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Which island country is the only country in the world with all the different climatic zones?

Question #94586. Asked by armindasantana.

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BRY2K
Answer has 8 votes
BRY2K
17 year member
3707 replies avatar

Answer has 8 votes.
The country is New Zealand.

New Zealand's climate is complex and varies from warm subtropical in the far north to cool temperate climates in the far south, with severe alpine conditions in the mountainous areas.

Interestingly, Mean annual temperatures range from 10°C in the south to 16°C in the north of New Zealand. The coldest month is usually July and the warmest month is usually January or February. In New Zealand generally there are relatively small variations between summer and winter temperatures, although inland and to the east of the ranges the variation is greater (up to 14°C). Temperatures also drop about 0.7°C for every 100 m of altitude.

link http://www.niwa.cri.nz/edu/resources/climate/overview

Apr 13 2008, 4:39 PM
author
Answer has 9 votes
Currently Best Answer
author
23 year member
2834 replies

Answer has 9 votes.

Currently voted the best answer.
As far as I can see - from this map, at least - New Zealand is entirley within one climate zone.
link http://www.mapsofworld.com/world-maps/image/climate-world.jpg

New Zealand is entirely within the temperate zone.
link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:World_map_temperate.svg

No island country is situated within all 4 different climatic zones.
Australia, Taiwan, Greenland and Madagascar are situated within 2 different zones.
link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temperate

Also when using the more sophisticated Köppen classification of climatic zones it is hard to see that New Zealand is situated within more than one zone.
link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%B6ppen_climate_classification

Apr 13 2008, 5:40 PM
queproblema
Answer has 4 votes
queproblema
19 year member
2119 replies

Answer has 4 votes.
This answer doesn't depend on latitude, but on altitude, proximity to large bodies of water, and the presence of mountain ranges, plains, or other geographical features.

New Zealand is probably correct if the question is valid, by which I mean that several Central or South American countries which are not islands may have all the different climates. Tanzania is also a candidate. "All" is hard to pin down, by the way. Many countries have a wide range of climates due to geographical features other than location.

link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_classification

Apr 13 2008, 6:58 PM
author
Answer has 5 votes
author
23 year member
2834 replies

Answer has 5 votes.
Good point, but it is still hard to see that there are any island countries within ALL climatic zones, for example as categorized by Köppen.

Here are the Zones:

* 2.1 Köppen classification
o 2.1.1 Tropical rain forest
o 2.1.2 Tropical monsoon
o 2.1.3 Tropical savanna
o 2.1.4 Humid subtropical
o 2.1.5 Humid continental
o 2.1.6 Oceanic climate
o 2.1.7 Mediterranean climate
o 2.1.8 Continental steppe
o 2.1.9 Subarctic
o 2.1.10 Tundra
o 2.1.11 Polar ice cap
o 2.1.12 Desert

link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climatic_zone

If this link works, you will see that Australia is within 6 out of the 12 zones, as categorized by Köppen. Australia is the only candidate among island nations to have such a wide variety of climates.

link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Australia-climate-map_MJC01.png

Apr 13 2008, 7:13 PM
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