Tauranga is a coastal city in the Bay of Plenty Region and the fifth-most populous city of New Zealand, with an urban population of 161,800, or roughly 3% of the national population. It was settled by Māori late in the 13th century, colonised by Europeans in the early 19th century, and was constituted as a city in 1963.

The Bay of Plenty Region, often abbreviated to BOP, is a region in the North Island of New Zealand situated around the body of water of the same name. The bay was named by James Cook after he noticed the abundant food supplies at several Māori villages there, in stark contrast to the earlier observations he had made in Poverty Bay.