New Zealand (Aotearoa) - an island nation in the South Pacific. A remote land, it lies more than 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometres) southeast of Australia, its nearest neighbour. The country comprises two main islands - the North and South islands-and a number of small islands, some of them hundreds of miles from the main group. Because of its numerous harbours and fjords, the country has an extremely long coastline relative to its area.

The country's isolation has played an important part in its development.

New Zealand's climate is determined by its latitude, its isolation, and its physical characteristics. Across such vast oceans as surround it, weather from elsewhere has little influence. The islands' prolonged isolation has encouraged the development of species unknown to the rest of the world; almost 90 percent of the indigenous plants are peculiar to the country.

Cited from the entry "New Zealand", in the Encyclopedia Britannica [November 19, 2001].