Which sea is located between Australia and New Zealand?

The Tasman Sea is located between Australia and New Zealand.

It is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, stretching roughly 2,800 kilometers from north to south and covering about 2.3 million square kilometers. Australia lies to its west and New Zealand to its east. Tasmania, the Australian island that gives the sea part of its name, sits along its southwestern edge.

The sea was named after Abel Janszoon Tasman, the Dutch explorer who became the first known European to cross it in 1642. During the 1770s, James Cook navigated the region extensively. The Māori name Te Moana-a-Rehua means “the sea of Rehua,” reflecting a separate Indigenous naming tradition.

A common mix-up is choosing the Coral Sea, Arafura Sea, or Timor Sea because all are near Australia. The Coral Sea borders Australia farther north, while the Arafura and Timor seas lie between Australia and Indonesia and East Timor. The Tasman is the distinctive trans-Tasman waterway separating Australia from New Zealand.

The East Australian Current transports warm tropical water southward through the region and strongly influences its weather and marine ecosystems.