lake, the largest in New Zealand, on the volcanic plateau of central North Island. With a total surface area of 234 square miles (606 square km), it lies at an elevation of 1,172 feet (357 m) and has a depth of 522 feet (159 m), covering the remains of several volcanic craters. Draining an area of 1,270 square miles (3,289 square km), the lake receives the upper course of the Waikato River (there called the Tongariro River) from the south and empties by its lower course in the northeast. J.S. Polack and the Reverend Thomas Chapman were the first Europeans to see the lake in the 1830s. Its name derives from the Maori Taupo nui a Tia (“Great Cloak of Tia”).

The town of Taupo, standing at the outlet of the Waikato, is the centre of a district supporting dairy and beef cattle, sheep farms, and planted forests. Numerous geothermal springs on the lake's borders are health resorts or are used for generating electricity. Taupo serves as an effective reservoir for hydroelectric plants on the Waikato.