Taupo is a town on the shore of Lake Taupo in the centre of the North Island of New Zealand. It is the seat of the Taupo District Council and lies in the southern Waikato Region.
Taupo has a population of 22,600 (June 2011 estimate). In 1953, Taupo was officially constituted as a borough, but from 1989 it has been administered by the Taupo District Council, the district including both Taupo itself and the surrounding hinterland. Despite this, it is occasionally referred to as a city.
The name Taupo, by which the town is commonly known, is the shortened version of its full name, Taup?-nui-a-Tia. Literally translated from M?ori language, Taup?-nui-a-Tia means "The great cloak of Tia", where Tia is the name of the discoverer of the lake.
In 2009 a team of Taupo citizens won the TV2 programme Top Town
