New Zealand it operates the Scott Base research facility. New Zealand nationality law treats all parts of the realm equally, so most people born in New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Niue, Tokelau and the Ross Dependency are New Zealand citizens. New Zealand is located near the centre of the water hemisphere and is made up of two main islands and a number of smaller islands. The two main islands (the North Island, or "Te Ika-a-Māui", and the South Island, or "Te Waipounamu") are separated by Cook Strait, wide at its narrowest point. Besides the North and South Islands, the five largest inhabited
Southern Lakes (New Zealand) the artificial Lake Ruataniwha, part of the Canterbury-Otago boundary. Southern Lakes (New Zealand) The Southern Lakes is an unofficial name given to an area of the southern South Island of New Zealand. Despite being an unofficial designation, the term Southern Lakes is widely used by organisations such as the New Zealand Meteorological Service and Automobile Association. Though exact definitions vary, the area encompasses parts of western Southland (including Fiordland) and Central Otago, and is occasionally extended to include the Mackenzie Basin of inland Canterbury, a total of roughly . The region is generally lightly populated, with much of its southwestern