The movie set in New Zealand’s Waikato region used for The Lord of the Rings is Hobbiton.
Hobbiton represents the village of Hobbiton in the Shire, the peaceful homeland of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Hobbits. Director Peter Jackson selected the rolling farmland near Matamata after spotting it during an aerial search in 1998. Its green hills, lake, hedgerows and rural character suited the story’s imagined English countryside.
Construction began in 1999 for The Lord of the Rings. The original set included 37 Hobbit-hole facades, gardens, a mill, a double-arch bridge and the famous Party Tree. Much of that temporary set was dismantled after filming, but some structures survived. The location was rebuilt in more durable materials for The Hobbit trilogy and became a permanent visitor attraction.
A common mix-up is confusing Hobbiton with other Middle-earth locations. Rivendell, Edoras and Minas Tirith were also filmed in New Zealand, but they represent different places and were not the Waikato farm set associated with the Shire.