The new ‘Geographic map’ of New Zealand incorporates strong visual symbology, together with careful application of colour and informed selection and generalisation of features. Overall, this design helps to give an instant impression of New Zealand’s physical character and its relationship to subsequent settlement and infrastructure patterns. Map presentation is intentionally bold, so that legibility is maintained for ‘long distance viewing’.
New Zealand is mapped at the scale of 1:1,300,000 on a huge 1320 x 920mm heavy paper stock which has been thin laminated (or sealed) for durability. The addition of both hypsometric [land] and bathymetric [sea] layers enhance the new digitally derived relief elevation image. Road and rail networks along with population centres and settlements feature strongly. Major topographic features including lakes, rivers, mountain peaks and ranges, spot heights and islands are also mapped and named. All feature names have adhered to the NZ Geographic Board conventions and rulings.
New Zealand census 2006 populations of conurbations, cites and towns are shown in a panel along with selected facts describing some of the physical characteristics of our islands. ‘Floating’ enlargements of the Auckland and Wellington conurbations and the Christchurch metropolitan area reveal well-known suburbs and neighbourhoods that could not be shown on the main map.
An inset of the Pacific Hemisphere visually demonstrates New Zealand’s position in the ‘water hemisphere’ and its relationship to its offshore island territories and its Pacific island neighbours.