New Zealand (Māori: Aotearoa) is an island country located in the south-western Pacific Ocean, near the centre of the water hemisphere. It consists of a large number of islands, estimated around 700, mainly remnants of a larger land mass now beneath the sea. The land masses by size are the South Island (or Te Waipounamu) and the North Island (or Te Ika-a-Māui), separated by the Cook Strait. The third-largest is Stewart Island / Rakiura, located 30 kilometres (19 miles) off the tip of the South Island across Foveaux Strait. Other islands are significantly smaller in area. The three largest islands stretch 1,600 kilometres (990 miles) across latitudes 35° to 47° south. New Zealand is the sixth-largest island country in the world, with a land size of 268,710 km (103,750 sq mi).

Noua Zeelandă peisaje gama de fiord-ca sunete sud-vest, la plajele de nisip din subtropicale Departe De Nord. Insula de Sud este dominat de Alpii De Sud în timp ce o platou vulcanic acoperă o mare parte din Insula centrală de Nord. Temperaturi frecvent scadă sub 0 °C (32 °F) și crește peste 30 °C (86 °F), iar condițiile pot varia de la umed și rece pe partea de Sud a Insulei coasta de vest să se usuce și continentale, la o distanță scurtă distanță de peste munți și să tundra place clima din partea de Sud a Southland.

Aproximativ două treimi din teren este din punct de vedere economic util, restul fiind montane. Insula de Nord este cel mai populat insula cu 4 milioane de locuitori, și Auckland fiind de departe cel mai mare zona metropolitană în țară de către populație și mediul urban. Insula de sud este al doilea cel mai populat insula cu peste 1,18 milioane de oameni și, de asemenea, cea mai mare insula din țară.

New Zealand has no land borders. However, the Ross Dependency, its claim in Antarctica, notionally borders the Australian Antarctic Territory to the west and unclaimed territory to the east. Most other countries do not recognise territorial claims in Antarctica.

New Zealand proper is divided administratively into sixteen regions: seven in the South Island and nine in the North. They have a physical geographical link with regional boundaries being based largely on drainage basins. Among the regions, eleven are administered by regional authorities (top tier of local government), while five are unitary authorities that combine the functions of regional authorities and those of territorial authorities (second tier).

Regional authorities are primarily responsible for environmental resource management, land management, regional transport, and biosecurity and pest management. Territorial authorities administer local roading and reserves, waste management, building consents, the land use and subdivision aspects of resource management, and other local matters.

The Chatham Islands is not a region, although its council operates as a region under the Resource Management Act. There are a number of outlying islands that are not included within regional boundaries. The Kermadecs and the Subantarctic Islands are inhabited only by a small number of Department of Conservation staff.

Flooding is the most regular natural hazard. New Zealand is swept by weather systems that bring heavy rain; settlements are usually close to hill-country areas which experience much higher rainfall than the lowlands due to the orographic effect. Mountain streams which feed the major rivers rise rapidly and frequently break their banks covering farms with water and silt. Close monitoring, weather forecasting, stopbanks, dams, and reafforestation programmes in hill country have ameliorated the worst effects.