New Zealand Transverse Mercator 2000 (NZTM2000) is the projection used for official topographic maps produced in New Zealand, including the North Island, South Island, Stewart/Rakiura Island and the closer coastal islands. Different projections are used for New Zealand's offshore islands and for its continental shelf:
- New Zealand Offshore Island Projections
- New Zealand Continental Shelf Lambert Conformal 2000 (NZCS2000)
There will always be some distortion when coordinates from a curved surface, such as Earth, are converted to a flat map. Projections are used to manage this distortion. NZTM2000 also allows us to relate a position to a consistent coordinate, in the format Easting (E), Northing (N). It also lets us easily measure distances in metres (m).
NZTM2000 was implemented in 1998, replacing the previous New Zealand Map Grid (NZMG). More information about converting data between projections can be found on the projection conversion pages:
Transverse Mercator projections are shaped like a cylinder and are suited for depicting elongated areas which extend in a north-south direction, like New Zealand. This projection also reduces distortion in the east-west extents.
NZTM2000 is defined in the LINZ standard LINZS25002:
Standard for New Zealand Geodetic Datum 2000 Projections
| Name | New Zealand Transverse Mercator 2000 |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | NZTM2000 |
| Projection type | Transverse Mercator |
| Reference ellipsoid | GRS80 |
| Datum | NZGD2000 |
| Origin latitude | 0° 00' 00" South |
| Origin longitude / central meridian | 173° 00' 00" East |
| False Northing | 10,000,000 metres North |
| False Easting | 1,600,000 metres East |
| Central meridian scale factor | 0.9996 |
Our page on geodetic software downloads includes information and data on how to use the NZTM2000 projection in software applications. Software includes the "C" language source code.