West Auckland, New Zealand

rdf:langString West Auckland, New Zealand

rdf:langString West Auckland

rdf:langString West Auckland

rdf:langString Metropolitan West Auckland captured by a Planet Labs satellite in 2016

rdf:langString Auckland, New Zealand by Planet Labs .jpg

rdf:langString New Zealand

rdf:langString Location in the Auckland Region

rdf:langString New Zealand

rdf:langString West Auckland (Māori: Te Uru o Tāmaki Makaurau) is one of the major geographical areas of Auckland, the largest city in New Zealand. Much of the area is dominated by the Waitākere Ranges, the eastern slopes of the Miocene era Waitākere volcano which was upraised from the ocean floor, and one of the largest regional parks in New Zealand. The metropolitan area of West Auckland developed on the lands between the Waitākere Ranges to the west and the upper reaches of the Waitematā Harbour to the east, in areas such as Massey, Henderson, New Lynn and Glen Eden. The area is within the rohe of Te Kawerau ā Maki, whose traditional names for the area were Hikurangi, Waitākere, and Te Wao Nui a Tiriwa, the latter of which refers to the forest of the greater Waitākere Ranges area. Most settlements and pā were centred around the west coast beaches and the Waitākere River valley. Two of the major waka portages are found in the area: the Te Tōanga Waka (the Whau River portage), and Te Tōangaroa (the Kumeū portage), connecting the Waitematā, Manukau and Kaipara harbours. European settlement of the region began in the 1840s, centred around the kauri logging trade. Later industries developed around kauri gum digging, orchards, vineyards and the clay brickworks of the upper Waitematā Harbour estuaries, most notably at New Lynn on the Whau River. Originally isolated from the developing city of Auckland on the Auckland isthmus, West Auckland developed after being connected to the North Auckland railway line in 1880 and the Northwestern Motorway in the 1950s.