LAND AND AREA IN NEW ZEALAND
With a land area of 268,000 square kilometers, New Zealand is similar in size to Japan or Britain, and a coast line of approximately 10,000 Kilometers. It is comprised of two main Islands, North Island and South Island and a number of small outlying Islands. New Zealand lies in the south west Pacific Ocean, nearly 2000 Kms from Australia. It is over 1,600 Kms long, and its widest part is 450 Kilometers
Nearly half of New Zealand’s total land area is pasture and arable land, and more than a quarter is under forest cover, including 1.7 million hectares of planted production forest.13% of its mountainous and hilly area consists of alpine terrain and peeks, and 1% of the land is covered with lakes and rivers.
New Zealand is a very mountainous country; with a quarter of the land is less than 200 meters above sea level. The North Island is mainly made up of coastal plains and mountain ranges. The main volcanic mountains in the North Island are: Mount Tongariro, Mount Ngaruahoe, and the largest Mount Ruapehu.
In the Southern Island, it is the Southern Alps covered with glaciers, of which the largest being on the West coast, the Fox and the Franz Josef glacier.
New Zealand is an Island nation. The three Islands that make up the nation are:
- The Chatham Islands
- The Kermadec Islands
- Campbell Island
- Antipodes Island
- The Bounty Islands
- The Auckland’s Islands
The continental shelf is an integral part of New Zealand region, which is at present below sea level, but in the past has been land. The land and continental areas together termed “Zealandia”, have had a long and varied geological history.
Some hundred and millions of years ago a super continent {Gondwanaland}, existed in the southern hemisphere surrounded by sea. The New Zealand area was situated on the edge of Gondwanaland. Since then, movements from within the earth have caused the constituent continents to break away from one another and move to their present positions-a process which is still continuing. The original super-continent was not stationery.
Nowadays, a large portion of New Zealand’s land area is protected, with 13 national parks, 20 forest parks, 4 maritime parks and over 3500 reserves.
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