About the town » Palmerston North, Palmerston North City, Manawatu-Wanganui, New Zealand

Palmerston North, commonly referred to by locals as Palmerston, or colloquially Palmy, is the main city of the Manawatu-Wanganui region of the North Island of New Zealand. The city is inland, located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, near the north bank of the Manawatu River. The city is 35 km from the river's mouth and 12 km from the end of the Manawatu Gorge. It is also about 140 km north of the capital, Wellington. The city covers an area of 325.94 square kilometres . The official limits of the city take in rural areas to the south, north-east, north-west and west of the main urban area, extending to the Tararua Ranges; including the town of Ashhurst at the mouth of the Manawatu Gorge, the village of Bunnythorpe in the north and the village of Longburn in the west. Included in the city limits are rich and fertile agricultural areas. The city's population is expected to exceed 85,000 (2012), it is the country's seventh largest city and eighth largest urban area. The city is the fourth fastest growing in New Zealand, and is set to break the 100,000 population mark in the near future, qualifying to be a metropolitan area. One million people live within a two-hour drive (200 km/120 mile radius). The city's location was once little more than a clearing in a forest and occupied by small communities of indigenous Māori, who called it Papaioea, believed to mean "How beautiful it is". In the mid 19th century, it was discovered and settled by Europeans (mostly of British and Scandinavian origin). The settlement was bestowed the name Palmerston, in honour of Viscount Palmerston, a former Prime Minister of Great Britain. The suffix "North" was added in 1871 by the Post Office to distinguish the settlement from Palmerston in the South Island. The Māori transliteration of Palmerston North, is Pamutana (Nota). However, Te Papaioea is the preferred Māori name.