Mount Taranaki, or Mount Egmont, is an active but quiescent stratovolcano in the Taranaki region on the west coast of New Zealand's North Island. Although the mountain is more commonly referred to as Taranaki, it has two official names under the alternative names policy of the New Zealand Geographic Board. The 2518-metre-high mountain is one of the most symmetrical volcanic cones in the world. There is a secondary cone, Fanthams Peak (Māori: Panitahi), 1,966 metres (6,450 ft), on the south side. Because of its resemblance to Mount Fuji, Taranaki provided the backdrop for the movie The Last Samurai.
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 Plymouth, Devon, England, from where the first English settlers migrated.
New Plymouth District includes New Plymouth City and several smaller towns. New Plymouth District is the 15th largest district (out of 73) in New Zealand, and has 1.7 percent of New Zealand's population.
New Plymouth District has a population of 68,901 – nearly two thirds of the total population of the Taranaki Region. This includes – New Plymouth City (52,500), Waitara (6,288), Inglewood (3,090), Oakura (1,359), Okato (531) and Urenui (429).
The city is a service centre for the region's principal economic activities including intensive pastoral activities (mainly dairy farming) 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 (formerly the Taranaki Savings Bank), the largest of the remaining non-government New Zealand-owned banks.
Notable features are the botanic gardens (e.g. Pukekura Park), the 10 km (6.2 mi) Coastal Walkway alongside the Tasman Sea, the Len Lye-designed 45-metre-tall (148 ft) artwork known as the Wind Wand, and views of Mount Taranaki/Egmont.