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South Island

The South Island (official alternative name Te Waipounamu, from Māori) is the larger of the two main islands of New Zealand by surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. With a population of 1,256,700 as of June 2025, the South Island is home to 24% of New Zealand's 5.3 million inhabitants. The most populous cities are…

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Location
Oceania
Archipelago
New Zealand
Area
150,437 km2 (58,084 sq mi)
Area rank
12th
Coastline
5,842 km (3630.1 mi)
Demonym
South Islander

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Overview

Naming and usage

Māori mythology

History

Geography

Demographics

Culture

Governance

Economy

Transport

Sources cited

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Map overview Semantic statistics

South Island

Nodes388
Edges387
Triples372
Avg. degree1.99
Density0.005155
Components1

How this topic connects Entity context

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South Island

Top relations

related to In art · 37
South Island → Booker Prize, Canterbury, Cass, Charlotte Randall, Christchurch, Coal, Denniston Plateau, Eleanor Catton, Golden Bay, Grahame Sydney, Greymouth, Heart, Her, Hokitika, Hokitika Town, In, Jenny Pattrick, John Gully, Keri Hulme's, Leo Bensemann
related to Transport · 32
South Island → Blenheim, Bluff, Christchurch, December, Dunedin, Greymouth, In Stillwater, Invercargill, Kaikōura, Lyttelton, Main South Line, Midland Line, Nelson, November, Otago, Otira Tunnel, Picton, Railway, Rolleston, SH
related to Geology · 26
South Island → AD, Alpine Fault, Canterbury, Cook Strait, During, Foveaux Strait, Indo-Australian, Last Glacial Period, Mw, North, North Island, Otago, Pacific, Sea, Similarly, South Islands, South Taranaki Bight, Stewart Island, Tasman, Tasman Sea
related to European settlement · 23
South Island → Akaroa, August, Bluff, British, Canterbury, Colony, European, February, Following, France, French, James Spencer, Lieutenant-Governor Captain William Hobson, May, New South Wales, New Zealand, New Zealand Company's, The, The Treaty, This
related to Naming and usage · 22
South Island → Captain James Cook, English, In, Ireland, It, Land, Lands, Middle Island, Minister, Munster, Māui, New Leinster, New Munster, New Zealand, North Island, Stewart Island, Survey Department, Te Waipounamu, Te Waka-a-Māui, Te Wāhi Pounamu
related to 1860s gold rushes · 21
South Island → Although, Australia, Central Otago, Chinese, Dunedin, Gabriel's Gully, Gold, Guangdong, In, Inangahua, It, May, New Zealand, New Zealand's, New Zealand's European, Otago, Otago Provincial, Several, Southland, The West Coast
related to Geography · 18
South Island → Aoraki, Canterbury Plains, Fiordland, Fox, Franz Josef Glaciers, Glaciation, It, Kaikōura Ranges, Most, Mount Cook, New Zealand, Southern Alps, Tasman Sea, The, The South Island, There, These, West Coast
related to Climate · 17
South Island → Canterbury, Canterbury Plains, Christchurch, Conditions, East Coast, February, Historical, Invercargill, January, July, Mackenzie Basin, Most, Otago, Ranfurly, Rangiora, The, West Coast
related to Biodiversity and conservation · 16
South Island → Abel Tasman National Park, Arthur's Pass National Park, Extinct, Fiordland National Park, Haast's, Kahurangi National Park, Malherbe's, Many South Island, New Zealand's, Nine, Okarito, Pancake Rocks, Paparoa National Park, Several, The South Island, They
related to history · 15
South Island → Archaeological, CE, East Polynesian, Europeans, Haast's, Kaikōura, Māori, New Zealand, New Zealand’s, North Otago, Rock, Some, Stretching, They, Wairau Bar

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Important terminology

south island new zealand north otago māori christchurch coast southern canterbury west population zealand's tasman dunedin te alps early cook

Entity relationships Subject–Predicate–Object triples

SubjectPredicateObjectConfidenceSrc
South IslandArchipelagoNew Zealand1.00infobox
South IslandArea150,437 km2 (58,084 sq mi)1.00infobox
South IslandArea rank12th1.00infobox
South IslandCoastline5,842 km (3630.1 mi)1.00infobox
South IslandCoordinates.mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct,.mw-pars…1.00infobox
South IslandDemonymSouth Islander1.00infobox
South IslandEthnic groupsEuropean (82.8%)1.00infobox
South IslandEthnic groupsMāori (11.3%)1.00infobox
South IslandEthnic groupsAsian (10.3%)1.00infobox
South IslandEthnic groupsPacific peoples (3.4%)1.00infobox
South IslandHighest elevation3,724 m (12218 ft)1.00infobox
South IslandHighest pointAoraki / Mount Cook1.00infobox
South IslandISO 3166-2:NZNZ-S1.00infobox
South IslandLargest settlementChristchurch (pop. 407,800)1.00infobox
South IslandLength840 km (522 mi)1.00infobox
South IslandLocationOceania1.00infobox
South IslandPop. density8.3/km2 (21.5/sq mi)1.00infobox
South IslandPopulation1,256,700 (June 2025)1.00infobox
South IslandRegional councils41.00infobox
South IslandTerritorial authorities231.00infobox
South Islandis amajor centre for electricity generation0.90text

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