Our beautiful city boasts the best location in New Zealand from which to really enjoy your "Kiwi experience". The driving time to most places around our region is less than the time many people take to travel to work each day in large cities around the world. Being able to easily access a multitude of interesting and varied places, in a short period of time, is easy from Hamilton. Refer map

For a break from touring and sightseeing, take time to explore Hamilton City with it's great range of local attractions. "Shop 'till you drop" in Hamilton's many boutique stores and shopping Malls. Visit the cafe scene in the South end of the central CBD district, or wander through our world famous, Hamilton gardens. Enjoy a night out at the local Skycity Casino, or visit some of the nightclubs, restaurants and bars which are part of Hamilton's special character.

The 'mighty' Waikato river runs right through the heart of the city and is a major feature on the Waikato landscape. The power of this river has been harnessed to produce much of New Zealand's electricity needs. As a modern city, Hamilton provides all the amenities expected of a metropolitan city.

What is unique about Hamilton is these amenties are so easily accessible to everyone. With a growing population of around 120,000, this exciting city plays host to its fair share of major sporting events, theatre arts and a night life to rival many much larger cities. Hamiltonians, as the locals are nicknamed, love their sport and the city boasts many sporting and recreational facilities across the whole range of sporting pursuits. A superb university and many first class educational institutions offer great study opportunities to international students wishing to further their academic careers.

Welcome to Hamilton City, 'our place', in the central North Island of New Zealand.

The area now covered by the city was originally the site of a handful of Maori villages, including Kirikiriroa, from which the city takes its Maori name. By the time English settlers arrived, most of these villages, which sat beside the Waikato River, were abandoned. The new English settlement was renamed Hamilton after Captain Fane Charles Hamilton, the popular commander of HMS Esk, who was killed in the battle of Gate Pa, Tauranga. The city is located near the southernmost navigable reach of the Waikato River, amidst New Zealand's richest and most fertile agricultural land. Initially an agricultural service centre, it now has a growing and diverse economy.

Education and research are important to the city, through the University of Waikato and through the agricultural research centre at Ruakura, which have been responsible for much of New Zealand's innovation in agriculture. Hamilton annually hosts the National Agricultural Fieldays at Mystery Creek, the southern hemisphere's largest agricultural trade exhibition. Mystery Creek is the country's largest event centre and hosts other events of national importance, such as the National Car Show and the National Boat Show. Manufacturing and retail are also important to the local economy, as is the provision of health services through the Waikato Base Hospital. The city is home to New Zealand's only aircraft-manufacturing operation, as well as its largest concentration of trailer-boat manufacturers.

      

Hamilton is a rapidly growing small city of over 120,000 people, including 25,000 students, mostly enrolled in one of the city's two tertiary institutes, the University of Waikato and Waikato Institute of Technology.
It is centrally located within the North Island, with around 1.5 million people - 40% of New Zealand's total population - living within a 250-km radius. The city lies at a major rail and road nexus. Hamilton's airport has now been upgraded to service international flights, although these are still largely restricted to trans-Tasman and Polynesian destinations.

Hamilton International Airport is the fourth busiest airport in New Zealand and provides the greater Waikato Region with direct international flights to Australia and a range of domestic flights. Hamilton International Airport