Fiordland National Park encompasses 12,519 sq km of New Zealand’s rugged southwest — 2.5 times the area of Torres del Paine National Park — yet receives only 600,000 annual visitors, preserving its 14 fiords as pristine wilderness. Milford Sound alone plunges 265 meters deep, with waterfalls dropping 160 meters from vertical cliffs carved by 2-million-year-old glaciers. Annual rainfall exceeds 4 meters, sustaining 200 permanent waterfalls and 1,200 species of native plants, 80% of which are endemic. Outperforming #7 Torres del Paine in biodiversity, Fiordland harbors the flightless takahe, a bird once thought extinct, with a population of 1,000 individuals. A 2018 survey found 95% of visitors rated it higher than any other New Zealand park for scenic grandeur.
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