The Country - Geography
New Zealand is an island nation of the South Pacific, situated 1600 km south-east of Australia. The surface area is about 270 000 km2, and the population is about 4 000 000 habitants. The capital is Wellington at the base of the North Island.
The country is made up of 2 large islands, creatively named the North Island and the South Island, separated by Cook Strait, and numerous other smaller islands including Stewart Island, the largest of these, in the south.
 The Form of the Country
New Zealand is shaped by fault lines that cut the country into two large blocks. The islands are thus divided by high mountains - known in the south as the Southern Alps, and to the east of these there is an area of plaines surrounding Christchurch – the Canterbury Plaines.
The North Island - Te Ika a Maui
 The North Island is about 114 600 km2. In its centre there is a plateau of considerable volcanic activity of which the centre is the highest mountain of the north: Mount Ruapehu (2797 m), still active. The mountains extend out to the east and south of the plateau, from the East Cape to Cook Strait. The western side is known for its dairy products and sheep farms.
The South Island - Te Waipounamu
The South Island is less populated than the North and covers approx. 152 720 km2. The chain of alps stretches over 500 km from north to south and its culminating point is Mount Cook.(3764 m).
The western side of the Alps is wet and forested, while just a few kilometres across the mountains the eastern side is much drier.
Climate
New Zealand has a temperate climate; with a warmer and a cooler season but no extremes. The north is wamer. Rainfall is generally moderate, except in the southwestern fjord region, where it can go annually beyond 5 500 mm.
In the middle of the country, Wellington, the temperatures range between 25 in January and 8 in July
Flora and Fauna
 New Zealand possess few indigenous species. When the Maori arrived in the country there existed only 2 types of lizards, the gecko and the Tuatara, some species of frog and 2 kinds of bat. There are no snakes.
Many animals were then introduced into New Zealand (deer, rabbits, sheep, goats, pigs). Without any natural predator, they proliferated and caused much damage to the environment.
There is a large number of indigenous birds such as the Keha or the Takahe. These species are now endangered and highly protected. …without forgetting of course, the Kiwi, New Zealand’s national emblem.
Conversely New Zealand’s flora is exceptionally developed. The Islands’ isolation and late colonization have contributed to the development of many unique species of vegetation, there are 1500 types of plant that exist only in New Zealand such as the Kowhai or the Pohutukawa.
Before the arrival of the Europeans, the country was covered in a canopy of evergreen forests, carpets of moss and ferns. Today these forests exist only in the national parks and uninhabited areas.
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