The New Zealand tourist board has released a comedy video attempting to crack the mystery of why it keeps being left off world maps.

The #getnzonthemap campaign features prime minister Jacinda Ardern and Rhys Darby, best-known for his role as Murray Hewitt in Flight of the Conchords.

In the opening moments of the sketch Darby discovers a series of online articles – including a piece by Telegraph Travel’s Hugh Morris – reporting that New Zealand is often omitted from maps of the world.

“This is a major conspiracy,” Darby says, before calling the prime minister and embarking on a mission to uncover why the country keeps being left off the map.

His conclusions are that Australia could be stealing the country’s tourists, England may be trying to get rid of the All Blacks, and France might be attempting to dominate the wine industry. Or perhaps it’s due to the country’s fiddly shape – “a bit like a half-eaten lamb chop,” he says.

The video was posted on Jacinda Ardern’s Facebook page. She wrote: “Admit it. You’ve noticed the absence of New Zealand on world maps before too. Some call it a conspiracy (I’m looking at you @Rhys Darby) some call it negligent... either way it’s time for a wee campaign."

Located in the southwest Pacific, New Zealand is one of the most isolated countries in the world. The closest major city, Sydney, is a three-hour flight away from Auckland. Due to the country’s location in the far bottom right hand corner of the traditional world map, the Land of the Long White Cloud is frequently either split in half or ignored entirely.

One of the few maps that does include New Zealand... Credit: Getty

This isn’t the first time Kiwis have noticed they are being left off maps of the world. One Reddit forum named MapsWithoutNZ has over 40,000 subscribers.

Here are some instances of New Zealand disappearing off the face of the Earth.