Auckland (Māori: Tamaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country, Auckland has an urban population of about 1,470,100 (June 2020). It is located in the Auckland Region—the area governed by Auckland Council—which includes outlying rural areas and the islands of the Hauraki Gulf, resulting in a total population of 1,717,500. Auckland is a diverse, multicultural and cosmopolitan city, home to the largest Polynesian population in the world. The Māori-language name for Auckland is Tamaki Makaurau, meaning "Tamaki desired by many", in reference to the desirability of its natural resources and geography. The word Tamaki itself generally meaning an omen.

Auckland lies between the Hauraki Gulf to the east, then extending in Hanau Ranges to the south-east, the Manukau Harbour to the south-west, and the Waitakere Ranges and smaller ranges to the west and north-west. The surrounding hills are covered in rainforest and the landscape is dotted with 53 dormant volcanic cones. The central part of the urban area occupies a narrow isthmus between the Manukau Harbour on the Tasman Sea and the Waitematā Harbour on the Pacific Ocean. Auckland is one of the few cities in the world to have a Harbour on each of two separate major bodies of water.

The isthmus on which Auckland resides was first settled c. 1350 and was valued for its rich and fertile land. The Māori population in the area is estimated to have peaked at 20,000 before the arrival of Europeans. After a British colony was established in 1840, William Hobson, then Lieutenant-Governor of New Zealand, chose the area as his new capital. He named the area for George Eden, Earl of Auckland, British First Lord of the Admiralty. Māori–European conflict over land in the region led to war in the mid-19th century. Auckland was replaced as the capital in 1865 by Wellington, but the city continued to grow, initially because of its port and logging and gold mining in its hinterland, later from pastoral farming (especially dairy farming), and manufacturing in the city itself. It has throughout most of its history been the nation's largest city. Today, Auckland's central business district is New Zealand's leading economic hub.