New Zealand consists of more than six hundred islands, mainly remnants of a larger land mass now beneath the sea. New Zealand is the sixth-largest island country, and the third-largest located entirely in the Southern Hemisphere. The following is a list of islands of New Zealand.
The two largest islands â where most of the population lives â have names in both English and in the MÃÂori language. They are the North Island or Te Ika-a-MÃÂui and the South Island or Te Waipounamu. Various MÃÂori iwi sometimes use other names, with some preferring to call the South Island Te Waka o Aoraki. The two islands are separated by the Cook Strait. In general practice, the term mainland refers to the North Island and South Island. However, the South Island alone is sometimes called "the mainland" â especially by its residents, as a nickname â because it is the larger of the two main islands.
To the south of the South Island, Stewart Island is the largest of the smaller islands, and Waiheke Island in the urban Auckland Region has the largest population of the smaller islands.
Listed by size
The following table lists the largest islands of New Zealand by area. River delta islands such as Rakaia Island (), Fereday Island, Rangitata Island, and Inch Clutha (approximately , , and respectively) are omitted, as are temporary islands in braided river channels and tidal islands such as Rabbit Island, Nelson (). The country's largest island within a lake, Pomona Island, has an area of just .
Listed by highest point
The table below lists the islands of New Zealand ranked by their highest elevation. All of these islands are located in either harbours or the open sea. The countryâÂÂs tallest island situated within a lake is Pomona Island, which rises to above sea level, approximately above the normal lake level of Lake Manapouri.
In harbours and the open sea
- Chetwode Islands
- Coal Island
- Codfish Island / Whenua Hou
- Cooper Island
- Dog Island
- Cuvier Island
- Dragon Island
- Eleanor Island, Charles Sound
- Elizabeth Island
- Fanny Island, Charles Sound
- Fergusson Island, Southland
- Fisherman Island
- Forsyth Island
- Frenchman Island, WhangÃÂrei Heads
- Goat Island / Rakiriri
- Great Barrier Island/Aotea
- Great Island
- Green Island (Okaihe)
- Green Island
- Guano Island, WhangÃÂrei Heads
- Hares Ears
- Haulashore Island
- Hen and Chicken Islands
- High Island
- Herald Island
- Horomaka Island
- Indian Island
- Jacky Lee Island
- KaikÃ
Âura Island
- Kapiapia Rock
- Kapiti Island
- KÃÂrewa / Gannet Island
- Karewa Island
- Kawau Island
- Kopuahingahinga Island, Manukau Harbour
- Lee Island
- Lloyd Island
- Long Island, Marlborough
- Long Island (Southland)
- MÃÂhungarape / Round Island
- Mahurangi Island
- Mahurangi Island (Goat Island)
- MÃÂkaro / Ward Island
- Mana Island
- Matakana Island
- Matapara / Pickersgill Island
- Matapia Island
- Matiu / Somes Island
- Maud Island/Te Hoiere
- Mauitaha Island, WhangÃÂrei Heads
- Mayor Island / TÃ
«hua
- Mercury Islands
- Mokohinau Islands
- Mokopuna Island
- MÃ
Âtëtë Island
- Motuara Island
- Motuareronui / Adele Island
- Motuarohia Island
- Motueka Island (Pigeon Island)
- Motuhoa Island, Tauranga Harbour
- Motuihe Island
- Motukaraka Island
- Motukaraka Island, Hokianga
- Motukaroro Island
- MotukÃ
Ârure Island / Centre Island
- Motukawao Islands
- Motuketekete Island
- Motukiore Island, Parua Bay
- MotukÃ
Âkako Island / Piercy Island
- Motu Matakohe / Limestone Island
- Motunau Island
- Motunau / Plate Island
- Motuora
- Motuoroi Island
- Moturaka Island
- Moturoa / Rabbit Island
- Moturekareka Island
- Moturiki Island
- Motutapu Island
- Moutohora Island/Whale Island
- Native Island
- Nee Island
- Ngarango Otainui Island
- Shelter Island
- NgÃÂ Motu / Sugar Loaf Islands
- Ninepin Rock, Manukau Harbour
- Noble Island
- North Island
- Okorotere Island
- Opahekeheke Island
- Open Bay Islands
- Ã
Âtamahua / Quail Island
- Pakatoa Island
- Pakihi Island
- Pararekau Island, Manukau Harbour
- Pearl Island
- Pepin Island (a tied island connected to the mainland)
- Ponui Island
- Poor Knights Islands
- Portland Island
- Pourewa Island
- Puketutu Island
- Putauhinu Island
- Quarantine Island / Kamau Taurua
- Rabbit Island (Bluff)
- Rabbit Island (Coromandel, North)
- Rabbit Island (Coromandel, South)
- Rabbit Island (Great Barrier Island)
- Rabbit Island (Warkworth)
- Rat Island (WhangÃÂrei)
- Rakino Island
- Rakitu Island
- Rangitoto Island
- Rangitoto Islands, Marlborough Sounds
- Rangitoto ki te Tonga / D'Urville Island
- Raratoka Island
- Resolution Island
- Ripapa Island
- Rotoroa Island
- Rurima Rocks, including Rurima Island
- Ruapuke Island
- Secretary Island
- Shark Island, Manukau Harbour
- Shoe Island / Motuhoa
- Simmonds Islands
- Slipper Island
- South Island
- Stephens Island / Takapourewa
- Stephenson Island
- Stewart Island
- Taieri Island / Moturata
- Takangaroa Island
- Taputeranga Island
- Tarahiki Island
- Tarakanahi Island
- Tata Islands
- Taukihepa / Big South Cape Island
- Te Hauturu-o-Toi / Little Barrier Island
- Te Motu-o-Kura / Bare Island
- Te HÃÂwere-a-Maki / Goat Island
- Te Tio Island
- Tikitiki Island, (The Ninepin), Bay of Islands
- Tiritiri Matangi Island
- Tëtë / Muttonbird Islands
- TokomÃÂpuna Island / Aeroplane Island
- Tonga Island
- Ulva Island
- Urupukapuka Island
- Waiheke Island
- Waikaranga Island
- WakatehÃÂua Island
- Walker Island
- Watchman Island
- Whakaari / White Island
- Whanganui Island
- Whangaokeno / East Island
- White Island (Otago)
- Wiroa Island, Manukau Harbour
In rivers and lakes
Outlying
New Zealand administers the following islands outside the main archipelago. Only the Chatham Islands have a permanent population although others also did in the past. Others host visitors for science, conservation, meteorological observation and tourism.
The New Zealand Subantarctic Islands are designated as a World Heritage Site.
Realm of New Zealand
The following islands are part of the Realm of New Zealand, but not of the country itself:
Territorial claims
New Zealand also claims the Ross Dependency in Antarctica, including:
See also
Notes
References