Auckland's 'urban area' is as big as the next 12 biggest cities combined. Image / Infometrics
Auckland's 'urban area' is as big as the next 12 biggest cities combined. Image / Infometrics
Imagine a city that combined Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin - with room for Hamilton, Tauranga and Palmerston North - that also boasts an impressive tower, access to both coasts and a rugby team whose time is surely coming again soon.
Sounds like a paradise, doesn't it?
It's Auckland.
A newmap graphic from the statistics wizards at Infometrics has revealed the true size of Auckland, a behemoth whose population last year was 35 per cent of New Zealand's total, or enough to match the populations of the next 12 largest urban areas combined.
12 other urban areas see their populations fit within Auckland. Photo / Infometrics
That means that the population of Auckland matches that of Christchurch, Wellington, Dunedin, Hamilton, Tauranga, Palmerston North, Napier, Porirua, Lower Hutt, Rotorua, Whangarei and New Plymouth combined.
The map, by David Friggens, divides Auckland into 12 areas whose populations match those of the other urban areas around the country.
It shows that the population of the next largest city, Christchurch - at 377,000 - matches only a portion of Central Auckland.
The map also reveals that the population of Dunedin (104,000) matches that of northwest Auckland alone, if you include Greenhithe and Beach Haven.
All these people provide some serious financial muscle, with Auckland punching slightly above its weight in proving 38 per cent of our national GDP from 35 per cent of our population.
But it still can't produce a winning Super Rugby team.
