New Zealand (known as Aotearoa in the Māori language) is an island country in Oceania. It is a sovereign state in the south-western part of the Pacific Ocean. It is made up of two large islands (the North Island and the South Island) and many smaller islands. These islands are located to the southeast of Australia.

It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island (Te Ika-a-Māui) and the South Island (Te Waipounamu)—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island country by area and lies east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and south of the islands of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga.

New Zealand, island country in the South Pacific Ocean, the southwesternmost part of Polynesia. New Zealand is a remote land—one of the last sizable territories suitable for habitation to be populated and settled—and lies more than 1,000 miles (1,600 km) southeast of Australia, its nearest neighbour.

New Zealand, island country in the South Pacific Ocean, the southwesternmost part of Polynesia. The country comprises two main islands—the North and South islands—and a number of small islands, some of them hundreds of miles from the main group.

An archipelago in the Pacific, New Zealand is a long, skinny country moored in tempestuous oceans heavily influenced by Antarctica. Its landmass stretches between 34 and 47 degrees south – the rough equivalent of northern Morocco to southern France – and the climate is often compared to Britain.