New Zealand is a country in Oceania, with about 5.32 million people (2025) and an area of 267,710 square kilometres. Its capital is Wellington, and it has no land borders.
By Team Geography·Last reviewed
Flag of New ZealandNew Zealand in solid, land neighbours outlined, capital marked.
267,710 km² (103,363 sq mi) World Bank, surface area. 74th largest of 195.
Population density
20 people per km²
Land neighbours
None. It has no land borders with another country.
UN status
Member state
Capital coordinates
41.30° S, 174.78° E Wellington, Natural Earth.
No land borders
New Zealand shares no land border with another country. Its nearest neighbours are across the sea, as the map above shows.
From the Geography app
The app teaches each country through short hand written lenses: PLACE for physical geography, STORY for history and identity, NOW for the news, and THREAD for the ties between countries. Here is one of New Zealand's 17, in full.
PLACELens 1 of 17
The last major landmass humans settled
New Zealand sits roughly 2,000 km southeast of Australia and 10,000 km from Europe, isolation that made it the last significant landmass humans reached, around 1280 CE. Two main islands, North and South, span temperate rainforest, alpine mountains, volcanic plateaus, and fjords. That isolation also created unique ecosystems: flightless birds evolved in the absence of land mammals. New Zealand's remoteness shaped both its biology and its national character.
More on around 1280 CE
Polynesian navigators, ancestors of the Māori, arrived in Aotearoa (New Zealand) after voyaging across thousands of kilometers of open Pacific. This makes Māori settlement roughly contemporaneous with the European High Middle Ages.
16 more lenses on New Zealand in the app
STORY The Treaty of Waitangi is a living document, not a museum piece
STORY New Zealand brands itself as clean, green, and progressive
NOW New Zealand reversed course and answers to the arithmetic
THREAD A small Pacific democracy increasingly pulled into great-power competition
PLACE Football at the edge of the world
STORY Unbeaten in 2010, and eliminated anyway
NOW Oceania's first guaranteed place at the finals
THREAD The lone Pacific side at the World Cup
PLACE Two islands stretched into one long country
STORY Playing in the shadow of rugby
NOW The third appearance, sixteen years after the second
THREAD Wynton Rufer and the road to Europe
PLACE A country built on a moving plate boundary
NOW Orbital launches from a Hawke's Bay peninsula
THREAD A realm that reaches beyond New Zealand's shores
PLACE A continent that is ninety-four percent submerged
Titles only. The app brings each lens back on a spaced repetition schedule set by how well you knew it: New, Hazy or Clear.
Compare New Zealand with another country
Opens the country comparison tool with population, area, income and more side by side, every figure dated.
Common questions
What is the capital of New Zealand?
The capital of New Zealand is Wellington. Wellington lies at about 41.3 degrees south and 174.8 degrees east. New Zealand is in Oceania. It is home to about 5.32 million people. The world capitals quiz on this site tests every capital, and the printable capitals sheets cover each continent.
What is the population of New Zealand?
About 5.32 million people live in New Zealand, according to the World Bank figures for 2025. That makes it the 123rd most populous of the 195 countries. With an area of 267,710 square kilometres, that is about 20 people per square kilometre.
What countries border New Zealand?
None. New Zealand has no land borders with any other country. It is surrounded by sea, so every neighbour of New Zealand is across the water. It lies in Oceania. Its area is 267,710 square kilometres, and about 5.32 million people live there.
How big is New Zealand?
New Zealand covers 267,710 square kilometres, or about 103,363 square miles. That makes it the 74th largest of the 195 countries. The figure is total surface area, which includes inland water such as lakes and rivers. Its population of about 5.32 million gives a density of 20 people per square kilometre.
New Zealand is a country in Oceania, with about 5.32 million people (2025) and an area of 267,710 square kilometres. Its capital is Wellington, and it has no land borders.
Capital
Wellington
Continent
Oceania
Population
5,324,700 2025, World Bank. 123rd of 195.
Area
267,710 km² (103,363 sq mi) World Bank, surface area. 74th largest of 195.
Population density
20 people per km²
Land neighbours
None. It has no land borders with another country.
UN status
Member state
PLACE · from the Geography app
The last major landmass humans settled
New Zealand sits roughly 2,000 km southeast of Australia and 10,000 km from Europe, isolation that made it the last significant landmass humans reached, around 1280 CE. Two main islands, North and South, span temperate rainforest, alpine mountains, volcanic plateaus, and fjords. That isolation also created unique ecosystems: flightless birds evolved in the absence of land mammals. New Zealand's remoteness shaped both its biology and its national character.
Keep going on your iPhone. Scan for Geography: the world, one country at a time, about five minutes a day. No quizzes and no streaks. playgeography.app/countries/new-zealand/ · Map data: Natural Earth. Figures: World Bank and national sources, as listed on the page.
Geography · Country report
New Zealand
NameDate
Draw the flag
Colour New Zealand on the map, then fill in what you find.
Capital
Continent
Population
Area
Languages
Currency
Neighbours
Landmarks
Rivers or mountains
Three things I learned
1
2
3
One question I still have
?
Keep going on your iPhone. Scan for Geography: the world, one country at a time, about five minutes a day. No quizzes and no streaks. playgeography.app/countries/new-zealand/ · Map data: Natural Earth. Figures: World Bank and national sources, as listed on the page.
