The Kermadec Islands are a subtropical island arc in the South Pacific Ocean 800–1,000 km (500–620 mi) northeast of New Zealand's North Island, and a similar distance southwest of Tonga. The islands are part of New Zealand. They are 33.6 km2 (13.0 sq mi) in total area and uninhabited, except for the permanently staffed Raoul Island Station, the northernmost outpost of New Zealand.
Raoul Island from space
View from Raoul Island
Bathymetry of the Kermadec volcanic island arc and surrounding areas
The Kermadec scalyfin – part of the rich marine biota of the Kermadecs
New Zealand is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island and the South Island —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. The country's varied topography and sharp mountain peaks, including the Southern Alps, owe much to tectonic uplift and volcanic eruptions. New Zealand's capital city is Wellington, and its most populous city is Auckland.
The Waitangi sheet from the Treaty of Waitangi
A meeting of European and Māori residents of Hawke's Bay Province. Engraving, 1863.
The snow-capped Southern Alps dominate the South Island, while the North Island's Northland Peninsula stretches towards the subtropics.
Aoraki / Mount Cook is the highest point in New Zealand, at 3,724 metres.
