New Zealand

The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, the other being the South Island. The island is 113,729 square km in area, making it the world's 14th-largest island. It has a population of 3,148,400.

Several important cities are in the North Island, notably New Zealand's largest city, Auckland, and Wellington, the capital, located at the southern extremity of the island. Approximately 76% of New Zealand's population lives in the North Island.

According to Mori mythology, the North and South Islands of New Zealand arose through the actions of the demigod Mui. Mui and his brothers were fishing from their canoe (the South Island) when he caught a great fish and pulled it from the sea. While he was not looking his brothers fought over the fish and chopped it up. This great fish became the North Island and thus the Mori name for the North Island is Te Ika-a-Mui (The Fish of Mui). The mountains and valleys are said to have been formed as a result of Mui's brothers' hacking at the fish.

The South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. The Mori name for the South Island, Te Wai Pounamu, meaning "The Water/s of Greenstone" (greenstone being jade), possibly evolved from Te Whi Pounamu which means "The Place Of Greenstone". The island is also known as Te Waka a Mui which means "Mui's Canoe".

The South Island is often called "the Mainland". Today this expression is used humorously, although still with pride by "Mainlanders", since while it is a somewhat larger landmass than the North Island, only about a quarter of New Zealand's four million inhabitants live in the South Island. However, in the early stages of European (Pkeh) settlement of the country, the South Island was pre-eminent, with the majority of the European population and wealth focussed there due to gold rushes. It was not until the early 20th century that the North Island population overtook the South, with 56% of the population living in the North in 1911. In Mori legend, the South Island existed first, as the boat of Maui, while the North Island was the fish that he caught. However, the South Island has never been the main site of Mori population.