Geography

New Zealand comprises two principal islands, North and South (Te-Ika-a-Maui and Te Wai Pounamu in Maori), which are separated by the Cook Strait. There are also a number of smaller islands, including Stewart Island (Rakiura), Waiheke Island (in Auckland's Hauraki Gulf), Great Barrier Island (east of the Hauraki Gulf) and the Chatham Islands (named Rekohu by Moriori). The total land area is 268,680 square kilometres (103,738 sq mi), which is is a little less than that of Italy and Japan, and a little more than the United Kingdom. The country extends 1,770 km/ 1,100 mi from its northernmost point to its southernmost point, and has approximately 15,134 km of coastline.

The country has extensive marine resources, with the seventh-largest Exclusive Economic Zone in the world, covering over four million square kilometres (1.5 million sq mi); more than 15 times its land area.

New Zealand is part of Zealandia, a continent that is 93% submerged. Zealandia is almost half the size of Australia and is unusually long and narrow. About 25 million years ago, a shift in plate tectonic movements began to pull Zealandia apart forcefully. The submerged parts of Zealandia are the Lord Howe Rise, Challenger Plateau, Campbell Plateau, Norfolk Ridge and the Chatham Rise.

Tetaumatawhakatangihangakoauaotamateaurehaeaturipukapihimaunga- horonukupokaiwhenuaakitanarahu, a hill in the Hawke's Bay region of the North Island, is credited by The Guinness Book of World Records with having the longest place name in the world. The Maori name translates roughly as "the brow of the hill, where Tamatea, the man with the big knees, who slid down, climbed up and swallowed mountains, to travel the land, who is known as the land eater, played on his nose flute to his loved one". It is shortened to Taumata by locals.

North Island

North Island is mountainous in the centre. The island's tallest mountain, Mount Ruapehu (2,797 m/9,176 ft), is an active cone volcano. Lake Taupo is situated near the centre of the North Island and is the largest lake by surface area in the country. The lake lies in a caldera created following the largest eruption in the world in the past seventy thousand years.

South Island

The South Island is the largest land mass and contains about one quarter of the New Zealand population. The island is divided along its length by the Southern Alps, the highest peak of which is Aoraki/Mount Cook at 3,754 metres (12,316 ft). There are eighteen peaks of more than 3,000 metres (9800 ft) in the South Island. The east side of the island is home to the Canterbury Plains while the West Coast is famous for its rough coastlines, very high proportion of native bush, and Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers.

Facts and Figures

• Location: Oceania, islands in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of Australia
• Geographic Coordinates: 41 00 S, 174 00 E
• Area:
  Note: includes Antipodes Islands, Auckland Islands, Bounty Islands, Campbell Island, Chatham Islands, and Kermadec Islands
  • Total: 268,680 sq km
  • Land: 268,021 sq km
  • water: NA
• Land Boundaries: 0 km
• Coastline: 15,134 km
• Maritime Claims:
  • Territorial sea: 12 nm
  • Contiguous zone: 24 nm
  • Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
  • Continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin
• Climate: temperate with sharp regional contrasts
• Terrain: predominately mountainous with some large coastal plains
• Elevation extremes:
  • Lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
  • Highest point: Aoraki-Mount Cook 3,754 m
• Natural Resources:
  • Natural gas
  • Iron ore
  • Sand
  • Coal
  • Timber
  • Hydropower
  • Gold
  • Limestone
• Land Use:
  • Arable land: 5.54%
  • Permanent crops: 6.92%
  • Other: 87.54% (2005)
• Irrigated land: 2,850 sq km
• Natural Hazards:
  • Earthquakes are common, though usually not severe
  • Volcanic activity
• Environmental Issues:
  • Deforestation
  • Soil erosion
  • Native flora and fauna hard-hit by invasive species