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New Zealand: map and facts

New Zealand is in Oceania. It has about 5.32 million people (2025), the 122nd largest population. It covers 267,710 km², the 74th largest by area. That is about 20 people per km². Its highest point is Aoraki (Mount Cook), at 3,724 m. The longest river on its map is the Waikato, 425 km from source to mouth.

Facts

• Population: 5,324,700 (2025, World Bank)
• Area: 267,710 km² (2024, World Bank)
• Capital: Wellington
• Highest point: Aoraki (Mount Cook), 3,724 m (Wikidata)
• Forest: 38.9% of the land (2024, World Bank)

Rivers

The longest rivers on the map of New Zealand, with the length of each whole river (Wikidata):

• Waikato: 425 km
• Whanganui: 290 km
• Taieri: 288 km
• Mataura: 240 km
• Rangitikei: 240 km
• Waiau: 217 km
• Clarence: 209 km
• Manawatu: 180 km
• Ngaruroro: 174 km
• Mohaka: 172 km

Also on the map: Buller, Wairau, Waiau, Whangaehu, Waimakariri, Kawarau, Tongariro, Clutha, Oreti and Hawea.

Mountains and landscapes

Its highest peaks:

• Aoraki (Mount Cook): 3,724 m (its highest point)
• Tapuae-o-Uenuku: 2,885 m
• Mount Ruapehu: 2,797 m
• Mount Taranaki: 2,518 m
• Mount Anglem: 980 m

Mountain ranges: Southern Alps.

Plateaus, plains, deserts and other regions: Polynesia, Auckland Islands, Banks Peninsula, Coromandel Peninsula, Fiordland, Marlborough Sounds, North Island Volcanic Plateau, Otago Peninsula, Chatham Islands and Kermadec Islands.

Land

Land cover seen from satellites (NASA MODIS, 2024): grassland 33%, evergreen broadleaf forest 28.6%, savanna 15.9%, evergreen conifer forest 12.5%, water 2.9%, wooded savanna 2.3%.

Landforms, worked out from the height of the land (USGS GMTED2010): mountains 52.3%, hills 38%, plains 9.3%.

Forests covered 38.9% of its land in 2024, up from 35.6% in 1990 (World Bank).

Neighbours

New Zealand has no land borders on this map.

Explore the map of New Zealand

In the game you can zoom into its rivers, mountains, minerals, terrain and forests. Free, with no sign-up.

Sources

India’s boundaries are drawn according to India’s official position, simplified for small-scale maps (data: Natural Earth, India view). Each figure shows its year and source; some are rounded. Data release 2026.2.

• Natural Earth (naturalearthdata.com), public domain. Boundaries follow India's official position (Natural Earth's India point of view). Terms
• GMTED2010 courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey (Danielson and Gesch 2011, USGS Open-File Report 2011-1073). Terms
• Friedl, M., Sulla-Menashe, D. (2022). MODIS/Terra+Aqua Land Cover Type Yearly L3 Global 500m SIN Grid V061. NASA EOSDIS Land Processes DAAC. doi:10.5067/MODIS/MCD12Q1.061. Terms
• The World Bank: World Development Indicators, Population, total (SP.POP.TOTL): UN Population Division, national statistical offices (2025 data, retrieved 2026-10-17). CC BY 4.0. Rounded by Make Me Smarter. Terms
• The World Bank: World Development Indicators, Surface area (AG.SRF.TOTL.K2): FAO (2024 data, retrieved 2026-10-17). CC BY 4.0. Terms
• The World Bank: World Development Indicators, Forest area (% of land area) (AG.LND.FRST.ZS): FAO, FAOSTAT (2024 data, retrieved 2026-10-17). CC BY 4.0. Rounded by Make Me Smarter. Terms
• Wikidata (CC0): names, capitals, peak heights and river lengths, checked by Make Me Smarter. Terms
• Landforms worked out by Make Me Smarter from GMTED2010.

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