Geography of New Zealand

New Zealand is a long, narrow country in the rugged terrain of the North Island and South Island (in addition to a small group of islands). It covers an area of 166,940 km2) and 1,600 kilometres long. It has a length slightly higher than the UK. New Zealand is located in the South Pacific, about 10,400 km southwest of North America and 2250 km east of Australia.

North Island with its golden beaches, the ancestral Kauris forests, volcanoes, thermal areas and large cities (which include Wellington, the capital), is the most populated island of the two. South Island with its snow-capped mountains, glaciers, lush forests, fjords, is the larger of the two, proudly called the “main land” by the inhabitants of the same (although the people of the North Island are in disagreement with this).

The small Stewart Island (1,750 square kilometres) a virgin forest filled with native birds and their beaches in the most southern of the country, is one of the closest to Antarctica that man has ever inhabited .

Within the territorial jurisdiction of New Zealand also includes a small group of the Chatham Islands, Kermadec Islands, Campbell, Auckland, antipodes, The Snares, Solander and Bounty Islands.

Surrounded by the South Pacific Ocean in the east and the Tasman Sea in the west, New Zealand appears as a small dot on the globe, despite being 1,600 kilometres long, similar in size to Japan or the British Isles.

Australia, at 2092 kilometres by the northwest, is the closest neighbour, and its relative proximity to New Zealand is sometimes confused as if they were the same country. New Zealand is a fully independent nation with self-government.

New Zealand has 2 main islands located in Oceania in the South Pacific with its centre at about 41 ° S 174 ° E. It has a total area of 268,680 km2 if you include the outlying Kermadec Islands antipodes Islands, Auckland Islands, Chatham and Campbell Islands Bounty Islands, and the being slightly smaller than Italy or Japan and a little higher than the UK.

New Zealand has a total of 15,134 km of coastline and has extensive marine resources. Claimed seventh largest exclusive economic zone of the world, covering more than 4 million km2, more than 15 times its land area. The country has no land borders.

South Island is the larger of the two main islands and contains about one quarter of the population of New Zealand. The island is divided longitudinally by the aptly names Southern Alps, whose peak is Mount Cook or Aoraki to 3754 meters.

There are 18 peaks above 3100 meters on the South Island. The eastern side of the island is home to the Canterbury Plains, while the West Coast is famous for its rugged coastline, very high proportion of native forest, and the Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers.

North Island has less high mountain areas than South Island, but is noted for its volcanic activity. Mount Ruapehu at 2,797 m is an active volcano and the highest peak on the island.

Lake Taupo is more or less in the middle of the North Island and is the biggest expanse of water in the area. The lake lies in a caldera created after the largest eruption in the world in the last 70,000 years (Oruanui Eruption).