West Auckland, New Zealand

West Auckland
Metropolitan West Auckland captured by a Planet Labs satellite in 2016
West Auckland Location in New Zealand
Coordinates: 36°48′S 174°36′E / 36.8°S 174.6°E / -36.8; 174.6
Country	New Zealand
Island	North Island
Region	Auckland Region
Government
• MPs	Cameron Brewer (National) Carlos Cheung (National) Paulo Garcia (National) Carmel Sepuloni (Labour) Phil Twyford (Labour)
Time zone	UTC+12 (NZST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+13 (NZDT)
Area code	09

West Auckland (Māori: Te Uru o Tāmaki Makaurau or Māori: Tāmaki ki te Hauauru^[1]) is one of the major geographical areas of Auckland, the largest city in New Zealand. Much of the area is dominated by the Waitākere Ranges, the eastern slopes of the Miocene era Waitākere volcano which was upraised from the ocean floor, and now one of the largest regional parks in New Zealand. The metropolitan area of West Auckland developed between the Waitākere Ranges to the west and the upper reaches of the Waitematā Harbour to the east. It covers areas such as Glen Eden, Henderson, Massey and New Lynn.

West Auckland is within the rohe of Te Kawerau ā Maki, whose traditional names for the area were Hikurangi, Waitākere, and Te Wao Nui a Tiriwa, the latter of which refers to the forest of the greater Waitākere Ranges area. Most settlements and pā were centred around the west coast beaches and the Waitākere River valley. Two of the major waka portages are found in the area: the Te Tōanga Waka (the Whau River portage), and Te Tōangaroa (the Kumeū portage), connecting the Waitematā, Manukau and Kaipara harbours.

European settlement of the region began in the 1840s, centred around the kauri logging trade. Later industries developed around kauri gum digging, orchards, vineyards and the clay brickworks of the estuaries of the Waitematā Harbour, most notably at New Lynn on the Whau River. Originally isolated from the developing city of Auckland on the Auckland isthmus, West Auckland began to expand after being connected to the North Auckland railway line in 1880 and the Northwestern Motorway in the 1950s.