Lake Taupō is New Zealand’s largest lake by surface area and lies in a volcanic caldera.
It occupies the caldera created by major volcanic eruptions in the Taupō Volcanic Zone on New Zealand’s North Island. The lake covers about 616 square kilometres and drains northward through the Waikato River, New Zealand’s longest river.
Taupō’s enormous caldera formed through repeated volcanic activity, including the exceptionally powerful Ōruanui eruption about 25,400 years ago. A later eruption around AD 232, known as the Hatepe eruption, was among the largest explosive eruptions of the last several thousand years.
The lake’s name is commonly shortened from Taupō-nui-a-Tia, a Māori name associated with the explorer Tia. It is sometimes confused with nearby Lake Rotorua, another volcanic lake, but Taupō is far larger and deeper.