---
title: "Iceland vs New Zealand — area, population, currency"
description: "Iceland is 103,000 km² with 392,404 people; New Zealand is 268,838 km² with 5,324,700. Area, density, currency, languages and time zones side by side."
url: https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/iceland-vs-new-zealand/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Iceland vs New Zealand

**Iceland vs New Zealand: New Zealand is larger; New Zealand has more people**

103,000 km² vs 268,838 km² · 392,404 vs 5,324,700

New Zealand is 2.6 times larger than Iceland — 268,838 against 103,000 km². New Zealand is 14 times more populous than Iceland — 5,324,700 against 392,404 people.

## Side by side

|  | Iceland | New Zealand |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Capital | Reykjavík | Wellington |
| Area | 103,000 km² | 268,838 km² |
| Population | 392,404 (2025) | 5,324,700 (2025) |
| Density | 3.8 /km² | 19.8 /km² |
| Currency | Icelandic króna (ISK) | New Zealand dollar (NZD) |
| Official languages | Icelandic | English, Māori, New Zealand Sign Language |
| Time zones | UTC+00:00 | UTC+12:00, UTC+12:45 |
| Calling code | +354 | +64 |
| Drives on the | right | left |
| Continent | Europe | Oceania |
| ISO codes | IS / ISL | NZ / NZL |

## Population density

New Zealand is 5.2 times more densely populated than Iceland — 20 against 4 people per km². Density is where area and population interact, and it often reverses the impression the headline figures give — a large country with a small population can feel emptier than a small crowded one by an enormous margin.

## Practical differences

- They drive on opposite sides — Iceland on the right, New Zealand on the left.
- Different currencies: the Icelandic króna and the New Zealand dollar.
- New Zealand spans 2 time zones, so "local time" there is not a single answer.
- Different continents — Europe and Oceania.

## Iceland

Iceland sits astride the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, so the North American and Eurasian plates pull apart across the country at about 2 cm a year. Roughly eleven percent of it is under glacier, Vatnajökull alone covering some 7,900 km². Almost all its electricity and heating come from hydro and geothermal sources.

## New Zealand

Two main islands and around 600 smaller ones, roughly 1,600 km long. New Zealand broke away from Gondwana about 80 million years ago and had no land mammals except bats until people arrived, which is why so many of its birds are flightless. The Southern Alps run most of the South Island and reach 3,724 m at Aoraki / Mount Cook.

> Neutral facts only. Nothing here addresses politics, government, economics or which country is preferable in any respect — population is the one figure that dates, and it carries its year.

## Common questions

### Is Iceland bigger than New Zealand?

New Zealand is larger — 268,838 km² against 103,000 km².

### Which has more people, Iceland or New Zealand?

New Zealand, with 5,324,700 against 392,404.

### What is the time difference between Iceland and New Zealand?

Iceland is UTC+00:00 and New Zealand is UTC+12:00, UTC+12:45. Daylight saving shifts the gap during the year in places that observe it.

## Related pages

- [Iceland](https://atoneplace.net/country/iceland/)
- [New Zealand](https://atoneplace.net/country/new-zealand/)
- [India vs New Zealand](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/india-vs-new-zealand/)
- [China vs New Zealand](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/china-vs-new-zealand/)
- [China vs Iceland](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/china-vs-iceland/)
- [Japan vs New Zealand](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/japan-vs-new-zealand/)
- [Canada vs New Zealand](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/canada-vs-new-zealand/)
- [Canada vs Iceland](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/canada-vs-iceland/)
- [Australia vs New Zealand](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/australia-vs-new-zealand/)
- [Australia vs Iceland](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/australia-vs-iceland/)
- [New Zealand vs United States](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/new-zealand-vs-united-states/)
- [New Zealand vs United Kingdom](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/new-zealand-vs-united-kingdom/)
- [New Zealand vs Russia](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/new-zealand-vs-russia/)
- [New Zealand vs Spain](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/new-zealand-vs-spain/)

## Sources

- The World Factbook — Central Intelligence Agency (https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/) [Public domain (US Government)]
- World Bank Open Data — The World Bank (https://data.worldbank.org/) [CC BY 4.0]