AUCKLAND - NEW ZEALAND

Auckland is New Zealand's largest city. Its population of 1.3 million represents about a third of the whole country. Auckland serves as the prime access point to New Zealand for overseas arrivals, with the country's largest airport serving more than 10 million passengers each year.

Auckland is the retail and commercial centre of New Zealand, with a concentration of head offices for New Zealand corporates in the financial / business services, manufacturing and primary industries. The city has three universities and several other tertiary institutions, together with a range of private and state secondary schools.

Auckland's property market contains about 2.2 million square metres of office space in the CBD and suburban submarkets, and approximately 10 million square metres of industrial space. It also has a full range of retail facilities from major regional shopping centres and bulky goods centres through to a vibrant CBD retail sector.

The city's climate is temperate, with warm summers averaging more than 24 degrees celcius, and cooler winters averaging 16 degrees celcius. Surrounded by extinct volcanoes and a myriad of picturesque islands in the Gulf, the city is built on a narrow isthmus between two harbours, the Waitemata to the East and the Manukau to the West. The Waitemata is the main deep water shipping access, with extensive wharf facilities and the largest container port in the country.

Water sports are a pastime enjoyed by a large number of Aucklanders and the city enjoys the reputation as being known as the 'City of Sails'.

Auckland's quality of living is one of the highest in the world. International consultants Mercer Human Resources Consulting rates Auckland in 18th place among more than 200 cities surveyed worldwide in 2007.