64 12.3 New Zealand
Learning Objectives
- Outline New Zealand’s main physical features. Understand how the North Island is different from the South Island.
- Understand how tectonic plate activity has helped to isolate New Zealand from the rest of the world and still affects the island today.
- Summarize the situation of the Maori in New Zealand. Learn about the Maoris’ relationship with the dominant culture in New Zealand.
- Describe the economic geography of New Zealand and how the country gains wealth.
Physical Geography
To the east of Australia across the Tasman Sea is the country of New Zealand. New Zealand is one of a number of sets of islands that make up Oceania, also referred to as the Pacific Islands, a region occupying the western and central Pacific Ocean. The Pacific Islands region is generally divided into three subregions: Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia, with New Zealand being part of Polynesia. The Pacific Island region includes more than twenty-five thousand individual small islands representing twenty-five nations and territories. Most of these islands are very small. The South and North islands of New Zealand are the second- and third-largest islands, respectively. The North and South Islands of New Zealand are separated by a body of water known as the Cook Straight, which is only about thirteen miles wide at its narrowest point. The North and South Islands together are about the same size as the US state of Colorado. New Zealand also includes a number of smaller nearby islands.
New Zealand, like Australia, is in the Southern Hemisphere, which means that its seasons are expressed at the opposite times of the seasons in North America. In other words, the warmest summer months are January and February and the cooler winter months are June and July. New Zealand lies within the Temperate Zone. There are only very moderate seasonal differences, which are slightly more pronounced in the inland areas because the inland areas lack the moderating influence of the ocean. In general, the North Island has somewhat warmer average temperatures than the South Island. In summer, average low temperatures are about 50 °F, with daytime highs around 75 °F. In the winter months, low temperatures average about 35 °F and high temperatures are about 50 °F. The occurrence of more extreme temperatures is limited to the mountainous peaks of the Southern Alps. Snow is common in these mountainous regions but rarely occurs in coastal regions.
Rainfall is heaviest on the western coasts of both islands, but especially on the South Island. The prevailing westerly winds, carrying moisture from the ocean, come in contact with the mountains of the Southern Alps and high precipitation results. The mountains also have the opposite effect. On the eastern side of the mountains is a rain shadow where the westerly winds blow hot, dry air and the eastern coasts are therefore substantially drier than the western coasts. Therefore, average precipitation rates vary w