New Zealand Subantarctic Islands

{{Short description|Southernmost parts of the South Pacific country}}

{{Use New Zealand English|date=April 2024}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2017}}

{{More citations needed|date=April 2009}}

{{Infobox UNESCO World Heritage Site

|WHS = New Zealand Subantarctic Islands

|image = Karta NZ Subantarctic islands.PNG

|image_upright = 1.2

|location = New Zealand

|includes = {{ubl|Antipodes Islands|Auckland Islands|Bounty Islands|Campbell Islands|Snares Islands / Tini Heke}}

|criteria = {{UNESCO WHS type|(ix), (x)}}(ix), (x)

|ID = 877

|coordinates = {{Coord|50|45|S|166|6|E|format=dms}}

|year = 1998

|area = {{convert|764.8|km2|abbr=on}}{{cite web|url = https://data.linz.govt.nz/layer/53564-protected-areas/data/|title = Data Table – Protected Areas – LINZ Data Service|publisher = Land Information New Zealand|access-date = 2019-08-27|df = dmy-all}}

}}

The New Zealand Subantarctic Islands comprise the five southernmost groups of the New Zealand outlying islands. They are collectively designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.{{cite web|title = New Zealand Sub-Antarctic Islands|url = https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/877|website = UNESCO World Heritage Centre|series = World Heritage List|access-date = 2019-09-08|df = dmy-all}}

Most of the islands lie near the southeast edge of the largely submerged continent centred on New Zealand called Zealandia, which was riven from Australia 60–85 million years ago, and from Antarctica 85–130 million years ago. They share some features with Australia's Macquarie Island to the west.

History

Until 1995, scientific research staff were stationed permanently at a meteorological station on Campbell Island. Since then, the islands have been uninhabited, though they are periodically visited by researchers and tourists. Protection of reserves was strengthened in 2014, becoming the largest natural sanctuary in the nation.{{cite news|last = Fox|first = M.|date = 2014-03-02|title = Birds, seals, penguins protected|url = https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/9780890/Birds-seals-penguins-protected|website = Stuff News|access-date = 2019-08-09|df = dmy-all}}

Islands

= Territorial claims =

New Zealand also has territorial claims, held in abeyance under the Antarctic Treaty System, over several islands close to the Antarctic mainland, including:

Of these, Ross Island is inhabited by the scientific staff of several research stations, notably at McMurdo Sound and Scott Base.

Ecology

The Antipodes, Auckland, Bounty and Campbell Islands are collectively designated the Antipodean Islands in the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions. The Snares Islands / Tini Heke are included with the South Island in New Zealand South under the scheme.

See also

References

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