North Island, New Zealand

Hawke's Bay is one of the 12 local government regions of eastern North Island, New Zealand. It includes larger cities, such as Hastings and Napier. Hastings is populated by approximately 59,900 people and is known as a food processing and packing center as well as for their high quality grape vines. Napier is populated by about 55,700 people and serves as a port on Hawke's Bay, exporting wool, meat, and dairy products, as well as an important location for manufacturing and fishing. Volcanic activity on the island today takes place in the more central areas of North Island, which has had many volcanic eruptions during the past 30,000 years. Mild earthquakes also take place occasionally, due to the islands' location in a region of the Pacific Ocean where there is movement of some of the Earth's tectonic plates.

There are thousands of islands that are grouped in the Pacific Ocean called the Pacific Islands. The North and South Islands of New Zealand make up the second and third largest out of these Pacific Islands. The size of both the North Island and the South Island, which account for nearly the entire area of New Zealand, is similar to that of Japan. The North Island of New Zealand is separated from the South by a channel called Cook Straight, which runs about 280 miles long and connects the Pacific Ocean and the Tasman Sea.

This image was taken from the International Space Station (ISS).

Photojournal note:
EarthKAM was formerly known as KidSat. To see images of KidSat, see https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/KidSat .