New Zealand cities : Auckland city, Wellington capital city, Christchurch, Hamilton, Dunedin, Tauranga, Palmerston North, Hastings, Nelson, Napier, Rotorua, New Plymouth,Whangarei, Invercargill, Wanganui, and Gisborne. After the local government reforms of 1989, the term "city" began to take on two meanings in New Zealand. Before 1989, a borough council with more than 20,000 people could be proclaimed a city. The boundaries of councils tended to follow the edge of the built-up area, so little distinction was made between the urban area and the local government area.In 1989, the local government structure was significantly rationalised. The new district and city councils were generally much larger and covered both urban and rural land. Many places that once had a city council were now being administered by a district council.
