Editing Taranaki (section)

==Geography==
[[File:2023 NZ Census Population Density - Taranaki Region.png|thumb|left|280px| A map showing population density in the Taranaki Region at the 2023 census]]
Taranaki is on the west coast of the North Island, surrounding the volcanic peak of Mount Taranaki. The region covers an area of 7258&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>. Its large bays north-west and south-west of [[Cape Egmont]] are [[North Taranaki Bight]] and [[South Taranaki Bight]].
[[File:Taranaki Satellite.jpg|left|thumb|322x322px|Picture of Taranaki acquired from the Landsat 8 satellite, showing the near-circular Egmont National Park surrounding Mount Taranaki. New Plymouth is the grey area on the northern coastline.]]

Mount Taranaki is the second highest mountain in the North Island, and the dominant geographical feature of the region. [[Mount Taranaki legend|A Māori legend]] says that Mount Taranaki previously lived with the [[Mount Tongariro|Tongariro]], [[Mount Ngauruhoe|Ngāuruhoe]] and [[Mount Ruapehu|Ruapehu]] mountains of the central North Island but fled to its current location after a battle with Tongariro. A near-perfect cone, it last erupted in the mid-18th century. The mountain and its immediate surrounds form Te Papa-Kura-o-Taranaki (formerly known as [[Egmont National Park]]).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill 293-2 (2023), Government Bill 23 Official geographic names of Te Papa-Kura-o-Taranaki and Taranaki Maunga – New Zealand Legislation |url=https://www.legislation.govt.nz/bill/government/2023/0293/latest/LMS899652.html |access-date=2025-02-12 |website=www.legislation.govt.nz}}</ref> Historically, the area consisted of a narrow [[coastal plain]] covered by [[bracken]], [[Coriaria arborea|tutu]], [[Knightia excelsa|rewarewa]] and [[Karaka (tree)|karaka]] trees, with anywhere not close to the coast covered in dense forest.<ref name="Prickett1994">{{Cite Q|Q58677455}}</ref>

[[Māori people|Māori]] had called the mountain ''Taranaki'' for many centuries, and Captain [[James Cook]] gave it the English name of ''Egmont'' after the [[John Perceval, 2nd Earl of Egmont|Earl of Egmont]], the recently retired First Lord of the Admiralty who had encouraged his expedition. The mountain had two alternative official names, "Mount Taranaki" and "Mount Egmont" from the 1980s until 2025 when the Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill was passed into law which saw Mount Egmont and Mount Taranaki cease as official geographical names to be replaced by Taranaki Maunga. <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.linz.govt.nz/placenames/consultation-decisions/a-to-z/whanganui/faq.aspx|title=What is the difference between alternative naming and dual naming?|access-date=19 March 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100524140145/http://www.linz.govt.nz/placenames/consultation-decisions/a-to-z/whanganui/faq.aspx|archive-date=24 May 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill 293-2 (2023), Government Bill 23 Official geographic names of Te Papa-Kura-o-Taranaki and Taranaki Maunga – New Zealand Legislation |url=https://www.legislation.govt.nz/bill/government/2023/0293/latest/LMS899652.html |access-date=2025-02-12 |website=www.legislation.govt.nz}}</ref>

[[File:Mt Taranaki.JPG|right|thumb|250px|View of Mount Taranaki from Stratford, facing west. [[Fanthams Peak]] is to the left of the main peak. The cow in the foreground is emblematic of Taranaki as a major dairying region.]]
The region is exceptionally fertile thanks to generous rainfall and rich volcanic soil. [[Dairy farming]] predominates, with [[Fonterra]]'s Whareroa milk factory just outside of [[Hāwera]] producing the largest volume of dairy ingredients from a single factory anywhere in the world.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Fonterra – Whareroa|url = https://www.fonterra.com/nz/en/about/our+locations/newzealand/whareroa/whareroa|website = fonterra.com|access-date = 2016-02-14}}</ref> There are also both on and off shore oil and gas deposits in the region. The [[Maui gas field]] off the south-west coast has provided most of New Zealand's gas supply and once supported two [[methanol]] plants, (one formerly a synthetic-petrol plant called the Gas-To-Gasoline plant) at [[Motunui]]. Fuel and fertiliser is also produced at a well complex at [[Kapuni]] and a number of smaller land-based oilfields. With the Maui field nearing depletion, new offshore resources have been developed: the [[Kupe field]], 30&nbsp;km south of Hāwera and the [[Pohokura field|Pohokura gas field]], 4.5&nbsp;km north of Waitara.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.toddenergy.co.nz/te/pro_poh.html| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100526072454/http://www.toddenergy.co.nz/te/pro_poh.html| archive-date=2010-05-26| title=Pohokura gas field| publisher=[[Todd Energy]]}}</ref>

The way the land mass projects into the [[Tasman Sea]] with northerly, westerly and southerly exposures, results in many excellent surfing and windsurfing locations, some of them considered world-class.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Taonga |first=New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu |title=Sport and recreation |url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/taranaki-region/page-12 |access-date=2025-02-12 |website=teara.govt.nz |language=en}}</ref>