Where is New Zealand on which continent?

An infinite number of fantastically beautiful places are scattered on the vast expanses of our planet. The article will tell you where New Zealand is located - one of the heavenly corners of the globe.

New Zealand: location, description

New Zealand is a country that can be found in the south-western Pacific. This state is located on two large islands (Southern and Northern) and approximately 700 adjacent smaller islands.

The Kingdom of New Zealand includes New Zealand itself, as well as the island- independent small island states of Niue, Cook, the dependent territory of Tokelau (consisting of 3 atolls) and the territory of Ross (Antarctic sector), independent in terms of government.

The islands of New Zealand are covered mostly by mountains and hills. At an altitude of more than 200 meters above sea level, approximately 75% of the country's territory is located. Most of the mountains of the North Island have a height not exceeding 1800 meters, and the peaks of the South Island (there are only 19) are above 3000 meters. The spacious valleys stretch along the shores of the North Island, and on the west coast of the South Island are the fjords (sea bays with rocky shores).

Often people are confused with the answer to the question, where is New Zealand, on which continent. The islands themselves do not belong to the continents, they lie in a part of the world under the geographical name "Australia and Oceania". Their coordinates are 41.40 ° S and 172.19 ° E. This isolated island state is separated by the waters of the Tasman Sea (almost 2000 thousand thousand kilometers) from the shores of Australia, the closest continent.

Climate

Average temperatures in the winter period (July) - from + 12 ° C in the north to + 5 ° C in the south. In summer (January), the temperature is on the average - in the north + 19 ° C and + 14 ° C in the south. The climate of these places is marine subtropical in the northern part and temperate marine in the south. Humidity and air temperature on the eastern and western slopes differ quite strongly.

Where New Zealand is located, January and February are the hottest (+ 27-30 ° C), and the coldest is July, especially in the south, where the temperature during this period may drop to 0 ° C. At any time of the year in mountainous areas it is much colder than the weather on the plain.

The presence of precipitation also differs in the western and eastern regions, where they reach values of 3000 mm and 400 mm per year, respectively. At the same time, the intensity of their deposition is almost the same. Almost always wind blows in these places.

The structure of the state, religion, language

New Zealand is an independent parliamentary democratic republic, an independent member of the British Commonwealth. Formally, the head of this state is the monarch of Great Britain, who is represented on the islands by the Governor-General. The Prime Minister is the head of government. Parliament is the legislative body.

Where New Zealand is located, Christians live in various denominations, and approximately 33% of the inhabitants refer themselves to atheists.

The official languages of the republic are English and Maori (Aboriginal language). Moreover, only 14% of citizens speak fluently at the latter, and 41% of residents do not know the language of the indigenous population at all.

sights

Fantastic landscapes and magnificent landscapes of the country attract many tourists from all over the world to these amazing places. Mountains and hills, covered with green forests, waterfalls, rivers and lakes, geysers, glaciers and wonderful beaches - all this is a paradise for ecotourism lovers. Diving and a variety of unusual entertainment attract the attention of fans of extreme sports.

Where the island of New Zealand is, the Maori people live. They call their country Aotearoa, which translates as "a long white cloud."

It is impossible to list all the sights of the islands.

You can enjoy all the splendor of the nature of these places by visiting the reserves: the national parks of Tongariro, Fiordland, Mount Cook (with its famous Tasman Glacier), Mount Aspiring, Urever, Egmont and Abel Tasman. Very popular here is Lake Rotorua, which is located in the crater of the volcano, and the valley of the geysers.

A masterpiece of nature is a cave with fireflies in Waitomo, where the impression of traveling among the stars of the galaxy is created. This is the most amazing and spectacular sight in the whole world.

Where is New Zealand? There, where together there was a huge number of interesting and wonderful places, wonderful beauty of nature.

Attractions of this magnificent country can be seen in its capital - in the city of Wellington. It is located in an amazing bay of volcanic origin, which is surrounded by green hills. In a cozy city there are a lot of squares, parks and green corners. The National Museum, the Sacred Heart Cathedral, the City Art Gallery and the Botanical Garden (one of the best in the whole world) are all the sights of the capital.

Also interesting is its curious places and another largest city - Auckland.

Finally

It should be noted that the same picture of the famous work "The Lord of the Rings" by John Tolkien was filmed in the picturesque territories of New Zealand. So now the Tolkien tour is also one of the popular routes for New Zealand tourism.

New Zealand is a mysterious country. Its main wealth is nature with unique landscapes. And it is guarded by the New Zealanders very carefully.