Where is New Zealand on the map? It’s disappeared!

I often wonder where is New Zealand on the map – because sometimes, quite often, New Zealand is not on the map – it’s disappeared completely!

New Zealand not on the map – not many people noticed!

It seems I’m not the only one to ask that question – in fact, recently a world map was shown to many in Britain who were asked ‘what’s missing?‘ It seems, according to this news snippet in the local newspaper (Dominion Post) that many of the Brits did not notice New Zealand had apparently sunk below the sea.

So, why is New Zealand left off maps? I wondered is it our size – and checked other island countries to see where we compare sizewise.

Japan – which is on the map – is 377 915 km.²

New Zealand – not on the map – is 268,000 km.²

And, the UK, smaller than New Zealand, at 243 610 km² is on the map

And even tiny Tasmania, the island at the bottom of Australia, weighing in at only 68,401 km² is also on the map. Seems many cartographers need to get a little perspective on their drawings.

So, let me show you where New Zealand is on this globe – a photo I took at the Canterbury Museum, in Christchurch, New Zealand: that’s us, to the right, and a little south of, Australia , which is about a four hours flight away – if you were wondering.

As you can see, New Zealand is directly above Antarctica and which is why Christchurch, New Zealand has for many years been the jumping off place, the gateway, for most polar expeditions.

Globe showing New Zealand, Antarctica and Australia