New Plymouth is the major city of the Taranaki Region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, Devon from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. The New Plymouth District, which includes New Plymouth City and several smaller towns, is the 10th largest district in New Zealand, and has a population of 86,100 – about two-thirds of the total population of the Taranaki Region and 1.7% of New Zealand's population. This includes New Plymouth City, Waitara, Inglewood, Ōakura, Ōkato and Urenui.
The city itself is a service centre for the region's principal economic activities including intensive pastoral activities as well as oil, natural gas and petrochemical exploration and production. It is also the region's financial centre as the home of the TSB Bank, the largest of the remaining non-government New Zealand-owned banks.
Notable features are the botanic gardens, the critically acclaimed Len Lye Centre and Art Gallery, the 13 km Coastal Walkway alongside the Tasman Sea, the Len Lye-designed 45-metre-tall artwork known as the Wind Wand, Paritutu Rock, and views of Mount Taranaki/Egmont.