Northland Peninsula

The peninsula is not conterminous with the local government area of Northland Region, which occupies the northern 80% of the peninsula, as the southern section is administratively part of the Auckland Region.

[2] When Northland was uplifted, much of the land that would form the central Auckland Region was subsided 2-3,000 metres to the sea floor.

Further north is the smaller Hokianga harbour, which has historic and cultural significance, especially to the Māori people.

On the eastern coast, another historically significant site is Waitangi and the surrounding Bay of Islands.

This was a major settlement area in early colonial New Zealand, and was the site of the first signing (February 1840) of the Treaty of Waitangi, which is seen in the national mythos as the founding document of New Zealand's nationhood.