Is New Zealand A Continent? Your Confusion, Cleared Up
Is New Zealand A Continent? Your Confusion, Cleared Up
Is New Zealand a continent? We’re right down the bottom of the world map, and some people think we are part of Australia! With names like Australasia, Oceania and Zealandia being thrown around, it can be pretty confusing if you’re not from here to know .. what continent are we on, (or are we one all by ourselves!?)
New Zealand is synonymous with beautiful landscapes, lush forests, mountains, glaciers and fjords, idyllic beaches, rolling green farmland, vibrant cities, and rural little towns. It is on so many people’s bucket lists, and rightly so. We have a thriving tourism scene and are exceptionally friendly.
You’ll be raving about New Zealand too, just as soon as you fall in love with this country! Before you do, though, let’s deep dive into what the deal is with this continent business.
Is New Zealand A Continent?
No, New Zealand is not a continent. We’re one of 195 countries in the world, and only a little one, at that. We were colonised by the British and were a British colony until 1907, and then we were a self governing dominion until 1953. Then, we became an independent nation.
We’re a democratic monarchy; we’re a country of our own, but King Charles is our Head of State, and we’ve been part of the British Commonwealth since 1953.
We have our own national anthem, our own prime minister, and our own flag, although it still includes the United Kingdom’s union jack in the top left corner.
New Zealand spans 268,021 square kilometres. We comprise three main islands, so we don’t have any shared borders with other countries. It means we have 15,000 kilometres of coastline and you are never far from the beach!
Cromwell is our most inland town, and even Cromwell is only 119 kilometres (74 miles) from the coast.
but even Cromwell is only 119 kilometres (74 miles) from the coast.
If you laid New Zealand over the top of Europe, we would stretch from Denmark down to the Mediterranean. You could think of us as being pretty similar sized to Italy. For you Americans, if that means nothing to you, think of us approximately the size of Colorado.
New Zealand’s population is 5.2 million, so that’s really quite small compared to many places in the world.
The North Island is the 14th biggest island in the world, and the South Island is the 12th biggest. (The 13th is actually Indonesia’s Java.)
Where Is New Zealand?
New Zealand is down in the bottom right hand corner of most world maps, down in the Pacific Ocean. Over to the west of us is the Tasman Sea, which separates us from our neighbour, Australia. North of us are several Pacific Islands, which makes it nice and easy, quick and affordable to get into the tropics for little vacations now and then!
makes it easy to get away for a quick, affordable tropical break!
Our biggest islands are our North Island and South Island, with a third, smaller island below the South Island, named Stewart Island.
We have one more (unofficial) island that is inhabited, and that’s the Chatham Islands. They’re so far east they’re in a time zone all of their own.
The North and South Island are separated by the Cook Strait (three and a half hours by boat), and the South Island and Stewart Island are separated by the Foveaux Strait (one hour by boat).
Our capital city is Wellington, and that’s right at the bottom of the North Island. It’s there that you sail from to cross the Cook Strait.
Facts About New Zealand
TL;DR? Here are some quick facts about New Zealand:
New Zealand Language
New Zealand was home to the Māori people long before the British came along, and their language, Māori, is one of our three official languages (the other two being English and Sign Language).
‘The Māori language’ translates as te reo.
It is not an official language anywhere else, and efforts have increased in recent years to encourage it to be spoken here so that it does not die out, as only 4% of our population speak it fluently, (and 8% speak it at least proficiently).
We were very nearly colonised by the French, but the British got there first.
how we would have been a French colony if we weren’t colonised by the British, first!
As a result, some of our place names are English, and some of our place names are Māori. Many place names have both.
Even New Zealand has a Māori name, and that is Aotearoa, which translates as ‘the land of the long white cloud’.
Māori had three dialects, and now just two remain, but there are over one hundred tribes (in Māori, we say iwi). Our primary tourism website, newzealand.com, has some really good key information about the Māori culture here.
New Zealand Capital City
New Zealand’s capital city is Wellington, which has a population of 215,300 at the time of writing.
It’s often nicknamed ‘Windy Welly’ as it can get some strong pretty winds blowing through from the Cook Strait.
It’s famous for the Beehive, our parliament building that is shaped like a beehive, the bright red cable car that has been running people up to the top of Kelburn Hill since 1902, and its culinary and coffee scene.
New Zealand Flag
New Zealand’s flag has remained the same since 1902. It was designed in 1869 but prior to 1902 was only used on ships.
The flag is blue, with the United Kingdom’s Union Jack occupying the top left corner. This is a nod to our time as a British colony. We’re still under the British monarch, but we’re not a colony anymore, so in 2016 a flag change was seriously considered. Some designs were put forward but the majority vote was to keep the flag as is. It would be such a huge expense to change it in every single place it is featured, after all.
On the right hand side of our flag is the Southern Cross, represented by four big red stars. Ours looks very similar to Australia, but the key difference is that Australia has a different star colour and shape, and they include the two little stars in the constellation.
The Southern Cross is a constellation that you can only see from the Southern Hemisphere. It’s definitely the easiest one to find when looking at the night sky!
The Māori have a flag, too, and it’s red, black and white. It’s called the tino rangatiratanga, and represents the relationship between the Crown and Māori. We’ve had the Māori flag since 1990.
New Zealand Population
New Zealand’s population at the time of writing is just 5.2 million. (That’s comparative to the state of Washington, or the cities of Barcelona or Johnannesburg).
New Zealanders frequently refer to the two degrees of separation between us all. It’s too often true that all New Zealanders will know someone who knows at least someone who know us, individually.
We’re quite far down the list of countries in terms of population size: we are 125th.
New Zealand Currency
New Zealand’s currency is the New Zealand Dollar, or NZD. We’ve had that since 1967, so even my parents remember a time before that that when we didn’t use the decimal system and had pounds, shillings and pence.
At the time of writing, 1 New Zealand Dollar is 0.59 US Dollars, and 0.46 of a Great British Pound.
New Zealand On A Map of The Pacific
Here’s a map of the Pacific and where New Zealand sits, under all those Pacific Islands, and to the east of Australia.
Frequently Asked Questions
Okay, so now onto what you really clicked here for:
Is New Zealand A Country?
Yes! New Zealand is a country. It’s one of 195 countries in the world. We’re not someone else’s colony or territory anymore (in fact, we have our own territories: the Cook Islands and Niue (which self-govern), Tokelau, and a dependency in Antarctica).
New Zealand is an independent country but we are under the British Monarchy, and that makes us a realm.
What Continent Is New Zealand Found?
This is a hot topic! Until 2017, it was widely accepted that the world had seven continents: North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Antarctica and the last one was called Oceania or Australasia, interchangeably. We identified as Oceania, or Australasia.
Australasia is not the same as Australia the country, although it includes Australia.
To be factually correct, although this is not really that widely known, Australasia is a part of the continent of Oceania. Oceania comprises Polynesia, Melanesia, Micronesia and Australasia.
Australasia is just New Zealand, Australia, and some of our closest islands.
However!
In 2017, a new continent was discovered, and named Zealandia. Zealandia has been confirmed as the eighth continent of the world. It’s Maori name is Te Riu-a-Māui which translates to ‘the hills, valleys and plains of Māui’. (Māui is a figure of legend in Polynesian mythology who is said to have fished New Zealand up out of the ocean with a hook.)
It’s mostly underwater (94% underwater), which is was it was not known about for such a long time. There are two parts that rise up above the surface of the ocean. One is the tropical island of New Caledonia (a French territory), and the other is .. us. Most of what is above the surface is New Zealand.
(Well, and technically, the New Zealand Sub-Antarctic Islands are above water, too .. and they’re down on the bottom edge of the continent.)
Taken on my university exchange in 2015.
In other words, of the 6% of the continent that is above the water, New Zealand is 93% of that.
Zealandia is most definitely it’s own continent, even though it is quite small. It is physically distinct from the continent next to it, and is 3000 metres higher than the oceanic crust. It’s a continuous expanse of crust, and being distinct from what is below and beside it means it meets the criteria.
So New Zealand is on the continent of Zealandia, the eighth continent of the world.
Is New Zealand In Two Continents?
No, New Zealand is all on the one continent.
The continent of Zealandia is long and skinny, but it reaches up to where New Caledonia is and down as far as the New Zealand Sub-Antarctic Islands (which are just on the bottom edge of the continent).
We do, however, sit between two tectonic plates (the Pacific Plate and Australian Plate).
We have Tokelau and the Cook Islands in our realm that are on the continent of Oceania.
It was when the two plates collided that the Southern Alps popped up. They’re our biggest mountain range and they run down the middle of the South Island.
Is New Zealand A Nation Or A State?
To quickly clarify, a place is a nation when all its people share a culture, and it’s a state when it self-governs. It’s a nation-state when it self-governs and everyone shares a culture.
New Zealand is a nation-state.
We all share a culture, even though we a now a very multi cultural country. People from all over the world now live in New Zealand as it is a very attractive place to live.
Our New Zealand culture, however, has been influenced by the British colonisation in the 1800’s, as well as the Māori culture, which pre-dates the Brits.
We self-refer to a Kiwiana culture, as well, and by ‘kiwiana’ we mean all the food, music, items, plants etc that are particularly significant to our cultural heritage.
What Is The Size Of New Zealand?
New Zealand spans 268,021 square kilometres. Being an island means that we have 15,000 kilometres of coastline – so you are never far from the coast.
New Zealand is of a comparable size to Italy, or the state of Colorado in the USA.
What Sea Is New Zealand In?
New Zealand is in the Pacific Ocean. All of our eastern coastline is in the Pacific Ocean, and all of our western coastline is on the Tasman Sea, which is a section of the Pacific Ocean, and the name for the water that stretches between New Zealand and Australia.
There are 1,500 kilometres (932 miles) between the coasts of the two countries.
Where Is New Zealand In The Pacific?
New Zealand is east of Australia and south of Pacific Island nations such as Samoa, Fiji and Tonga.
I do hope this has served to clear up any confusion you may have had (or not have had) about New Zealand not being a continent. Hopefully you learned a thing or two! And hopefully you will come and pay us a visit, down here at the bottom of the world.