New Zealand outlying islands

Map of the New Zealand outlying islands in relation to the main New Zealand archipelago

The New Zealand outlying islands are nine offshore island groups that are part of New Zealand, with all but Solander Islands lying beyond the 12nm limit of the mainland's territorial waters. Although considered integral parts of New Zealand, seven of the nine island groups are not part of any administrative region or district, but are instead each designated as an Area Outside Territorial Authority. The two exceptions are the Chatham Islands, which are covered by their own special territorial authority, and the Solander Islands, which are part of the Southland Region and Southland District.

Eight island groups sit on the New Zealand continental shelf, which forms a part of Zealandia. The Kermadec Islands, northeast of mainland New Zealand, are on a ridge, whose location as part or not part of Zealandia is not yet proven by geologists.[1][2] Both sources show a map drawn of Zealandia, marking the location of islands north and south of New Zealand.

The term is also used sometimes to further encompass the Balleny Islands, a group of sub-Antarctic islands technically considered a part of the Ross Dependency and covered by the Antarctic Treaty.[citation needed]

The five island groups of the New Zealand Subantarctic Islands, including their territorial seas, are a World Heritage Site.[3]

  1. ^ Daly, Michael (17 February 2017). "New Zealand actually sits on a continent called Zealandia, it's just that most of it is under water". Stuff.co. Wellington, New Zealand. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
  2. ^ Mortimer, Nick; Campbell, Hamish J.; Tulloch, Andy J.; King, Peter R.; Stagpoole, Vaughan M.; Wood, Ray A.; Rattenbury, Mark S.; Sutherland, Rupert; Adams, Chris J.; Collot, Julien; Seton, Maria (March–April 2017). "Zealandia: Earth's Hidden Continent". GSA Today. 27 (3): 27–35. doi:10.1130/GSATG321A.1. Retrieved 18 March 2022. Several elevated bathymetric features north of Zealandia are possible candidates for Zealandia prolongations or separate microcontinents (Fig. 2). These include the Three Kings, Lau-Colville, and Tonga-Kermadec ridges and Fiji, which are known Cenozoic volcanic arcs (Graham, 2015), and the Mellish Rise and Louisiade and West Torres plateaus. However, no continental basement rocks have yet been sampled from any of these features, so their continental nature remains unproven.
  3. ^ "New Zealand Sub-Antarctic Islands". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved 8 November 2022.

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