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, a belt of active volcanoes and earthquake epicenters bordering the Pacific Ocean; up to 90% of the world's earthquakes and some 75% of the world's volcanoes occur within the Ring of Fire
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 (2020 est.)Location | Oceania, islands in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of Australia |
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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), which last erupted in 2007, 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 | 43.2% (2018 est.) |
Agricultural land: arable land | arable land: 1.8% (2018 est.) |
Agricultural land: permanent crops | permanent crops: 0.3% (2018 est.) |
Agricultural land: permanent pasture | permanent pasture: 41.1% (2018 est.) |
Forest | 31.4% (2018 est.) |
Other | 25.4% (2018 est.) |
Over three-quarters of New Zealanders, including the indigenous Maori, live on the North Island, primarily in urban areas
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 | |
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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 | 10% of GDP (2020) |
Physicians Density | |
Hospital bed Density | 2.6 beds/1,000 population (2019) |
Total fertility rate | 1.85 children born/woman (2024 est.) |
Gross reproduction rate | 0.9 (2024 est.) |
Contraceptive prevalence rate | 79.9% (2014/15) |
Est married women (ages 15-49) | 57.6% (2023 est.) |
Literacy | |
Education expenditures | 6% of GDP (2020 est.) |
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 | 53.4 |
Youth dependency ratio | 29 |
Elderly dependency ratio | 24.4 |
Potential support ratio | 4.1 (2021 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 |
Improved: rural | rural: 100% of population |
Improved: total | total: 100% of population |
Unimproved: urban | urban: 0% of population |
Unimproved: rural | rural: 0% of population |
Unimproved: total | total: 0% of population (2020 est.) |
Sanitation facility acess | |
Improved: urban | urban: 100% of population |
Improved: rural | rural: 100% of population |
Improved: total | total: 100% of population |
Unimproved: urban | urban: 0% of population |
Unimproved: rural | rural: 0% of population |
Unimproved: total | total: 0% of population (2020) |
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 | 13.7% (2020 est.) |
Male | 15% (2020 est.) |
Female | 12.3% (2020 est.) |
Want to know more about New Zealand? Check all different factbooks for New Zealand below.