New Zealand - Geography

Here, let us take a look at the Geography of New Zealand. note 1: consists of two main islands and a number of smaller islands; South Island, the larger main island, is the 12th-largest island in the world and is divided along its length by the Southern Alps; North Island is the 14th-largest island in the world and is not as mountainous, but it is marked by volcanism

note 2: New Zealand lies along the Ring of Fire, which is a belt bordering the Pacific Ocean that contains about 75% of the world's volcanoes and up to 90% of the world's earthquakes

note 3: almost 90% of the population lives in cities and over three-quarters on North Island; Wellington is the southernmost national capital in the world. Mother's mean age at first birth is 27.8 years (), whereas, the Maternal mortality ratio is 7 deaths/100,000 live births (2023 est.)

Geographical data of New Zealand
Location Oceania, islands in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of Australia
Geographic coordinates 41 00 S, 174 00 E
Map references Oceania
Tarrain predominately mountainous with large coastal plains
Natural Resources natural gas, iron ore, sand, coal, timber, hydropower, gold, limestone
Natural Hazards earthquakes are common, though usually not severe; volcanic activity

volcanism: significant volcanism on North Island; Ruapehu (2,797 m) has a history of large eruptions in the past century; Taranaki has the potential to produce dangerous avalanches and lahars; other historically active volcanoes include Okataina, Raoul Island, Tongariro, and White Island; see note 2 under "Geography - note"
Irrigated Land 7,000 sq km (2014)
Major rivers (by length in km)
Major aquifers
Land Boundaries 0 km
Border Countries
Coastline 15,134 km
Climate temperate with sharp regional contrasts
Area
Total Area
Land Area 264,537 sq km
Water Area 4,301 sq km
comparative Area almost twice the size of North Carolina; about the size of Colorado
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
Elevations
Highest point Aoraki/Mount Cook 3,724 m; note - the mountain's height was 3,764 m until 14 December 1991 when it lost about 10 m in an avalanche of rock and ice; erosion of the ice cap since then has brought the height down another 30 m
Lowest point Pacific Ocean 0 m
Mean elevation 388 m
Land Use
Agricultural land 37% (2022 est.)
Agricultural land: arable land arable land: 2% (2022 est.)
Agricultural land: permanent crops permanent crops: 0.3% (2022 est.)
Agricultural land: permanent pasture permanent pasture: 34.7% (2022 est.)
Forest 37.7% (2022 est.)
Other 25.3% (2022 est.)
Population Distribution

Over three quarters of New Zealanders, including the Maori, live on the North Island, primarily in urban areas

People and Society

In New Zealand, the different Ethnic groups are such that we have: European 64.1%, Maori 16.5%, Chinese 4.9%, Indian 4.7%, Samoan 3.9%, Tongan 1.8%, Cook Islands Maori 1.7%, English 1.5%, Filipino 1.5%, New Zealander 1%, other 13.7% (2018 est.)

Population
Pop growth rate 0.95% (2024 est.)
Birth rate 12.6 births/1,000 population (2024 est.)
Death rate 6.9 deaths/1,000 population (2024 est.)
Health expenditure
Physicians Density
Hospital bed Density 2.7 beds/1,000 population (2021 est.)
Total fertility rate 1.85 children born/woman (2024 est.)
Gross reproduction rate 0.9 (2024 est.)
Contraceptive prevalence rate
Est married women (ages 15-49) 57.6% (2023 est.)
Literacy
Education expenditures
Net Migration rate 3.8 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2024 est.)
Nationality New Zealand | New Zealander(s)
Languages English (de facto official) 95.4%, Maori (de jure official) 4%, Samoan 2.2%, Northern Chinese 2%, Hindi 1.5%, French 1.2%, Yue 1.1%, New Zealand Sign Language (de jure official) 0.5%, other or not stated 17.2% (2018 est.)
Religions Christian 37.3% (Catholic 10.1%, Anglican 6.8%, Presbyterian and Congregational 5.2%, Pentecostal 1.8%, Methodist 1.6%, Church of Jesus Christ 1.2%, other 10.7%), Hindu 2.7%, Maori 1.3%, Muslim, 1.3%, Buddhist 1.1%, other religion 1.6% (includes Judaism, Spiritualism and New Age religions, Baha'i, Asian religions other than Buddhism), no religion 48.6%, objected to answering 6.7% (2018 est.)
Age Structure
0-14 years 19% (male 503,120/female 475,490)
15-64 years 64.2% (male 1,674,407/female 1,638,276)
65 years and over 16.9% (2024 est.) (male 407,080/female 462,838)
Dependency Ratios
Total dependency ratio 55.8 (2024 est.)
Youth dependency ratio 29.5 (2024 est.)
Elderly dependency ratio 26.3 (2024 est.)
Potential support ratio 3.8 (2024 est.)
Median Age
Total 37.9 years (2024 est.)
Male 37.2 years
Female 38.6 years
Urbanization
Urban population 87% of total population (2023)
Rate of urbanization 0.92% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Major urban areas (Pop) 1.673 million Auckland, 422,000 WELLINGTON (capital) (2023).
Sex Ratio
At birth 1.05 male(s)/female
0-14 years 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years 1.02 male(s)/female
65 years and over 0.88 male(s)/female
Total population 1 male(s)/female (2024 est.)
Infant Motality
Total 3.3 deaths/1,000 live births (2024 est.)
Male 3.5 deaths/1,000 live births
Female 3.1 deaths/1,000 live births
Life Expectancy at birth
Total population 82.9 years (2024 est.)
Male 81.2 years
Female 84.8 years
Drinking Water Sources
Improved: urban urban: 100% of population (2022 est.)
Improved: rural rural: 100% of population (2022 est.)
Improved: total total: 100% of population (2022 est.)
Unimproved: urban urban: 0% of population (2022 est.)
Unimproved: rural rural: 0% of population (2022 est.)
Unimproved: total total: 0% of population (2022 est.)
Sanitation facility acess
Improved: urban urban: 100% of population (2022 est.)
Improved: rural rural: 100% of population (2022 est.)
Improved: total total: 100% of population (2022 est.)
Unimproved: urban urban: 0% of population (2022 est.)
Unimproved: rural rural: 0% of population (2022 est.)
Unimproved: total total: 0% of population (2022 est.)
Alcohol consumption per capita
Total 9.17 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Beer 3.41 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Wine 2.88 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Spirits 1.62 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Other alcohols 1.26 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Tobacco use
Total 10% (2025 est.)
Male 11.2% (2025 est.)
Female 8.9% (2025 est.)
Demographic profile
All Important Facts about New Zealand

Want to know more about New Zealand? Check all different factbooks for New Zealand below.

New Zealand is found in Australia and New Zealand