New Zealand consists of more than six hundred islands, mainly remnants of a larger land mass now beneath the sea. New Zealand is the seventh-largest island country, and the third-largest located entirely in the Southern Hemisphere. The following is a list of islands of New Zealand.
The two largest islands – where most of the human population lives – have names in both English and in the Māori language. They are the North Island or Te Ika-a-Māui and the South Island or Te Waipounamu. Various Māori iwi sometimes use other names, with some preferring to call the South Island Te Waka o Aoraki. The two islands are separated by Cook Strait. In general practice, the term mainland refers to the North Island and South Island. However, the South Island alone is sometimes called "the mainland" – especially by its residents, as a nickname – because it is the larger of the two main islands.To the south of the South Island, Stewart Island / Rakiura is the largest of the smaller islands, and Waiheke Island in the urban Auckland Region has the largest population of the smaller islands. Wikipedia ()
