The archipelago of Aotearoa lies about 1,500 kilometers (900 miles) to the southeast of the Australian mainland. Together the two major islands (North Island and South Island) are more than 26,000 square kilometers (103,500 square miles) long, and so are strictly too large to be considered islands yet too small to be true continents. Geologically they contain elements of both. They consist of pieces that were once part of the main southern supercontinent of Gondwana, yet much of their area consists of new material produced by volcanic action since Gondwana broke up.