Wellington is the capital of New Zealand, the country's second largest urban area, the most populous national capital in Oceania and the southern-most capital city in the world. It is in the Wellington region at the southern tip of the North Island, near the geographical centre of the country. It is popularly referred to as the "Windy City" due to its historically fierce winds and weather or colloquially as Wellywood.Wellington city is New Zealand's political centre, housing Parliament and the head offices of all government ministries and departments, plus the bulk of the foreign diplomatic missions based in New Zealand.Wellington's compact city centre supports an arts scene, café culture and nightlife much larger than most cities of a similar size. It is a centre of New Zealand's film and theatre industry. Te Papa Tongarewa (the Museum of New Zealand), the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, the Royal New Zealand Ballet and the biennial New Zealand International Arts Festival are all sited there.Wellington has the 12th best quality of living in the world, according to a 2007 study by consulting company Mercer. Of cities with English as the primary language, Wellington ranked fourth.
