New Zealand has the world's southernmost national capital, Wellington.
Wellington lies near the southwestern tip of New Zealand's North Island at about 41.3 degrees south latitude. It faces the Cook Strait, the waterway separating the North and South islands, and sits beside a naturally sheltered harbor. The city became New Zealand's capital in 1865, replacing Auckland.
The location was selected partly because it was more central to the two main islands and better positioned for administration than Auckland. Wellington's harbor and surrounding hills strongly shape the city's geography, transport routes, and architecture. It is also close to the country's major fault systems and experiences frequent earthquakes.
Wellington is not the southernmost city in the world. Cities such as Ushuaia in Argentina lie farther south, but they are not national capitals. Santiago is Chile's capital and is also in the Southern Hemisphere, yet it lies much closer to the equator than Wellington.