town (“parish”), Taunton Deane district, administrative and historic county of Somerset, England, just west-southwest of Taunton. The first duke of Wellington (Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, 1st duke of, marquess of Douro, marquess of Wellington, earl of Wellington, Viscount Wellington of Talavera and of Wellington, Baron Douro or Wellesley) (Arthur Wellesley, who took his title from the town), victor of the Battle of Waterloo (1815), is commemorated by a monument (National Trust property) on the highest point of the nearby Blackdown Hill. Wellington School, at its foot, was founded in 1841. Pop. (2001) 12,845.

town, east-central New South Wales, Australia. It lies at the confluence of the Macquarie and Bell rivers. The site, used by John Oxley (Oxley, John) as a base for exploration (1817–18), was named by him after the Duke of Wellington. A convict settlement from 1823 to 1831, it was proclaimed a town in 1846, a municipality in 1879, and a shire in 1947. In 1950 Wellington was merged with Macquarie and a portion of Cobar shires. It serves a region producing sheep, cattle, fruits, vegetables, and mushrooms. The town has flour mills and sawmills, freezing and dairy-processing works, and farm and earth-moving machinery plants. Burrendong Dam on the Macquarie and the Wellington limestone caves are close by. Pop. (2006) local government area, 8,120.

In 1839 a ship belonging to the New Zealand Company arrived with officials who were to select a site for the company's first settlement. The site chosen, at the mouth of the Hutt River, proved unsuitable, and a move was made to Lambton Harbour on the west shore. The settlement was named in 1840 in recognition of the aid given the company by Arthur Wellesley, 1st duke of Wellington (Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, 1st duke of, marquess of Douro, marquess of Wellington, earl of Wellington, Viscount Wellington of Talavera and of Wellington, Baron Douro or Wellesley). It was made a borough in 1842 and a city in 1886. In 1865 the seat of the central government was transferred there from Auckland. The city is part of the Wellington local government region.

Wellington is the country's transportation and communications hub. Rail and road services extend from it to all parts of North Island, and ferries to Picton link the capital to South Island. The city's international airport is also the focal point of the country's internal aviation network. The harbour, serving domestic and international shipping, imports petroleum products, motor vehicles, and minerals and exports meats, wood products, dairy products, wool, and fruit. The economy is primarily service-based, with an emphasis on finance, business services, and government; Wellington is also a regional health and education centre. Tourism is important, and there is a growing film industry. Although manufacturing in the city itself has declined since the late 1980s, the region still has a printing industry and produces chemicals, plastics, and machinery. Victoria and Massey universities are in Wellington.

regional council, extreme southern North Island, New Zealand. It includes the cities of Wellington (the national capital) and Lower Hutt, Upper Hutt, Porirua, and Masterton. The broad Hutt River valley, once the locale of dairy farms and market gardens, has absorbed much of Wellington city's urban expansion since the 1950s. There is still much open farmland to the north, however.

East of the city of Wellington is the Rimutaka Range and east of that, the Wairarapa Plain. One of the earliest European-settled sections of North Island, Wairarapa (Maori: “Glistening Waters”) was pioneered in the 1840s. Fruit and vegetable, dairy, sheep, and beef cattle farming predominate. The business and administrative centre of the plain is Masterton, in the north. The western and southern boundaries of Wellington regional council consist of hilly, isolated coastland fronting the South Pacific Ocean. Area 3,143 square miles (8,140 square km). Pop. (2006) 456,654.