The island is roughly semi-oval in shape, with a long straight east coast and a curved west coast meeting at Cape Scoresby in the south and Cape Ellsworth in the north.

[2] The island is volcanic, with active fumaroles, and a height of 1,340 metres (4,400 feet).

An explosive VEI-7 eruption occurred from Young Island 1,700,000 years ago.

On some days near the Southern Hemisphere summer solstice, Young Island is the first place on land to have a sunrise - that is, the sun sets very briefly, and then rises again earlier in the day than anywhere else on Earth.

This article about the geography of New Zealand's outlying islands is a stub.