Wellington

Capital and commercial port of New Zealand, in the province of the same name on North Island, on the Cook Strait; population (2001 est) city, 165,900, urban agglomeration, 351,700. After Auckland, Wellington is the second-largest manufacturing centre of New Zealand. Industries in the city include woollen textiles, clothing, processed foods, chemicals, engineering, and electrical goods. The harbour was sighted by Captain James Cook in 1773.

History

Features The city is the home of a number of national institutions, including the parliament buildings, the National Archives (1957), the National Library (1965), the Royal Society of New Zealand (1867), the National Art Gallery, the National Museum (1972), and the Te Papa Museum of New Zealand (1998). The Assembly Hall (1977), built alongside the original parliament building, was designed by British architect Basil Spence and is popularly called ‘the beehive’ because of its shape. Wellington is home to both the Victoria University of Wellington (1897) and the Wellington campus (1999) of Massey University. Other notable features include the Cathedral Church of St Paul (1866) and the War Memorial Carillon (1932).

Wellington's harbour is favoured by deep water and is one of New Zealand's principal ports for the shipment of wool, frozen meat, dairy produce, apples, and other exports, and a large proportion of the country's imports also arrive at the port. The city's airport is one of the busiest in the country for both domestic and international flights.

Wellington

District of North Island, New Zealand, bounded on the west and south by the Tasman Sea and Cook Strait; population (1996) 416,000. It is mountainous, with a fertile coastal strip, where sheep and dairy cattle are raised. Wellington city is its major port.

Wellington

Small town in Prince County in the southwest of Prince Edward Island, Canada, 91 km/57 mi west of Charlottetown; population (1996 est) 430. Wellington, a chief settlement and trading centre of the Evangeline Region, is largely a rural district occupied by mainly French-speaking people descended from Acadian settlers (79% of inhabitants have French as their first language). Agriculture, fishing (principally for lobsters and scallops), and tourism are important employers in the area, but many of the jobs are seasonal.

The town was part of the original Lot 16 when Prince Edward Island was surveyed in 1767, and was named Quagmire after the peat bogs found here. It was later called Barlow's Mills, and then named after the Duke of Wellington. The first European settlers were Irish, followed by Scots, English, and Acadians. Wellington is the base for La Société de Développement de la Baie Acadienne, a development corporation seeking to improve the economy of the area, which is less strong than in other parts of the island.

Acadian festivals are held in the area at Abram-Village and Miscouche, where there is an Acadian Museum.

Wellington

Town in Palm Beach County, southeast Florida; population (1990) 20,700. It is located 21 km/13 mi southwest of West Palm Beach and 13 km/8 mi west of Palm Springs, set amid lakes, wetlands, and golf courses, on the eastern edge of the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. It quadrupled in population in the 1980s.

Wellington

Town and administrative headquarters of Sumner County, south Kansas; population (1990) 8,400. It is located 45 km/28 mi south of Wichita. Wellington is a large wheat processing centre and an important rail hub, and has some light manufactures. It was established in 1871 and developed rapidly as a Chisholm Trail trading station. In the early 1930s the town grew with the exploration of nearby oilfields.

Wellington

Town in Somerset, southwest England, 10 km/6 mi southwest of Taunton; population (2001) 12,850. Local industries include the manufacture of bedding and woollen goods.

The 1st Duke of Wellington took his title from the town; the Wellington Monument, on the summit of the Black Down Hills to the south of the town, is an obelisk erected in his honour in 1817. South of the town is Wellington private school, founded 1841.

Wellington

Town in Western Cape province, South Africa, 80 km/50 mi north of Cape Town; population (district, 1991) 37,400. Wellington is situated in the most prosperous fruit- and vegetable-growing area in South Africa, and has canning and dried-fruit factories, and wineries. The town is named after the 19th-century British commander, the Duke of Wellington.

Wellington was one of the earliest Huguenot settlements in southern Africa and became known because of Wellington College, one of the first educational establishments in South Africa.