B1.1.1  General

New Zealand is in the south-west                            \_
Pacific and has two large islands,                           \}
one smaller island, and numerous                              \9
much smaller islands.  It is usual                  North      )`-'7
to refer to the main islands as 'the                Island    (   c`
North Island' and 'the South Island'.                          )  /
                                                           F,% n_/
For a larger map of the main islands            South     J  /
see section B6.  For a map showing              Island   /  6
the dependencies, see an atlas...                      /   /
                                                      {_, /`
Ascii maps are copyright,              Stewart Island  @ ~
please do not repost.

New Zealand     =  Aotearoa, Niu Tireni (uncommon, adulteration of 'New
                   Zealand'), Land of the Long White Cloud, 'Godzone'
North Island    =  Aotearoa (original name(?) referring to the NI only?),
                   Te Ika-a-Maui[-Tikitiki-A-Taranga] (The Fish of Maui),
                   Nga Ahi o Maui (verification and definition anyone?)
South Island    =  Te Waka-a-Maui (The Canoe of Maui), Te Wa[h]ipounamu
                   (Greenstone waters or Place of Greenstone)
Stewart Island  =  Rakiura (The Land of Glowing Skies) or
                   Te punga o te waka a Maui (The anchor of Maui's canoe)

"Kiwiland" is slang for "New Zealand" and not very common.  "Down Under"
tends to mean Australia but may also include NZ.

--------------------

B1.1.2  Statistics

For the main three:  Latitude:  34 S to 47 S
                     Longitude: 167 E to 178 E

AREAS            sq kms        sq mi
North Island     114,453       44,191
South Island     150,718       58,193
Stewart Island     1,746          674
The Rest           ?

TOTAL            268,700      103,745

COASTLINE: 15,134 km
LAND BOUNDARIES: 0 km
MARITIME CLAIMS:
  Continental shelf; edge of continental margin or 200 nm
  Exclusive economic zone; 200 nm
  Territorial sea; 12 nm

Take a look at:
 http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/95fact/nz.html
and
 http://www.govt.nz/ps/min/stats

And Steve Israel (israel@spheroid.otago.ac.nz) invites people to look at
his remote sensing page:
 http://spheroid.otago.ac.nz:808/courses/remote.sense/RemoteSense.html

--------------------

B1.1.3  Dependencies

Antarctica (Ross Dependency):  between 160 degrees east and 150 degrees
west longitude together with the islands lying between those degrees and
south of latitude 60 segrees south.  The land is estimated to be between
400,000 and 450,000 sq km, with a further 330,000 sq km of permanent ice
shelf.  The main NZ station is Scott Base at approx 78 degrees south.

The next two are part of NZ territory, and apart from the Chatham Islands,
they are uninhabited except by research personnel.

Antipodes Islands:  a small group of outlying islands off the east coast of
the South Island, latitude 49 degrees 41' South and longitude 178 degrees
43' east.  Total area about 62 sq km.

Auckland Islands, Bounty Islands, Campbell Island, Kermadec Islands, Snares
Islands.  The sub-Antarctic islands are integral parts of NZ.  Actually,
with the exception of the Kermadecs (to the NE of NZ) all those island
groups are in the sub-antarctic, as are the Antipodes Islands.  The Anres
and Bounty Islands are marginal for being classed as sub-Antarctic.

The Chatham Islands are well east of New Zealand (850kms) and have their
own 'Time Zone' in as much as their clocks are always 45 mins ahead of the
rest of NZ and I guess they keep in step with changes to and from NZDT.

Lyndon Watson wrote:
"The Cook Islands were originally under sole British administration and
later under sole New Zealand administration.  There was no condominium.
The Cook Islands have been independent since the 1970s.

"The Cook Islands are an independent state.  At *their* request (not
surprising in view of their small population and resources) they are
represented in most overseas countries by New Zealand diplomats and New
Zealand undertakes their military defence.  They can change that at any
time simply by notifying New Zealand, one government to another.

"Not only could Cook Islanders vote in New Zealand elections before they
became independent, but the can still do so even now under special dual
nationality arrangements which *they* requested on independence.  New
Zealanders, of course, cannot vote in Cook Islands elections.

"New Zealand has never colonised Niue or Tokelau.  Rather the Niueans and
Tokelauans have colonised New Zealand.  In the case of Tokelau, especially,
the population of Tokelauan descendants in New Zealand is now far larger
than the atolls could possibly support.

"Niue is internally self-governing but not fully independent.  Their
problem, like that of other tiny Pacific nations, is a lack of population
and resources.  They are so totally dependent on New Zealand subsidies that
no one has been able to devise a viable scheme for full independence.
Tokelau has the same problem in even greater form.  Like Kiribati, they
even stand to lose their home islands (atolls) altogether if the sea level
keeps on rising they way that it has been lately.  Most of the people who
identify as Tokelauans are resident in New Zealand.  Tokelau is talking
about some form of autonomy or independence right now.

"New Zealand has no strategic interest in these islands and has never
settled them; they are a financial burden to us which we undertake because
they are our friends and neighbours and have important links with our own
population.  In our own narrow self-interest, we should either give them
full independence and cast them adrift, or simply incorporate them
seamlessly into New Zealand, but the decision is theirs, not ours."

--------------------

B1.1.4  Time Zones

New Zealand is 12 hours ahead of Greenwich mean time making it one of the
first places in the world to see the new day.  Summer time (or Daylight
Saving Time we call it here) is an advance of one hour at 2am in the
morning on the first Sunday in October and back to NZST at 3am in the
morning on the third Sunday morning of March.

NZST (GMT+12) or NZDT (GMT+13) October - March