Te Rapa is a mixed light industrial, large-scale retail and semi-rural suburb to the northwest of central Hamilton, New Zealand that is built on a flat area that was previously the bed of an ancient river, the forerunner to the present Waikato River. Stretching in a long, thin north–south axis, Te Rapa is home to many factories including Te Rapa Dairy Factory, one of the largest of its kind in the world. Te Rapa has freight and locomotive depots on the North Island Main Trunk railway.