Taranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand’s North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano of Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the city of New Plymouth. New Plymouth is in North Taranaki along with Inglewood and Waitara. South Taranaki towns include Hāwera, Stratford, Eltham, and Opunake.
Manawatu–Whanganui is a region in the lower half of the North Island of New Zealand, whose main population centres are the cities of Palmerston North and Whanganui. The name Manawatū is a compound word that originates in an old Māori waiata (song) that describes the search by an early ancestor, Haunui-a-Nanaia, for his wife. He named various waterways in the district. The waiata “Ka tatū e hine ko Manawatū” describes how his heart (manawa) settled or momentarily stopped (tatū) when he saw the Manawatu River.