Geography of New Zealand Geography of New Zealand New Zealand ("") is an island country located in the south-western Pacific Ocean, near the centre of the water hemisphere. It is a long and narrow country and comprises around 600 islands. The two main islands by size are the North Island (or "Te Ika-a-Māui") and the South Island (or "Te Waipounamu"), separated by the Cook Strait; the third-largest island, Stewart Island (or "Rakiura"), is located off the tip of the South Island across Foveaux Strait. Significantly smaller islands include Waiheke Island, Chatham Island, Great Barrier Island and more, although many are uninhabited. New Zealand's landscape
Geology of New Zealand batholith dividing the Western and Eastern Provinces. Before Zealandia's separation from Gondwana it stretched from Queensland, through what is now New Zealand, into West Antarctica. It marks the site of a former subduction zone on the edge of Gondwana. The Eastern Province underlies more of New Zealand than the Western Province, including the greywacke and schist of the Southern Alps and all of the basement rocks of the North Island. The Eastern Province contains seven main terranes, the Drumduan, Brook Street, Murihiku, Dun Mountain-Maitai, Caples, Torlesse Composite (Rakaia, Aspiring and Pahau terranes) and Waipapa Composite (Morrinsville and Hunua Terranes). They