New Zealand

Geography of New Zealand: Important Geographical Information about New Zealand

One of the first countries to see the sunrise because of its easternmost location, New Zealand lies in the South Pacific Ocean, near the center of the water hemisphere, the region of the earth where water occupies a larger area than land. New Zealand comprises several groups of islands the largest of which are the two main ones, the North Island and the South Island. The North Island is named in Maori as Te-Ika-a-Maui, and the South Island Te Wai Pounamu. The two major islands are separated by the Cook Strait. New Zealand’s geography is very diverse and travel to this island nation in the Southern Hemisphere will keep you amazed and awed. New Zealand has several volcanoes, the Southern Alps, geologic formations and unique and diverse topography and people. Outside of industrialization and commercialization, New Zealand is still a country that is among the cleanest and greenest in the world, with pristine waters that yield abundant marine products. Although flat lands are precious, and much of the countryside is rugged, majority of the land is suitable for sheep and cattle farming, making New Zealand among the world’s biggest suppliers of meat, wool, milk and dairy products, as well as succulent fruits like the kiwi fruits and vegetables.

Almost occupying a very lonely position in the Pacific Ocean, the nearest neighbors of New Zealand are Australia located at its northwest, separated by the Tasman Sea and Fiji and Tonga, two islands that are located to its north.

Aside from the two main islands, New Zealand is also composed of several groups of smaller islands including the islands of Antipodes, Bounty, Campbell, Auckland, Kermadec and Chatham. Overall, the total land area of New Zealand, at 268,680 square kilometers make is slightly larger than the United Kingdom or slightly smaller in size compared to Japan or Italy.

Having no land boundaries, New Zealand boasts of a long coastline that extends to 15,134 kilometers and the seventh largest exclusive economic zone in the world, which covers 4 million square kilometers, giving New Zealand access to a very extensive marine resource.

The Southern Alps divides the South Island, the largest island in New Zealand and where the majority of the population is located. This is where Aoraki/Mount Cook, the highest peak in New Zealand can be found. Rising to a height of 3,754 meters, it is surrounded by 18 other peaks with an average height of more than 3,000 meters. The eastern side of South Island has the Canterbury Plains while a traveler can find rough coastlines on the western side of the island, where most of the area is covered by the Franz Josef and Fox glaciers as well as native bush.

Although less mountainous the North Island is prone to volcanism. Here Mount Ruapehu, a very active cone volcano stands tall at 2,797 meters. The largest lake in New Zealand, Lake Taupo is located almost at the center of the island, on a caldera that was formed after the largest volcanic eruption in the world in 70,000 years occurred when Mount Taupo’s Oruanui eruption occurred some 26,500 years ago. This massive eruption still showed traces up to now, with about 18 centimeters of ash layer that can still be seen on Chatham Islands. The longest river in New Zealand is Waikato, situated on the North Island and runs for 425 kilometers. Lake Taupo on the other hand covers an area of 607 square kilometers.

Straddling the boundaries of two tectonic plates, New Zealand has vast geothermal energy resources that the country utilize for several hydrothermal power plants while some volcanic plates created awesome geologic formations, which are wonderful travel destinations like the Rotorua geysers, the Waitomo Caves, a favorite for travelers because of its unique glow worms that light up the caves with a myriad of tiny lights and the many cave decorations made of brown, white and pink limestone formations. The Pancake Rocks on Punakaiki, a series of heavily-eroded limestone rocks contain several vertical blowholes where the waters burst through when the tides are high.
Politically, New Zealand is composed of 16 regions with 9 located in the North Island and 7 located in the South Island. Most of the islands in the outlying areas are not included in the regional boundaries. For example Chatham Islands is not a region but its own council operates as a region, although it is under the Resource Management Act, an act that governs the access to the physical and natural resources in the air, land and water of a place, with the goal of sustainable management of these resources. The sub-Antarctic islands and the Kermadecs are part of the RMA and only inhabited by a few staff members from the Department of Conservation of New Zealand. The Kermadecs have been declared a nature and marine conservation area so travel to the islands are regulated and limited to those conducting research and studies. Actually parts of the island group are tops of active volcanoes that have risen above the ocean.

New Zealand’s Climate
While generally enjoying cool temperate to warm temperate climate, New Zealand also experience subtropical weather conditions, with varied rainfall prevails in the North Island. The weather changes very quickly in New Zealand and at times, unexpectedly. Average annual rainfall is between 600 millimeters to 1,600 millimeters of rainfall annually, occurring mostly on the west coast of South Island and making Auckland the wettest region in the country. The east coast of South Island receives the least rain and tends to be very dry, with Christchurch receiving only about 25 millimeters of rainfall annually. The average temperature in the South Island is in the 46°F range while it can be up to 61°F range. The UV index in New Zealand is very high due mainly to the very minimal air pollution in the country. Furthermore New Zealand’s climate is influenced by the Southern Alps, the ocean surrounding the islands and its latitude location where the westerly winds prevail.

:: References ::
http://www.innz.co.nz/about/geography.html
http://english.turkcebilgi.com/Geography+of+New+Zealand