Hamilton, New Zealand

Hamilton (Kirikiriroa in Māori) is the centre of New Zealand's fourth largest urban area, and Hamilton City is the country's seventh largest territorial authority. Hamilton is in the Waikato region of the North Island, approximately 130 km (80 mi) south of Auckland. It sits at a major road and rail nexus in the centre of the Waikato basin, on both banks of the Waikato River. The area now covered by the city was originally the site of a handful of Māori villages, including Kirikiriroa ("long stretch of gravel'), from which the city takes its Māori name. By the time British settlers arrived, most of these villages, which sat beside the Waikato River, were abandoned. The settlement founded on 24 August, 1864 and named after Captain John Charles Fane Hamilton