New Zealand comprises two main islands (called the North and South Islands in
English, Te-Ika-a-Maui and Te Wai Pounamu in Māori) and a number
of smaller
islands, located near the center of the water hemisphere. The total land area, 268,680
square kilometres
(103,738 sq mi),
is a little less than that of Italy and Japan, and a little more than the United Kingdom. The
country extends more than 1600 kilometres (1000 miles) along its main,
north-north-east axis, with approximately 15,134 km of coastline. The most
significant of the smaller inhabited islands include Stewart
Island/Rakiura; Waiheke Island, in Auckland's Hauraki Gulf; Great Barrier
Island, east of the Hauraki Gulf; and the Chatham Islands, named Rēkohu by Moriori. The country has extensive marine
resources, with the seventh-largest Exclusive Economic Zone in the world,
covering over four million square kilometres (1.5 million sq mi), more than
15 times its land area.[5]
