Wellington is the capital city and second most populous urban area of New Zealand. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range. It is home to 393,400 residents.

The Wellington urban area is the major population centre of the southern North Island, and is the seat of the Wellington Region – which in addition to the urban area covers the Kapiti Coast and Wairarapa. The urban area includes four cities: Wellington, on the peninsula between Cook Strait and Wellington Harbour, contains the central business district and about half of Wellington’s population; Porirua on Porirua Harbour to the north is notable for its large Māori and Pacific Island communities; Lower Hutt and Upper Hutt are largely suburban areas to the northeast, together known as the Hutt Valley. Wellington also holds the distinction of being the worlds most southerly capital city.

In 2008, Wellington was classified as a Gamma World City in the World Cities Study Group’s inventory by Loughborough University. The 2010 Mercer Quality of Living Survey ranked Wellington 12th in the world. In 2011 Lonely Planet Best in Travel 2011 named Wellington as fourth in its Top 10 Cities to Visit in 2011, referring to the New Zealand capital as the “coolest little capital in the world”.

Other Information

• Country : New Zealand
• Region : Wellington
• Area :
  • Urban : 444 km²(171.4 sq mi)
  • Metro : 1,390 km² (536.7 sq mi)
• Lowest elevation : 0 m (0 ft)
• Population (June 2011 estimate)^:
  • Urban : 393,400
  • Urban density : 886/km² (2,294.8/sq mi)
• Time zone : NZST (UTC+12)
• Summer (DST) : NZDT (UTC+13)
• Postcode : 6000 group, and 5000 and 5300 series
• Area code : 04
• Local iwi : Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Ngāti Raukawa, Te Āti Awa

Link

• http://www.wellingtonnz.com/

The Auckland metropolitan area in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with 1,377,200 residents, 31 percent of the country’s population. Auckland has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world. In Māori Auckland’s names are Tāmaki Makaurau, and the transliterated version of Auckland, Ākarana.

The 2011 Mercer Quality of Living Survey ranked Auckland 3rd equal place in the world on its list, while The Economist’sWorld’s Most Livable Cities index of 2011 ranked Auckland in 9th place. In 2010, Auckland was classified as a Beta World City in the World Cities Study Group’s inventory by Loughborough University.

Auckland lies between the Hauraki Gulf of the Pacific Ocean to the east, the low Hunua Ranges to the south-east, the Manukau Harbour to the south-west, and the Waitakere Ranges and smaller ranges to the west and north-west. The central part of the urban area occupies a narrow isthmus between the Manukau Harbour on the Tasman Sea and the Waitemata Harbour on the Pacific Ocean. It is one of the few cities in the world to have harbours on two separate major bodies of water.

Other Information

• Country : New Zealand
• Island : North Island
• Region : Auckland
• Territorial authority : Auckland
• Settled by Māori : c. 1350
• Settled by Europeans : 1840
• Area  :
  • Urban : 1,086 km²(419.3 sq mi)
  • Metro ^: 560 km² (216.2 sq mi)
• Highest elevation : 196 m (643 ft)
• Lowest elevation : 0 m (0 ft)
• Population (June 2011 estimate) ^:
  • Urban : 1,377,200
  • Urban density : 1,268.1/km²(3,284.5/sq mi)
  • Metro : 1,486,000
  • Metro density : 2,653.6/km² (6,872.7/sq mi)
• Demonym : Aucklander, Jafa (often derogatory)
• Time zone : NZST (UTC+12)
• Summer (DST) : NZDT (UTC+13)
• Postcode : 0500-2999
• Area code : 09
• Local iwi : Ngāti Whātua, Tainui

Link

• www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz

Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane’s metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of more than 3 million. The Brisbane central business district stands on the original European settlement and is situated inside a bend of the Brisbane River approximately 23 kilometres from its mouth at Moreton Bay. The metropolitan area extends in all directions along the floodplain of the Brisbane River valley between the bay and the Great Dividing Range. While the metropolitan area is governed by several municipalities, a large proportion of central Brisbane is governed by the Brisbane City Council which is Australia’s largest Local Government Area by population. The demonym of Brisbane is Brisbanian, but is known to be Brisbanite.

Brisbane is named after the river on which it sits which, in turn, was named after Scotsman Sir Thomas Brisbane, the Governor of New South Wales from 1821 to 1825. The first European settlement in Queensland was a penal colony at Redcliffe, 28 kilometres (17 mi) north of the Brisbane central business district, in 1824. That settlement was soon abandoned and moved to North Quay in 1825. Free settlers were permitted from 1842. Brisbane was chosen as the capital when Queensland was proclaimed a separate colony from New South Wales in 1859.

The city played a central role in the Allied campaign during World War II as the South West Pacific headquarters for General Douglas MacArthur. Brisbane has hosted many large cultural and sporting events including the 1982 Commonwealth Games, World Expo ’88 and the final Goodwill Games in 2001. Brisbane is the largest economy between Sydney and Singapore and in 2008 it was classified as a Beta− world city in the World Cities Study Group’s inventory by Loughborough University. It was also rated the 16th most livable city in the world in 2009 by The Economist.

Other Information

• Established: 1824
• Area: 5904.8 km² (2,279.9 sq mi)
• Time zone: AEST (UTC+10)
• County: Stanley
• State District: various (38)

Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million. The adjectival form “Adelaidean” is used in reference to the city and its residents.

Adelaide is a coastal city situated on the eastern shores of Gulf St Vincent, on the Adelaide Plains, north of the Fleurieu Peninsula, between Gulf St Vincent and the low-lying Mount Lofty Ranges. The suburbs reach roughly 20 km (12 mi) from the coast to the foothills but sprawl 100 km (62 mi) from Gawler at its northern extent to Sellicks Beach in the south.

Named in honour of Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, queen consort to King William IV, the city was founded in 1836 as the planned capital for a freely settled British province in Australia. Colonel William Light, one of Adelaide’s founding fathers, designed the city and chose its location close to the River Torrens in the area originally inhabited by the Kaurna people. Light’s design set out Adelaide in a grid layout, interspaced by wide boulevards and large public squares, and entirely surrounded by parkland. Early Adelaide was shaped by religious freedom and a commitment to political progressivism and civil liberties, which led to the moniker “City of Churches”.

As South Australia’s seat of government and commercial centre, Adelaide is the site of many governmental and financial institutions. Most of these are concentrated in the city centre along the cultural boulevard of North Terrace, King William Street and in various districts of the metropolitan area. Today, Adelaide is noted for its many festivals and sporting events, its food, wine and culture, its long beachfronts, and its large defence and manufacturing sectors. It ranks highly in terms of liveability, being listed in the Top 10 of The Economist’s World’s Most Liveable Cities index in 2010 and being ranked the most liveable city in Australia by the Property Council of Australia in 2011.

Other Information

• Population: 1,203,873 (2010)
  • Density: 659/km² (1,706.8/sq mi) (2006)
• Established: 28 December 1836
• Area: 1826.9 km² (705.4 sq mi)
• Time zone:  ACST (UTC+9:30)

Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000.

The metropolitan area is located in the South West Division of Western Australia, between the Indian Ocean and a low coastal escarpment known as the Darling Range. The central business district and suburbs of Perth are situated on the banks of the Swan River. Shortly after the establishment of the port settlement of Fremantle, Perth was founded on 12 June 1829 by Captain James Stirling as the political centre of the Swan River Colony. As the business and administration centre for the resource-rich state, Perth has grown consistently faster than the national average.

Perth became known worldwide as the “City of Light” when city residents lit their house lights and streetlights as American astronaut John Glenn passed overhead while orbiting the earth on Friendship 7 in 1962. The city repeated the act as Glenn passed overhead on the Space Shuttle in 1998. Perth is tied for eighth place in The Economist‘s 2011 list of the World’s Most Livable Cities.

Other Information

• Population: 1,696,062
  • Density: 308/km² (797.7/sq mi)
• Established: 1829
• Area: 5386 km² (2,079.5 sq mi)
• Time zone: AWST (UTC+8)
• State District: Perth (and 41 others)
• Federal Division: Perth (and 10 others)

Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia’s largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), 280 km (170 mi) south-west of Sydney, and 660 km (410 mi) north-east of Melbourne. A resident of Canberra is known as a “Canberran”.

The site of Canberra was selected for the location of the nation’s capital in 1908 as a compromise between rivals Sydney and Melbourne, Australia’s two largest cities. It is unusual among Australian cities, being an entirely planned city. Following an international contest for the city’s design, a blueprint by the Chicago architects Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin was selected and construction commenced in 1913. The Griffins’ plan featured geometric motifs such as circles, hexagons and triangles, and was centred around axes aligned with significant topographical landmarks in the Australian Capital Territory.

The city’s design was heavily influenced by the garden city movement and incorporates significant areas of natural vegetation that have earned Canberra the title of the “bush capital”. The growth and development of Canberra were hindered by the World Wars and the Great Depression, which exacerbated a series of planning disputes and the ineffectiveness of a sequence of bodies that were to oversee the development of the city. The national capital emerged as a thriving city after World War II, as Prime Minister Robert Menzies championed its development and the National Capital Development Commission was formed with executive powers. Although the Australian Capital Territory is now self-governing, the federal government retains some influence through the National Capital Authority.

As the seat of the government of Australia, Canberra is the site of Parliament House, the High Court and numerous government departments and agencies. It is also the location of many social and cultural institutions of national significance, such as the Australian War Memorial, Australian National University, Australian Institute of Sport, National Gallery, National Museum and the National Library. The Australian Army’s officer corps are trained at the Royal Military College, Duntroon and the Australian Defence Force Academy is also located in the capital.

As the city has a high proportion of public servants, the federal government contributes the largest percentage of Gross State Product and is the largest single employer in Canberra. As the seat of government, the unemployment rate is lower and the average income higher than the national average, while property prices are relatively high, in part due to comparatively restricted development regulations. Tertiary education levels are higher, while the population is younger.

other Information

• Population: 358,222(31 March 2011)
• Density: 428.6/km² (1,110.1/sq mi)
• Established: 12 March 1913
• Area: 814.2 km² (314.4 sq mi)
• Time zone: AEST (UTC+10)
• State District: Molonglo, Ginninderra, Brindabella
• Federal Division: Canberra, Fraser

Hobart is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Founded in 1804 as a penal colony, Hobart is Australia’s second oldest capital city after Sydney. In 2009, the city had a greater area population of approximately 212,019. A resident of Hobart is known as a “Hobartian”. The city is located in the state’s south-east on the estuary of the Derwent River. The skyline is dominated by Mount Wellington at 1,271 metres (4,170 ft) high.

The city is the financial and administrative heart of Tasmania, also serving as the home port for both Australian and French Antarctic operations.

Hobart was named Australia’s 6th most sustainable city, by the Australian Conservation Foundation in 2010. For economic and social innovation, Hobart was the 11th placed in Australia in 2009, and listed as an innovation influencer city in the Innovation Cities Global Index scoring equal with Reykjavik, Katowice and Casablanca by 2thinknow.

Other Information

• Population: 214,705 (June 2010)
  • Density: 895/km² (2,318.0/sq mi)
• Established: 20 February 1804
• Area: 1357.3 km² (524.1 sq mi)
• Time zone: AEST (UTC+10)
• State District: Denison, Franklin
• Federal Division: Denison, Franklin

Whereas Tok Pisin is the main lingua franca in all Papua New Guinean towns, in part of the southern mainland coastal area centred on Central Province, Hiri Motu is a stronger lingua franca (but not in Port Moresby).

Other Information

• Country : Papua New Guinea
• Districts :
• Abau District
• Goilala District
• Kairuku-Hiri District
• Rigo District
• Capital : Konedobu
• Area : 29,500 km² (11,390 sq mi)
• Population (2000)
• Total : 183,983
• Density : 6.2/km² (16.2/sq mi)
• Time zone : AEST (UTC+10)

Papua New Guinea (PNG), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands (the western portion of the island is a part of the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua). It is located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, in a region defined since the early 19th century as Melanesia. The capital is Port Moresby.

Papua New Guinea is one of the most culturally diverse countries on Earth, with over 850 indigenous languages and at least as many traditional societies, out of a population of just under seven million. It is also one of the most rural, as only 18% of its people live in urban centres. The country is one of the world’s least explored, culturally and geographically, and many undiscovered species of plants and animals are thought to exist in the interior of Papua New Guinea.

The majority of the population live in traditional societies and practise subsistence-based agriculture. These societies and clans have some explicit acknowledgement within the nation’s constitutional framework. The PNG Constitution (Preamble 5(4)) expresses the wish for “traditional villages and communities to remain as viable units of Papua New Guinean society”, and for active steps to be taken in their preservation.

After being ruled by three external powers since 1884, Papua New Guinea gained its independence from Australia in 1975. It remains a Commonwealth realm of Her Majesty Elizabeth II, Queen of Papua New Guinea. Many people live in extreme poverty, with about one third of the population living on less than US $1.25 per day.

Other Information

• Capital :  and largest city) Port Moresby
• Official language : English, Tok Pisin, Hiri Motu
• Demonym : Papua New Guinean
• Government : Unitary parliamentary democracy and Constitutional monarchy
• Independence from Australia : 16 September 1975
• Area :
• Total : 462,840 km²  178,703 sq mi
• Water (%) : 2
• Currency : Papua New Guinean kina (PGK)
• Time zone : AEST (UTC+10)
• Summer (DST) : not observed (as of 2005) (UTC+10)
• Drives on the : left
• ISO 3166 code : PG
• Internet TLD : .pg
• Calling code : +675

Anthropologically it is considered part of Melanesia. Politically, the western half of the island comprises two Indonesian provinces: Papua and West Papua. The eastern half forms the mainland of the country of Papua New Guinea. New Guinea has a population of about 7.5 million struggling against a hot humid damp rainy climate and constantly dripping jungle covering high mountain-dominated terrain with abrupt features rapidly descending to sea coast, all prone to several severe downpours during all seasons, resulting in a very low population density (8 inh/km²).

New Guinea is differentiated from its drier, flatter, and less fertile southern counterpart, Australia, by its much higher rainfall and its active volcanic geology, with its highest point, Puncak Jaya, reaching an elevation of 4,884 m (16,023 ft). Yet the two land masses share a similar animal fauna, with marsupials, including wallabies and possums, and the egg-laying monotreme, the spiny anteater, or echidna. Other than bats and some two dozen indigenous rodent genera, there are no pre-human indigenous placental mammals. Pigs, several additional species of rats, and the ancestor of the New Guinea Singing Dog were introduced with human colonization.

The human presence on the island dates back at least 40,000 years to the oldest human migrations out of Africa. Research indicates that the highlands were an early and independent center of agriculture, with evidence of irrigation going back at least 10,000 years. Given the time depth of its inhabitation and its highly fractured landscape, an unusually high number of languages are spoken on the island, with some 1,000 languages (a figure higher than that of most continents) having been catalogued out of an estimated world-wide pre-Columbian total of 6,000 human dialects. Most are classified as Papuan languages, a generally accepted geographical term which a minority of authors hold to be a genetic one. A number of Austronesian languages are spoken on the coast and on offshore islands.

In the 16th century Spanish explorers discovered the island and called it Nueva Guinea. In recent history western New Guinea was included in the Dutch East Indies colony. The Germans annexed the northern coast of the eastern half of the island as German New Guinea in their pre–World War I effort to establish themselves as a colonial power. Following the Treaty of Versailles, the German portion was awarded to Australia (which had already claimed the southeast, named the Territory of Papua) as a League of Nations mandate. The eastern half of the island was granted independence from Australia as Papua New Guinea in 1975. The western half gained independence from the Dutch in 1961, but became part of Indonesia soon afterwards in controversial circumstances.

Other Information

• Archipelago : Malay archipelago
• Area : 786,000 km² (303,500 sq mi)
• Country : Papua New Guinea
• Provinces :
• Central
• Simbu
• Eastern Highlands
• East Sepik
• Enga
• Gulf
• Madang
• Morobe
• Oro
• Southern Highlands
• Western
• Western Highlands
• West Sepik
• Milne Bay
• National Capital District
• Country : Indonesia
• Provinces :
• Papua
• West Papua