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Geography and Climate

New Zealand is located in the southern Pacific Ocean, approximately 1,600 kilometres (995 miles) south-east of Australia. New Zealand is comprised of two main islands (the North and South Islands) and several smaller islands of which the combined total land area is 270,534 sq. kms (104,454 sq. mls - approximately 36 times less than the US). It is similar in size to Colorado and somewhere in between the size of Japan and the United Kingdom.

New Zealand's geography includes spectacular landscapes incorporating the vast mountain chain of the Southern Alps (larger than the French, Austrian and Swiss Alps combined), the volcano region of the North Island, fiords, glaciers, lakes, rainforests and extensive grassy plains.

Highest point: Mount Cook (3,754 m or 12313 ft)
Deepest lake: Lake Hauroko (462 m 1515 ft)
Largest lake: Lake Taupo (606 km or 234 miles)
Longest river: Waikato River (425 km or 264 miles long)
Largest glacier: Tasman Glacier (29 km or 18 miles long)
Deepest cave: Nettlebed, Mount Arthur (889 m or 2916 ft)
Length of coastline: 15,811 km (9824 miles)

New Zealand experiences summer from December - February and winter from June - August. The climate is temperate with little extreme. Any huge variations in temperature can be accounted for by the combination of the mountainous geography and prevailing westerly winds.

Daily maximum Temp.
°C

Bright Sunshine Hours

Mean annual Rainfall mm

Jan

Jul

Auckland

23.8

15.1

2,071

1,106
Wellington

20.3

11.2

2,024

1,269
Christchurch

22.6

11.1

2,066

645
Dunedin

18.9

9.9

1,595

799

Source: Statistics New Zealand, New Zealand In Profile 1998

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