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Tauranga is the most populous city in the Bay of Plenty region of the North Island of New Zealand. The earliest known Māori settlers arrived in Tauranga from the Takitimu and the Mataatua waka in the 12th century, with Europeans arriving in the early 19th century. Tauranga was constituted as a city in 1963.
Notable people from Tauranga
- Tim Balme - actor, director
- John Bracewell - International Cricketer
- Simon Bridges - politician
- Moss Burmester - Olympic swimmer
- Bob Clarkson - former Member of Parliament and successful property developer and landlord
- Aaron De Mey - makeup artist, Artistic Director, Lancome (spent formative years here)
- Tony Christiansen – Former Paralympics, FESPIC Games & World Games multi-medalist, Professional Speaker & Tauranga City Councillor
- Dame Susan Devoy - former World Squash Champion
- Lynley Dodd - author
- Mahé Drysdale - Olympic rower
- Kathleen Hawkins – known as the "Pioneer Poet"
- Hilda Hewlett - pioneer aviator
- Phyllis Johnson - author
- Sherryl Jordan - author
- Tony Lochhead - footballer
- Les Munro - Dambusters veteran
- Richard O'Brien - author of The Rocky Horror Show (spent his formative years here)
- Winston Peters - former MP for Tauranga, leader of NZ First, politician
- Jeremy Redmore - Midnight Youth singer
- Alf Rendall - photographer
- Phil Rudd - drummer for AC/DC
- Andrew (Herb) Stevenson - Olympic rower, Double World Champion Rower, NZ 1982 Sportsman of the Year
- Dame Evelyn Mary Stokes (Dinsdale), DNZM - author, Waitangi Tribunal
- Tiki Taane - musician
- Stan Walker - R&B singer, Former Australian Idol contestant and winner
- Joyce West - author
- Kane Williamson - International Cricketer