Wellington is New Zealand's political centre, housing the nation's major government institutions. The New Zealand Parliament relocated to the new capital city, having spent the first ten years of its existence in Auckland. A session of parliament officially met in the capital for the first time on 26 July 1865. At that time, the population of Wellington was just 4,900.
The Government Buildings were constructed at Lambton Quay in 1876. The site housed the original government departments in New Zealand. The public service rapidly expanded beyond the capacity of the building, with the first department leaving shortly after it was opened; by 1975 only the Education Department remained, and by 1990 the building was empty. The capital city is also the location of the highest court, the Supreme Court, and the historic former High Court building (opened 1881) has been, which enlarged and restored for its use. The Governor-General's residence, Government House (the current building completed in 1910) is situated in Newtown, opposite the Basin Reserve. Premier House (built in 1843 for Wellington's first mayor, George Hunter), the official residence of the prime minister, is in Thorndon on Tinakori Road.
In 1903 Wellington annexed the Melrose Borough,Gerald Taylor Bloomfield (1973). 019647714X, Auckland: Auckland University Press. 019647714X in 1919 it annexed the Borough of Onslow and Karori and Miramar boroughs in 1920. The Johnsonville Town District was annexed in 1953.Gerald Taylor Bloomfield (1973). 019647714X, Auckland : Auckland University Press. 019647714X
Over six months in 1939 and 1940, Wellington hosted the New Zealand Centennial Exhibition, celebrating a century since the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. Held on 55 acres of land at Rongotai, it featured three exhibition courts, grand Art Deco-style edifices and a hugely popular three-acre amusement park. Wellington attracted more than 2.5 million visitors at a time when New Zealand's population was 1.6 million.
With a latitude of 41° 17' South, Wellington is the southernmost capital city in the world. (2026). 9781904994367, Guinness World Records Ltd. ISBN 9781904994367
Wellington is more densely populated than most other cities in New Zealand due to the restricted amount of land that is available between its harbour and the surrounding hills. It has very few open areas in which to expand, and this has brought about the development of the suburban towns. Because of its location in the Roaring Forties and its exposure to the winds blowing through Cook Strait, Wellington is the world's windiest city, with an average wind speed of .
Wellington's scenic natural harbour and green hillsides adorned with tiered suburbs of colonial villas are popular with tourists. The central business district (CBD) is close to Lambton Harbour, an arm of Wellington Harbour, which lies along an active geological fault, clearly evident on its straight western shore. The land to the west of this rises abruptly, meaning that many suburbs sit high above the centre of the city. There is a network of bush walks and reserves maintained by the Wellington City and local volunteers. These include Ōtari-Wilton's Bush, dedicated to the protection and propagation of native plants. The Wellington region has of regional parks and forests. In the east is the Miramar Peninsula, connected to the rest of the city by a low-lying isthmus at Rongotai, the site of Wellington Airport. Industry has developed mainly in the Hutt Valley, where there are food-processing plants, engineering industries, vehicle assembly and oil refineries.
The narrow entrance to the harbour is to the east of the Miramar Peninsula, and contains the dangerous shallows of Barrett Reef, where many ships have been wrecked (notably the inter-island ferry in 1968). The harbour has three islands: Matiu/Somes Island, Makaro/Ward Island and Mokopuna Island. Only Matiu/Somes Island is large enough for habitation. It has been used as a quarantine station for people and animals, and was an internment during both world wars. It is a conservation island, providing refuge for endangered species, much like Kapiti Island farther up the coast. There is access during daylight hours by ferry.
The area has high seismic activity even by New Zealand standards, with a major fault, the Wellington Fault, running through the centre of the city and several others nearby. Several hundred minor faults lines have been identified within the urban area. Inhabitants, particularly in high-rise buildings, typically notice several earthquakes every year. For many years after the 1855 earthquake, the majority of buildings were made entirely from wood. The 1996-restored Government Buildings near Parliament is the largest wooden building in the Southern Hemisphere. While masonry and structural steel have subsequently been used in building construction, especially for office buildings, timber framing remains the primary structural component of almost all residential construction. Residents place their confidence in good building code, which became more stringent in the 20th century. Since the Canterbury earthquakes of 2010 and 2011, earthquake readiness has become even more of an issue, with buildings declared by Wellington City Council to be earthquake-prone, and the costs of meeting new standards.
Every five years, a year-long slow earthquake occurs beneath Wellington, stretching from Kāpiti to the Marlborough Sounds. It was first measured in 2003, and reappeared in 2008 and 2013. They release as much energy as a magnitude 7 earthquake, but due to their slow nature, cause no damage.
During July and August 2013 there were many earthquakes, mostly in Cook Strait near Seddon. The sequence started on 21 July 2013 when the magnitude 6.5 Seddon earthquake hit the city, but no tsunami report was confirmed nor any major damage. On 16 August 2013 the Lake Grassmere earthquake struck, this time magnitude 6.6, but again no major damage occurred, though many buildings were evacuated. Strong 6.6 earthquake hits Wellington, aftershocks... . Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 7 September 2013. On 20 January 2014 a rolling 6.2 magnitude earthquake struck the lower North Island 15 km east of Eketāhuna and was felt in Wellington, but little damage was reported initially, except at Wellington Airport where one of the two giant eagle sculptures commemorating The Hobbit became detached from the ceiling.
At two minutes after midnight on Monday 14 November 2016, the 7.8 magnitude Kaikōura earthquake, which was centred between Culverden and Kaikōura in the South Island, caused the Wellington CBD, Victoria University of Wellington, and the Wellington suburban rail network to be largely closed for the day to allow inspections. The earthquake damaged a considerable number of buildings, with 65% of the damage being in Wellington. Subsequently, a number of recent buildings were demolished rather than being rebuilt, often a decision made by the insurer. Two of the buildings demolished were about eleven years old – the seven-storey NZDF headquarters and Statistics House at CentrePort on the waterfront. The docks were closed for several weeks after the earthquake.
On 29 January 2019, the suburb of Kelburn (instruments near the old Metservice building in the Wellington Botanic Garden) reached , the highest temperature since records began in 1927.
Wellington City had a population of 202,689 in the 2023 New Zealand census, a decrease of 48 people (−0.0%) since the 2018 census, and an increase of 11,733 people (6.1%) since the 2013 census. There were 97,641 males, 102,372 females and 2,673 people of other genders in 77,835 dwellings. 9.0% of people identified as LGBTQ. The median age was 34.9 years (compared with 38.1 years nationally). There were 29,142 people (14.4%) aged under 15 years, 55,080 (27.2%) aged 15 to 29, 94,806 (46.8%) aged 30 to 64, and 23,664 (11.7%) aged 65 or older.
People could identify as more than one ethnicity. The results were 72.1% European (Pākehā); 9.8% Māori; 5.7% Pasifika; 20.4% Asian; 3.6% Middle Eastern, Latin American and African New Zealanders (MELAA); and 2.1% other, which includes people giving their ethnicity as "New Zealander". English was spoken by 96.3%, Māori language by 2.7%, Samoan by 1.7% and other languages by 23.4%. No language could be spoken by 1.6% (e.g. too young to talk). New Zealand Sign Language was known by 0.6%. The percentage of people born overseas was 34.4, compared with 28.8% nationally.
Religious affiliations were 26.9% Christian, 3.8% Hindu, 1.8% Islam, 0.4% Māori religious beliefs, 1.7% Buddhist, 0.5% New Age, 0.3% Jewish, and 1.9% other religions. People who answered that they had no religion were 57.7%, and 5.2% of people did not answer the census question.
Of those at least 15 years old, 62,484 (36.0%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, 66,657 (38.4%) had a post-high school certificate or diploma, and 24,339 (14.0%) people exclusively held high school qualifications. The median income was $55,500, compared with $41,500 nationally. 40,872 people (23.6%) earned over $100,000 compared to 12.1% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 102,369 (59.0%) people were employed full-time, 24,201 (13.9%) were part-time, and 5,283 (3.0%) were unemployed.
| +Individual wards |
| $55,900 |
| $64,300 |
| $49,700 |
| $54,500 |
| $54,200 |
In 2024, Wellington was ranked as a highly affordable city in terms of cost of living, coming in at 145th out of 226 cities in the Mercer worldwide Cost of Living Survey.
In 2019, Mercer ranked cities on personal safety, including internal stability, crime levels, law enforcement, limitations on personal freedom, relationships with other countries and freedom of the press. Wellington shared ninth place internationally with Auckland.
| +Ethnic groups of Wellington metro residents, 2006–23 census |
| 72.1 |
| 9.8 |
| 5.7 |
| 20.4 |
| 3.6 |
| 1.1 |
| 0.0 |
The urban area had a population of 201,708 in the 2023 New Zealand census, a decrease of 84 people (−0.0%) since the 2018 census, and an increase of 11,595 people (6.1%) since the 2013 census. There were 97,143 males, 101,898 females and 2,667 people of other genders in 77,472 dwellings. 9.0% of people identified as LGBTQ. The median age was 34.9 years (compared with 38.1 years nationally). There were 28,986 people (14.4%) aged under 15 years, 54,912 (27.2%) aged 15 to 29, 94,272 (46.7%) aged 30 to 64, and 23,541 (11.7%) aged 65 or older.
People could identify as more than one ethnicity. The results were 72.0% European (Pākehā); 9.8% Māori; 5.7% Pasifika; 20.5% Asian; 3.6% Middle Eastern, Latin American and African New Zealanders (MELAA); and 2.1% other, which includes people giving their ethnicity as "New Zealander". English was spoken by 96.3%, Māori language by 2.7%, Samoan by 1.8% and other languages by 23.5%. No language could be spoken by 1.7% (e.g. too young to talk). New Zealand Sign Language was known by 0.6%. The percentage of people born overseas was 34.4, compared with 28.8% nationally.
Religious affiliations were 26.9% Christian, 3.8% Hindu, 1.8% Islam, 0.4% Māori religious beliefs, 1.7% Buddhist, 0.5% New Age, 0.3% Jewish, and 1.9% other religions. People who answered that they had no religion were 57.6%, and 5.2% of people did not answer the census question.
Of those at least 15 years old, 62,259 (36.0%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, 66,273 (38.4%) had a post-high school certificate or diploma, and 24,219 (14.0%) people exclusively held high school qualifications. The median income was $55,400, compared with $41,500 nationally. 40,632 people (23.5%) earned over $100,000 compared to 12.1% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 101,892 (59.0%) people were employed full-time, 24,063 (13.9%) were part-time, and 5,268 (3.0%) were unemployed.
The oldest building is the 1858 Nairn Street Cottage in Mount Cook. The tallest building is the Majestic Centre on Willis Street at 116 metres high, the second-tallest being the structural expressionist Aon Centre (Wellington) at 103 metres. Futuna Chapel in Karori is an iconic building designed by Māori architect John Scott and is architecturally considered one of the most significant New Zealand buildings of the 20th century. was the Anglican pro-cathedral, and is one of the oldest structures in Wellington.|225x225px]] Old St Paul's is an example of 19th-century Gothic Revival architecture adapted to colonial conditions and materials, as is St Mary of the Angels. Sacred Heart Cathedral is a Palladian Revival Basilica with the Portico of a Roman Temple. The Museum of Wellington City & Sea in the Bond Store is in the Second French Empire style, and the Wellington Harbour Board Wharf Office Building is in a late English Classical style. There are several restored theatre buildings: the St James Theatre, the Opera House and the Embassy Theatre.
Te Ngākau Civic Square is surrounded by the Town Hall and council offices, the Michael Fowler Centre, the Wellington Central Library, the City-to-Sea Bridge, and the City Gallery.
As it is the capital city, there are many notable government buildings. The Executive Wing of New Zealand Parliament Buildings, on the corner of Lambton Quay and Molesworth Street, was constructed between 1969 and 1981 and is commonly referred to as the Beehive. Across the road is the largest wooden building in the Southern Hemisphere, part of the old Government Buildings which now houses part of Victoria University of Wellington's Law Faculty. A modernist building housing the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa lies on the waterfront, on Cable Street. It is strengthened using base isolation – essentially seating the entire building on supports made from lead, steel and rubber that slow down the effect of an earthquake.
Other notable buildings include Wellington Town Hall, Wellington railway station, Dominion Museum (now Massey University), Aon Centre (Wellington), Wellington Regional Stadium, and Wellington Airport at Rongotai. Leading architects include Frederick Thatcher, Frederick de Jersey Clere, W. Gray Young, Bill Alington, Ian Athfield, Roger Walker. on the Wellington waterfront]]Wellington contains many iconic sculptures and structures, such as the Bucket Fountain in Cuba Street and Invisible City by Anton Parsons on Lambton Quay. Kinetic sculptures have been commissioned, such as the Zephyrometer. This 26-metre orange spike built for movement by artist Phil Price has been described as "tall, soaring and elegantly simple", which "reflects the swaying of the yacht masts in the Evans Bay Marina behind it" and "moves like the needle on the dial of a nautical instrument, measuring the speed of the sea or wind or vessel."
Wellington has many different architectural styles, such as classic Painted ladies in Mount Victoria, Newtown and Oriental Bay, Wooden Art Deco houses spread throughout (especially further north in the Hutt Valley), the classic masonry buildings in Cuba Street, state houses particularly in the Hutt and Wellington's southern suburbs, railway houses in Ngaio and other railway-side suburbs, large modern buildings in the city centre (such as the distinctive skyscraper called the Majestic Centre) and grand Victorian buildings common in the inner city as well.
Housing costs have been identified as making it difficult for those in professions such as nursing, for example – to afford to live in Wellington. The median rent in Wellington has also increased significantly in recent years to $600 per week, higher even than Auckland.
Households are primarily one-family, making up 66.9% of households, followed by single-person households (24.7%); there were fewer multiperson households and even fewer households containing two or more families. These counts are from the 2013 census for the Wellington region (which includes the surrounding area in addition to the four cities).
In recent years, tourism, arts and culture, film, and ICT have played a bigger role in the economy. Wellington's median income is well above the average in New Zealand, and the highest of all New Zealand cities. It has a much higher proportion of people with tertiary qualifications than the national average. Major companies with their headquarters in Wellington include:
At the 2013 census, the largest employment industries for Wellington residents were professional, scientific and technical services (25,836 people), public administration and safety (24,336 people), health care and social assistance (17,446 people), education and training (16,550 people) and retail trade (16,203 people). In addition, Wellington is an important centre of the New Zealand film and theatre industry, and second to Auckland in terms of numbers of screen industry businesses.
New Zealanders make up the largest visitor market, with 3.6 million visits each year; New Zealand visitors spend on average NZ$2.4 million a day. There are approximately 540,000 international visitors each year, who spend 3.7 million nights and NZ$436 million. The largest international visitor market is Australia, with over 210,000 visitors, spending approximately NZ$334 million annually. It has been argued that the construction of the Te Papa museum helped transform Wellington into a tourist destination.
Wellington tourism is promoted by Positively Wellington Tourism, an organisation to promote regional tourism, set up as a council controlled organisation by Wellington City Council in 1997. The organisation's council funding comes through the Downtown Levy commercial rate. In the decade to 2010, the city saw growth of over 60% in commercial guest nights. It has been promoted through a variety of campaigns and taglines, starting with the iconic Absolutely Positively Wellington advertisements. The long-term domestic marketing strategy was a finalist in the 2011 CAANZ Media Awards. Popular tourist attractions include Wellington Museum, Wellington Zoo, Zealandia and Wellington Cable Car. Cruise ship is experiencing a major boom in line with nationwide development. The 2010/11 season saw 125,000 passengers and crew visits on 60 liners. There were 80 vessels booked for visits in the 2011/12 season – estimated to inject more than NZ$31 million into the economy and representing a 74% increase in the space of two years.
Wellington is a popular conference tourism destination due to its compact nature, cultural attractions, award-winning restaurants and access to government agencies. In the year ending March 2011, there were 6,495 conference events involving nearly 800,000 delegate days; this injected approximately NZ$100 million into the economy.
The annual children's Artsplash Festival brings together hundreds of students from across the region. The week-long festival includes music and dance performances and the presentation of visual arts. The Performance Arcade is an annual live-art event in shipping containers on the waterfront.
Notable Wellington directors include Jane Campion, Geoff Murphy, Robert Sarkies, and Taika Waititi. Wellington has a large number of independent cinemas, including the Embassy Theatre, Penthouse, the Roxy and Light House, which participate in film festivals throughout the year. Wellington has one of the country's highest turn-outs for the annual New Zealand International Film Festival. There are a number of other film festivals hosted in Wellington, such as Doc Edge (documentary), the Japanese Film Festival and Show Me Shorts (short films).
In 2019, Wellington was designated as a City of Film by UNESCO.
Venues include St James' Theatre on Courtenay Place, The Opera House on Manners Street and the Hannah Playhouse.
Te Whaea National Dance & Drama Centre, houses New Zealand's university-level schools, Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School & the New Zealand School of Dance, these are separate entities that share the building's facilities.
Te Auaha the Whitireia Performing Arts Centre was downtown off Cuba Street but closed in 2025.
Wellington is home to groups that perform improvised theatre and improvisational comedy, including Wellington Improvisation Troupe (WIT). Wellington hosts shows in the annual New Zealand International Comedy Festival.
Wellington city is administered by the territorial authority of Wellington City Council. Its present mayor is Andrew Little, who was elected in 2025.
Wellington is also part of the wider Wellington Region, administered by the Greater Wellington Regional Council. The local authorities are responsible for a wide variety of public services, which include management and maintenance of local roads, and land-use planning. ]]
The Wellington City Council has created two local community boards under the provisions of Part 4 of the Local Government Act 2002 for certain parts of the city:
Victoria University of Wellington has four campuses and works with a three-trimester system (beginning March, July, and November). It enrolled 21,380 students in 2008; of these, 16,609 were full-time students. Of all students, 56% were female and 44% male. While the student body was primarily New Zealanders of European descent, 1,713 were Māori, 1,024 were Pacific students, 2,765 were international students. 5,751 degrees, diplomas and certificates were awarded. The university has 1,930 full-time employees.
Massey University has a Wellington campus known as the "creative campus" and offers courses in communication and business, engineering and technology, health and well-being, and creative arts. Its school of design was established in 1886 and has research centres for studying public health, sleep, Māori health, small & medium enterprises, disasters, and tertiary teaching excellence. It combined with Victoria University to create the New Zealand School of Music.
The University of Otago has a Wellington branch, with its Wellington School of Medicine and Health.
Whitireia New Zealand has large campuses in Porirua, Wellington and Kapiti; the Wellington Institute of Technology and New Zealand's National Drama school, Toi Whakaari. The Wellington area has numerous primary and secondary schools.
Wellington lies at the southern end of the North Island Main Trunk railway (NIMT) and the Wairarapa Line, converging on Wellington railway station at the northern end of central Wellington. Two long-distance services leave from Wellington: the Capital Connection, for commuters from Palmerston North, and the Northern Explorer to Auckland. Four electrified suburban rail lines radiate from Wellington railway station to the outer suburbs to the north of Wellington – the Johnsonville Line through the hillside suburbs north of central Wellington; the Kāpiti Line along the NIMT to Waikanae on the Kāpiti Coast via Porirua and Paraparaumu; the Melling Line to Lower Hutt via Petone; and the Hutt Valley Line along the Wairarapa Line via Waterloo and Taitā to Upper Hutt. A diesel-hauled carriage service, the Wairarapa Connection, connects several times daily to Masterton in the Wairarapa via the Rimutaka Tunnel. Combined, these five services carry 11.64 million passengers per year. CentrePort Wellington is the operator of the port of Wellington, and provides infrastructure for shipping and cargo, including the commercial wharves in Wellington Harbour. It also provides port services for the Cook Strait ferries to Picton in the South Island, operated by state-owned Interislander and private Strait Shipping. Local ferries connect Wellington city centre with Eastbourne and Seatoun.
Wellington Airport is south-east of the city centre. It is serviced by flights from across New Zealand, Australia, and Fiji. Flights to other international destinations require a transfer at another airport, as aircraft range is limited by Wellington's short () runway, which has become an issue in recent years regarding the Wellington region's economic performance.
Cycling in Wellington has been increasing in popularity as a mode of transport. Mode share has increased from 2% in the early 2000s to over 4% in 2013. During the 2020s, a network of cycling infrastructure has been deployed across the city.
Today, Wellington city is supplied from four Transpower substations: Takapu Road, Kaiwharawhara, Wilton, and Central Park (Mount Cook). Wellington Electricity owns and operates the local distribution network.
The city is home to two large wind farms, West Wind and Mill Creek, which combined contribute up to 213 MW of electricity to the city and the national grid.
While Wellington experiences regular strong winds, and only 63% of Wellington Electricity's network is underground, the city has a very reliable power supply. In the year to March 2018, Wellington Electricity disclosed the average customer spent just 55 minutes without power due to unplanned outages.
Wellington's first piped water supply came from a spring in 1867. Greater Wellington Regional Council now supplies Lower Hutt, Porirua, Upper Hutt and Wellington with up to 220 million litres a day. The water comes from Wainuiomata River (since 1884), Hutt River (1914), Ōrongorongo River (1926) and the Waiwhetu Aquifer.
There are four wastewater treatment stations serving the Wellington metropolitan area, located at:
In May 2021, the Wellington City Council approved a 10-year plan that included expenditure of $2.7billion on water pipe maintenance and upgrades in Wellington city, and an additional $147 to $208 million for plant upgrades at the Moa Point wastewater treatment plant. In November 2023, Wellington Water noted that on-going investment of $1 billion per annum was required to address water issues across the Greater Wellington region, but that this amount was beyond the funding capacity of councils.
The Wellington radio market is the third-largest in New Zealand, with 392,500 listeners aged 10 and over. The largest commercial stations by share as of May 2025 are Newstalk ZB (16.3%), The Breeze (13.6%), ZM and The Rock (8.3% each), and Mai FM (6.0%).
In 1975, the NZBC was broken up, with Wellington and Dunedin studios taking over NZBC TV as Television One while Auckland and Christchurch studios launched Television Two. At the same time, the Wellington studios moved to the new purpose-built Avalon Television Centre in Lower Hutt. In 1980, Televisions One and Two merged under a single company, TVNZ (TVNZ). The majority of television production moved to Auckland over the 1980s, culminating in the opening of TVNZ's new Auckland television centre in 1989.
Today, digital terrestrial television (Freeview) is available in the city, transmitting from Mount Kaukau plus three infill transmitters at Baxters Knob, Fitzherbert, and Haywards.
Wellington is also a "friendly city" with Ramallah, Palestine, and a 2023 council vote means both are expected to be sister cities in the future. Wellington also has historical ties with Chania, Greece; Harrogate, England; and Çanakkale, Turkey.
Wellington is the Antipodes of the municipality of Alaejos, Spain.
The urban areas of the four local authorities have a combined population of residents as of .
The four cities comprising the Wellington metropolitan area have a total population of with the urban area containing % of that population. The remaining areas are largely mountainous and sparsely farmed or parkland and are outside the urban area boundary. More than most cities, life is dominated by its central business district (CBD). Approximately 62,000 people work in the CBD, only 4,000 fewer than work in Auckland's CBD, despite that city having four times the population.
The Waikanae-Paraparaumu-Paekākāriki combined urban area in the Kāpiti Coast district is sometimes included in the Wellington metro area due to its exurban nature and strong transport links with Wellington. If included as part of the Wellington metro, Waikanae-Paraparaumu-Paekākāriki would add to the population (as of ).
Featherston and Greytown in the Wairarapa are rarely considered part of the Wellington metropolitan area, being physically separated from the rest of the metropolitan area by the Remutaka Range. However, both have significant proportions of their employed population working in Wellington city and the Hutt Valley (36.1% and 17.1% in 2006 respectively) and are considered part of the Wellington functional urban area by Statistics New Zealand.
The four urban areas combined had a usual resident population of 401,850 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 26,307 people (7.0%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 42,726 people (11.9%) since the 2006 census. There were 196,911 males and 204,936 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.961 males per female. Of the total population, 74,892 people (18.6%) were aged up to 15 years, 93,966 (23.4%) were 15 to 29, 185,052 (46.1%) were 30 to 64, and 47,952 (11.9%) were 65 or older.
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