New Plymouth is the port and main city in the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. The area where New Plymouth was founded had been the historic home for several Māori iwi (tribes) for centuries. Early European whalers operated in the area for some time before the ship William Bryant arrived in 1840 to disembark the first of the European settlers, with the town of New Plymouth being established in 1841. Settlers came from not only Britain (as the majority of New Zealand's settlers did) but also from Poland, Switzerland, The Netherlands, China and India. These newcomers found it easy to purchase land at first, but settlement proved increasingly difficult as the years passed, when more and more Māori-owned fertile farming land was wanted. Many Māori were not interested in selling and this led to conflict, and ten years of war in the area - see First Taranaki War and Second Taranaki War. Description courtesy of Wikipedia