The Country of New Zealand

GEOGRAPHY

The well-known country of New Zealand is a small, resourceful nation located about 1,000 miles off Australia's south-east coast. New Zealand has an impressive economy that continues to grow, a physical landscape that attracts people from around the globe, and although small, New Zealand is a respected nation for its advanced civilization and stable government. The geography of this prestigious nation can be described through four categories, the physical geography, topography, and the nation's economy including its natural resources compared to the United States, and major cities that influence the economy. [pic 1]

New Zealand is located in the southern hemisphere, with an absolute location depicted below of:

The country of New Zealand encompasses two major islands and one smaller island; The North Island, The South Island, and Stewart Island. The North and South Islands are separated by the Cook Strait and Stewart Island is located approximately 19 miles off the tip of the South Island which is right across Foveaux Strait. Depicted above in the picture, is the country of New Zealand including its major Islands.  The South Island is the largest land mass of New Zealand and is divided along its length by the Southern Alps. The North Island is the second-largest island and is less hilly and mountainous than the South Island and largely consists of flatter, more manageable land. The country also consists of many smaller inhabited and uninhabited islands as well.

Topography, not to be confused with the above mentioned and generalized physical geography, includes more narrowed down details of New Zealand’s land mass and navigational terrain features. For example, Less than one-fourth of the land surface of New Zealand lies below the 200 meter contour. The mountain ranges in the North Island do not exceed 7,000 feet in height, with the exception of only a few.

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Depicted above, are the known geographical areas of volcanic activity between the two islands. The Northern Island consists of many volcanic peaks; some of which are dormant and some which are still active. The volcanic peaks consist of Mt. Ruapehu (9,176 feet), Ngauruhoe (7,513 feet), and Tongariro (6,457 feet). Immediately surrounding many of these active volcanoes are many hot springs. In fact, the volcanic activity surrounding these hot springs makes many of them unsafe to ‘bathe’ in. The South Island is significantly more mountainous than the North Island and has volcanic activity however, none of which is recent. Within the Southern Island lies the Island’s infamous mountain range, The Southern Alps. This range of mountains runs almost the entire length of the Southern Island from North to South and includes the widely known Mt. Cook, which lies at 12,349 feet in elevation.

New Zealand’s economy in regards to its natural resources is rich in abundance. Oil and gas for example, are major influencers of the nation’s economy. New Zealand has abundant resources of coal, iron ore, silver, limestone, petroleum, and gold. It ranked 22 in the world in terms of iron ore production and 29th in gold production in 2010.  The total value of New Zealand’s minerals and mineral fuel production accounted for about 2% of the GDP. However, with petroleum removed from the equation, New Zealand’s mineral production only accounted for around 1% of the GDP. Within that mineral production, much of that accumulated 1% came from gold, silver, and iron-sand (titano-magnetite) making those 3 minerals very important to the country. A 2008 report estimated that the unexploited resources of just seven core minerals (including gold, copper, and iron), “totaled around $140 billion in worth” (Geoff Cumming, The New Zeland Herald).