General facts 3 land and recources 4

Resources

New Zealand’s most fertile soils are found in the Canterbury Plains near Christchurch and the Southland-Otego alluvial plains at the southern end of the South Island. New Zealand has more than 3 billion tons of coal reserves and abundant offshore natural-gas reserves. The country is also rich in hydroelectric potential. It was thought to lack petroleum until 1988, when a field estimated to contain 40 million barrels of petroleum was discovered in the western part of the North Island. Other resources include geothermal energy, iron sands, and limestone.