Cape Egmont, splitting

Northern Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a r ...

and Southern Taranaki Bights, is the westernmost point of

Taranaki Taranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano of Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the city of New Plymouth. The New Plymouth D ...

, on the west coast of

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-larges ...

. It is located close to the

volcanic A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plat ...

cone of Mount Taranaki or Mount Egmont. It was named ''Kaap Pieter Boreel'' by Dutch explorer

Abel Tasman Abel Janszoon Tasman (; 160310 October 1659) was a Dutch seafarer, explorer, and merchant, best known for his voyages of 1642 and 1644 in the service of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). He was the first known European explorer to reach New ...

in 1642, but renamed ''Cape Egmont'' by British explorer

James Cook James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean and ...

in 1769. (Note: Tasman did not sight Mount Taranaki, due to bad visibility, but Cook did, and after naming the mountain Mount Egmont, bestowed the same name on the promontory, which became the enduring name). Ironically, the cape retained a Dutch name, as Cook named the mountain and cape after the

Earl of Egmont Earl of Egmont was a title in the Peerage of Ireland, created in 1733 for John Perceval, 1st Viscount Perceval. It became extinct with the death of the twelfth earl in 2011. History The Percevals claimed to be an ancient Anglo-Norman family, ...

, who claimed descent of the Dutch

House of Egmond The House of Egmond or Egmont ( French: ''Maison d'Egmond'', Dutch: ''Huis Egmond'') is named after the Dutch town of Egmond, province of North Holland, and played an important role in the Netherlands during the Middle Ages and the Early mod ...

. In July 1862, Kapoaiaia near Cape Egmont was the site of a hui between 600 members of

, Ngāti Ruanui, Ngā Rauru and Whanganui Māori iwi, discussing the

First Taranaki War The First Taranaki War (also known as the North Taranaki War) was an armed conflict over land ownership and sovereignty that took place between Māori and the New Zealand government in the Taranaki district of New Zealand's North Island from Mar ...

(1860–1861). There, it was agreed that the lands East and West of

New Plymouth New Plymouth ( mi, Ngāmotu) 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. Th ...

(

Tataraimaka Tataraimaka ( Maori pronunciation, "Ta-ta-rai-ma-ka") is a rural coastal area in Taranaki, New Zealand. It is predominantly a dairy farming area, approximately south-west of New Plymouth. Tataraimaka is located south of Oakura and north of Ōkat ...

, Kaipopo, Waitaha and Waitara) were Māori lands, and that any attempt by European settlers to create a road south of Waireka Hill would be considered an act of war. The

Cape Egmont Lighthouse Cape Egmont Lighthouse is a lighthouse at Cape Egmont in the Taranaki Region of the North Island of New Zealand.

was originally constructed on Mana Island near

Porirua Porirua, ( mi, Pari-ā-Rua) a city in the Wellington Region of the North Island of New Zealand, is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington metropolitan area. The name 'Porirua' is a corruption of 'Pari-rua', meaning "the tide sw ...

but was relocated to Cape Egmont in 1877.

References

Egmont Egmont may refer to: * Egmont Group, a media corporation founded and rooted in Copenhagen, Denmark * Egmond family (often spelled "Egmont"), an influential Dutch family, lords of the town of Egmond ** Lamoral, Count of Egmont (1522–1568), the bes ...

South Taranaki District {{taranaki-geo-stub