New Zealand is a country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two large islands (the North Island and the South Island) and numerous smaller islands, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands. In Maori, New Zealand has come to be known as Aotearoa, which is usually translated into English as The Land of the Long White Cloud. The Realm of New Zealand also includes the Cook Islands and Niue, which are self-governing but in free association; Tokelau; and the Ross Dependency (New Zealand's territorial claim in Antarctica).

New Zealand is notable for its geographic isolation, being separated from Australia to the northwest by the Tasman Sea, approximately 2000 kilometres (1250 miles) across. Its closest neighbours to the north are New Caledonia, Fiji and Tonga.

The population is mostly of European descent, with the indigenous Maori being the largest minority. Non-Maori Polynesian and Asian people are also significant minorities, especially in the cities.

Area
270,534 sq km (104,454 sq miles).

Population
4,009,200 (official estimate 2003).

Population Density
14.8 per sq km.

Capital
Wellington. Population: 423,765 (2003). Auckland, with a population of 1,158,891 (2003), is the largest urban area in the country.

Geography
New Zealand is 1930km (1200 miles) southeast of Australia and consists of two major islands, the North Island (116,031 sq km/44,800 sq miles) and the South Island (153,540 sq km/59,283 sq miles), which are separated by Cook Strait. Stewart Island (1750 sq km/676 sq miles) is located immediately south of the South Island, and the Chatham Islands lie 800km (500 miles) to the east of Christchurch. Going from north to south, temperatures decrease. Compared to its huge neighbour Australia, New Zealands three islands make up a country that is relatively small (about 20 per cent more land mass than the British Isles). Two-thirds of the country is mountainous, a region of swift-flowing rivers, deep alpine lakes and dense subtropical forest. The country’s largest city, Auckland, is situated on the peninsula that forms the northern part of the North Island. The southern part of the North Island is characterised by fertile coastal plains rising up to volcanic peaks. Around Rotorua, 240km (149 miles) south of Auckland, there is thermal activity in the form of geysers, pools of boiling mud, springs of hot mineral water, silica terraces, coloured craters and hissing fumaroles, which make Rotorua a world-famous tourist attraction. The South Island is larger, although only about one-third of the population lives there. The Southern Alps extend the whole length of the island, culminating in Mount Cook, the country’s highest peak. In the same region are the Franz Josef and Fox glaciers.
There are also four Associated Territories: The Cook Islands, about 3500km (2175 miles) northeast of New Zealand; Niue, 920km (570 miles) west of the Cook Islands (area 260 sq km/100 sq miles); Tokelau, three atolls about 960km (600 miles) northwest of Niue (area 12 sq km/4 sq miles), and the Ross Dependency, which consists of over 700,000 sq km (270,270 sq miles) of the Antarctic.

Language
English is the common and everyday language, but other languages are also spoken, including Maori, which is New Zealands second official language (spoken by the indigenous Maori people who constitute approximately 15 per cent of the population).