At approximately 1600km south-east of
Australia in the South Pacific Ocean lies New Zealand. New Zealand is a maritime nation with a
temperate climate - it has a great variety of weather but a small range
of temperatures. Wind, rain and bright sunshine can fast-forward through
a morning, and play-back through an afternoon. A daily forecast can
provide a synopsis of a year's weather. The seasons in New Zealand, in
the Southern Hemisphere, are opposite to those in North America. January
is the warmest month of the New Zealand summer, July the coolest month
of winter. It stretches 1600km from north to south and consists of two
large islands and a smattering of smaller islands - some hugging its
shores, others hundreds of km away. The North Island (115,000 sq km) and
the South Island (151,000 sq km) are the two major land masses. The North Island has a number of large volcanoes
(including the currently active Mount Ruapehu) and highly active thermal
areas, while the South Island boasts the Southern Alps - a spine of
magnificent mountains running almost its entire length. Another notable
feature of New Zealand is its myriad rivers and lakes: notably the
Whanganui River, Lake Taupo and the breathtaking lakes Waikaremoana and
Wanaka.
The closest most people ever get to the
Antarctic is from Stewart Island (1,750 square km), an unspoiled,
bird-filled bush and beach paradise at the foot of the South Island. Also within New
Zealand's territorial jurisdiction lie several small island groups,
including the Chatham, Kermadec, and Tokelau Islands, Campbell
Island, Auckland, Antipodes, Snares, Solander, and Bounty
Islands, and Ross Dependency, Antarctica.
While the north is warmer than the south,
the climate throughout the country is mild. Summer temperatures rarely
top 85 degrees and winter temperatures in northern regions often reach
60 degrees. Rain can fall on most places at any time, but snow falls
mainly where it should - on the mountains. Sunhats and umbrellas are
more useful than long johns and air-conditioners.
There are 3.8 million people in New
Zealand. Most live in cities and only 15% live in rural areas, where
they do, however, have 50 million sheep for company. Three quarters of
the population lives on the North Island, and almost a third lives in
Auckland, a Seattle-sized and sailing-obsessed city of a million people.
The city of Wellington
is the capital (pop.350,000). There are steep hills, wooden Victorian
houses, a cable car and the occasional earthquake. Wellington lies 400 miles south
of Auckland at the foot of the North Island. The main South Island
cities are Christchurch (pop. 300,000), which is famously English, and
Dunedin (pop. 100,000), still proudly Scottish.
The population is unevenly distributed. Historically the South Island
has always had a smaller population than the North Island (except for
during the gold-rush era), but recent times have brought a steady
drift from south to north. In the 1960s New Zealanders began to migrate
in large numbers from the rural areas to cities in search of better
opportunities. Today more than 75% of the people live in the North
Island, 55% in urban areas.
(Information courtesy
of the New Zealand Embassy, Washington DC)
