New Zealand is not part of any continent: it is made up of two large islands and numerous smaller islands, and much of this territory sits on the Australian tectonic plate, but straddles the plate boundary. It is considered part of the region of Australasia, which comprises New Zealand, Australia, Papua New Guinea and some small Pacific Islands. It is in the region of Oceania which, by geographical definition, is not a continent.Australia and Oceania are two completely different things. Australia (a continent) lies within the political region known as Oceania, which comprises also the islands of New Guinea, New Zealand and various other island nations in the South Pacific.New Zealand is the above-water part of a continental mass called Zealandia, about the size of India, and most of which has never been above the waves.New Zealand once was joined to and part of Australia, but the spreading of the Tasman Sea put an end to that.Continentsare defined by their landmass block, which is generally taken to be out to the edge of the Continental Shelf, where the contours drop off steeply to the abyssal deeps.
