But according to a new paper published in the Geological Society of America Today, it looks like New Zealand and their neighbor New Caledonia are actually their own continent: ‘Zealandia.’

Continent means something different to geographers and geologists. But as the authors say in the introduction to their paper, “…the last point—how “major” a piece of continental crust has to be to be called a continent—is almost never discussed… .” Since the Earth has so many micro-continents and continental fragments, defining how large something has to be to be called a continent is challenging. At nearly 1.9 million square miles, it seems massive, but it’s two thirds the size of the world’s (current) smallest continent, Australia. Zealandia covers nearly 5m square km, of which 94% is under water, and encompasses not only New Zealand but also New Caledonia, Norfolk Island, the Lord Howe Island group and Elizabeth and Middleton reefs. For it to be classified as a continent it has to meet five criteria, all of which have been fulfilled in this case:

“The scientific value of classifying Zealandia as a continent is much more than just an extra name on a list, that a continent can be so submerged yet unfragmented makes it useful for exploring the cohesion and breakup of continental crust,” the article further says.
Zealandia comes closer to being recognized as a continent.