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New Zealand (Māori: Aotearoa [aɔˈtɛaɾɔa]) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island (Te Ika-a-Māui) and the South Island (Te Waipounamu)—and over 700 smaller islands.
- History of New Zealand
The human history of New Zealand can be dated back to...
- Climate of New Zealand
The Meteorological Service of New Zealand Limited...
- New Zealand Sign Language
New Zealand Sign Language or NZSL (Māori: te reo Turi) is...
- House of Representatives
The New Zealand House of Representatives takes the British...
- Talk
New Zealand portal; This article is within the scope of...
- New Zealand Dollar
The New Zealand dollar (Māori: tāra o Aotearoa; sign: $;...
- Demographics of New Zealand
Terminology. While the demonym for a New Zealand citizen is...
- Islands
Rangitoto Island is a volcanic island in the Hauraki Gulf...
- Alexandra
Alexandra (Māori: Manuherikia or Areketanara) is a town in...
- Asian
Asian New Zealanders are New Zealanders of Asian ancestry...
- History of New Zealand
- Physical Geography
- Human Geography
- Natural Hazards
- Environment and Ecology
- Popular Culture
- External Links
Overview
New Zealand is located in the South Pacific Ocean at WikiMiniAtlas41°S 174°E / 41°S 174°E / -41; 174, near the centre of the water hemisphere. It is a long and narrow country, extending 1,600 kilometres (990 mi) along its north-north-east axis with a maximum width of 400 kilometres (250 mi). The land size of 267,710 km2 (103,360 sq mi) makes it the sixth-largest island country. New Zealand consists of a large number of islands, estimated around 600. The islands give it 15,134 km (9,404 mi)...
Geology
New Zealand is part of Zealandia, a microcontinent nearly half the size of Australia that gradually submerged after breaking away from the Gondwana supercontinent.Zealandia extends a significant distance east into the Pacific Ocean and south towards Antarctica. It also extends towards Australia in the north-west. This submerged continent is dotted with topographic highs that sometimes form islands. Some of these, such as the main islands (North and South), Stewart Island, New Caledonia, and t...
Mountains, volcanoes and glaciers
The South Island is much more mountainous than the North, but shows fewer manifestations of recent volcanic activity. There are 18 peaks of more than 3,000 metres (9,800 feet) in the Southern Alps, which stretch for 500 kilometres (310 mi) down the South Island. The closest mountains surpassing it in elevation are found not in Australia, but in New Guinea and Antarctica. As well as the towering peaks, the Southern Alps include huge glaciers such as Franz Josef and Fox. The country's highest m...
Political geography
New Zealand has no land borders. However, the Ross Dependency, its claim in Antarctica, notionally borders the Australian Antarctic Territory to the west and unclaimed territory to the east. Most other countries do not recognise territorial claims in Antarctica. New Zealand proper is divided administratively into sixteen regions: seven in the South Island and nine in the North. They have a physical geographical link with regional boundaries being based largely on drainage basins. Among the re...
Population geography
Over the course of the 20th century, New Zealand's population centre drifted north. Today the South Island contains a little under one-quarter of the population. Over three-quarters of New Zealand's population live in the North Island, with half living north of Lake Rotorua, and one-third of the total population living in the Auckland Region. Auckland is also the fastest growing region, accounting for 51% of New Zealand's total population growth (in the two decades up to 2016). The majority o...
Agricultural geography
A relatively small proportion of New Zealand's land is arable (1.76 percent), and permanent crops cover 0.27 percent of the land. 7,210 square kilometres (2,780 sq mi) of the land is irrigated. As the world's largest exporter of sheep, New Zealand's agricultural industry focuses primarily on pastoral farming, particularly dairy and beef, as well as lambs. Dairy, specifically, is the top export. In addition to pastoral farming, fisherman harvest mussels, oysters and salmon, and horticulture fa...
Flooding is the most regular natural hazard. New Zealand is swept by weather systems that bring heavy rain; settlements are usually close to hill-country areas which experience much higher rainfall than the lowlands due to the orographic effect. Mountain streams which feed the major rivers rise rapidly and frequently break their banks covering farm...
New Zealand's geographic isolation for 80 million years and island biogeography has influenced evolution of the country's species of animals, fungi and plants. Physical isolation has not caused biological isolation, and this has resulted in a dynamic evolutionary ecology with examples of very distinctive plants and animals as well as populations of...
New Zealand's varied landscape has appeared in television shows, such as Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess. An increasing number of feature films have been shot on location in New Zealand for its scenery, including the Lord of the Rings trilogy. New Zealand is often mistakenly omitted from world maps due to the country's p...
- Ranked 75th
- Taieri Plain, −2 m
- Aoraki / Mount Cook, 3,724 m (12,218 ft)
- Oceania
New Zealand (known as Aotearoa in the Māori language) is an island country in Oceania. It is a sovereign state in the south-western part of the Pacific Ocean . It is made up of two large islands (the North Island and the South Island ) and many smaller islands.
2 days ago · New Zealand, island country in the South Pacific Ocean, the southwesternmost part of Polynesia. The country comprises two main islands—the North and South islands—and a number of small islands, some of them hundreds of miles from the main group. The capital city is Wellington and the largest urban area Auckland.
It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island ( Te Ika-a-Māui) and the South Island ( Te Waipounamu )—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island country by area and lies east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and south of the islands of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga.
Website. aucklandcouncil.govt.nz. Auckland ( / ˈɔːklənd / AWK-lənd; [6] Māori: Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about 1,478,800 (June 2023). [4]
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