List of fiords of New Zealand

Of the twelve major fiords on Fiordland's west coast, Milford Sound is the most famous.

The fiords of New Zealand (Māori: tai matapari "bluff sea"[1][2]) are all located in the southwest of the South Island, in a mountainous area known as Fiordland. A fiord is a narrow inlet of the sea between cliffs or steep slopes, which results from marine inundation of a glaciated valley. The spelling fiord is used in New Zealand rather than fjord, although all the maritime fiords instead use the word sound in their name.

The Marlborough Sounds, a series of deep indentations in the coastline at the northern tip of the South Island, are in fact drowned river valleys, or rias. The deeply indented coastlines of Northland and Auckland also host many rias, such as the Hokianga and Waitematā Harbours.

New Zealand has fifteen named maritime fiords, listed here from northernmost to southernmost.[3]

  1. ^ "tai matapari". Māori Dictionary. Te Ipukarea. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  2. ^ "New Zealand Geographic Features". New Zealand Geographic Board Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa. Land Information New Zealand. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  3. ^ Distance measured down centreline of fiord from coastline to head of longest arm of fiord.