• New Zealand:
• Geography

New Zealand - Geography

New Zealand’s Maori name is Aotearoa, meaning ‘Land of the Long White Cloud’. A well-watered and fertile mountainous island country in the South Pacific, New Zealand consists of two large islands (North Island and South Island), Stewart Island and a number of offshore islands. It is somewhat isolated, being about 1,600km east of Australia, the nearest land mass. Other neighbouring countries are Vanuatu and Tonga.

Time: GMT plus 12hr. The clock is advanced by one hour from the first Sunday in October to the third Sunday in March.

Area: 270,500 sq km

Main towns: Wellington (capital, pop. 182,300 in 2006), Auckland (429,900; greater Auckland includes Manukau, North Shore and Waitakere, with pop. of more than 1.2m), Manukau (greater Auckland, 396,800), Christchurch (South Island, 369,300), Hamilton (155,400), Napier–Hastings (119,100), Dunedin (South Island, 115,300), Tauranga (113,800), Lower Hutt (greater Wellington, 102,100), Palmerston North (76,400), Rotorua (54,100), Whangarei (50,000), New Plymouth (49,200), Invercargill (South Island, 47,200), Nelson (South Island, 46,600).

Topography: New Zealand being in the ‘Pacific ring of fire’, volcanic activity has shaped the landscape. Earthquakes, mostly shallow, are common, and volcanic eruptions occur in the North Island and offshore to the Kermadec Islands. 75% of the country is higher than 200m above sea level. Around one-tenth of the North Island (113,729 sq km) is mountainous. Its Rotorua area, a much-visited tourist attraction, has boiling mud pools and geysers. The South Island (150,437 sq km) is very mountainous; the Southern Alps extend almost its entire length; they have many outlying ranges to the north and south-west; there are at least 223 peaks over 2,300m above sea level and 360 glaciers. There are numerous lakes, mostly at high altitude, and many rivers, mostly fast-flowing and difficult to navigate, which are important sources of hydroelectricity (which provides more than 90% of the country’s power). Stewart Island, named after Captain Stewart, who first charted the island in 1809, and (further out) the Auckland Islands lie south of the South Island. The Chatham and Pitt Islands are 850km east of Christchurch. In addition, the Kermadec Islands were annexed in 1887 and the Ross Dependency in Antarctica was acquired in 1923. The country has a long coastline (over 15,000km) in relation to its area.

Climate: Temperate marine climate influenced by the surrounding ocean, the prevailing westerly winds, and the mountainous nature of the islands. The weather tends to be changeable. Winds can be very strong, sometimes damaging buildings and trees. Rain, sometimes very heavy, occurs throughout the year. Cold southerly winds bring snow in winter, sometimes in spring. At Wellington, yearly average rainfall is 1,270 mm (143mm in July, and averaging 87mm from November to February); average January temperature is 13–20°C, and July temperature 6–11°C. Most of the country experiences at least 2,000 hours of sunshine annually. In recent years, weather patterns have been affected by La Nina and El Niño; some unusually high temperatures have been recorded; and drought and unusually heavy rainfall have occurred.

Environment: The most significant environmental issues are deforestation and soil erosion and the impact on native flora and fauna of species introduced from other countries.

Vegetation: Forest cover includes species of conifer, kauri (North Island only) and beech – forest covers 31% of the land area, having increased at 0.5% p.a. 1990–2005. A great range of flora, depending on latitude and altitude, from subtropical rainforest to alpine, with 25% of plants growing above the tree-line. Many species are unique to New Zealand. Arable land comprises 5.6% and permanent cropland 7% of the total land area.

Wildlife: Fauna are often also unique because of geographical isolation, and include such flightless birds as the kiwi, kakapo and weka, and a great diversity of seabirds, as well as 400 kinds of marine fish and many sea-mammals including 32 whale-species. The introduction of land-mammals (unknown before the arrival of humans, save for three species of bat) by successive settlers, Polynesian and European, has seriously damaged the habitat of many species, including the flightless birds – of which the moa, adzebill and flightless goose have become extinct – and reduced the forest area.

Transport: There are 92,660km of roads, 64% paved. The railway network, privatised in 1993, extends over 3,898km, with many scenic routes.

There are 13 major commercial ports, including those in Whangarei (shipping oil products), Tauranga (timber and newsprint) and Bluff (alumina and aluminium) as well as container ports in Auckland, Wellington, Lyttleton (near Christchurch) and Dunedin.

There are international airports in Auckland (23km to the south of the city), Christchurch (10km north-west), Wellington (8km south-east), Hamilton and Dunedin.