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Aotearoa (Māori: [aɔˈtɛaɾɔa]) [1] is the Māori-language name for New Zealand.The name was originally used by Māori in reference only to the North Island, with the whole country being referred to as Aotearoa me Te Waipounamu – where Te Ika-a-Māui means North Island, and Te Waipounamu means South Island. [2]
Detail from a 1657 map showing the western coastline of Nova Zeelandia (on this map, north is at the bottom). The first European visitor to New Zealand, Dutch explorer Abel Tasman, named the islands Staten Land, believing they were part of the Staten Landt that Jacob Le Maire had sighted off the southern end of South America.
Dutch map of 1657 showing western coastline of "Nova Zeelandia" No known pre-contact Māori name for New Zealand as a whole survives, although the Māori had several names for the North and South Islands, including Te Ika-a-Māui (the fish of Māui) for the North Island and Te Waipounamu (the waters of greenstone) and Te Waka o Aoraki (the canoe of Aoraki) for the South Island. [1]
Many of New Zealand's cities and towns are known by various aliases, slogans, sobriquets, and other nicknames to the general population at either the local, regional, national or international level, often due to marketing campaigns and widespread usage in the media.
New Zealand claims the ninth largest exclusive economic zone in the world, covering 4,083,744 km 2 (1,576,742 sq mi), more than 15 times its land area. [7] The South Island is the largest land mass of New Zealand, and is the 12th-largest island in the world. The island is divided along its length by the Southern Alps.
The Royal Charter of November 1840 [2] stated that the islands of New Zealand were "designated and known respectively" as: [3] New Ulster (the North Island) New Munster (the South Island) New Leinster (Stewart Island / Rakiura) These names were of geographic significance only. [4] New Zealand became a separate Crown Colony from New South Wales ...
The following table lists the largest islands of New Zealand proper by area. [Note 2] River delta islands such as Rakaia Island (25.7 km 2 (9.9 sq mi)), [8] Fereday Island, Rangitata Island, and Inch Clutha (approximately 15 km 2 (5.8 sq mi), 30 square kilometres (12 square miles), and 35 km 2 (14 sq mi) respectively) are omitted, as are temporary islands in braided river channels and tidal ...
The Northland Peninsula, called the North Auckland Peninsula in earlier times, is in the far north of the North Island of New Zealand. It is joined to the rest of the island by the Auckland isthmus, a narrow piece of land between the Waitematā Harbour and the Manukau Harbour in the middle of the Auckland metropolitan area.