New Zealand is a country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean comprising two large islands (the North Island and the South Island) and numerous smaller islands, most notably Stewart Island and the Chatham Islands. In Maori, New Zealand is also known as Aotearoa, which is usually translated into English as The Land of the Long White Cloud. The Realm of New Zealand also includes the Cook Islands and Niue, which are self-governing, but in free association; Tokelau; and the Ross Dependency (New Zealand's territorial claim in Antarctica). New Zealand is notable for its geographic isolation, being separated from Australia to the northwest by the Tasman Sea, approximately 2000 kilometres (1250 miles) across. Its closest neighbours to the north are New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga.
The population is mostly of European descent, with the indigenous Maori being the largest minority. Non-Maori Polynesian and Asian people are also significant minorities, especially in the cities. Elizabeth II, as the Queen of New Zealand, is the Head of State and is represented, in her absence, by a non-partisan Governor-General; the Queen 'reigns but does not rule', so she has no real political influence. Political power is held by the democratically-elected Parliament of New Zealand under the leadership of the Prime Minister who is the Head of Government.
There is no known pre-contact Maori name for New Zealand, although Maori referred to the North Island as Te Ika-a-Maui (the fish of Maui) and the South Island as Te Wai Pounamu (the waters of jade) or Te Waka-a-Maui (the canoe of Maui). Until the early 20th Century, the North Island was also referred to as Aotearoa, (often glossed as 'long white cloud'); in modern Maori usage this is the name for the whole country.
The name 'New Zealand' originated with Dutch cartographers, who called the islands 'Nova Zeelandia', after the Dutch province of Zeeland. British explorer James Cook subsequently anglicised the name to New Zealand.
History of New Zealand
New Zealand is one of the most recently settled major land masses. The first New Zealand settlers were Eastern Polynesians who came to New Zealand, probably in a series of migrations, sometime between around 800 and 1300 AD. Over the next few centuries they developed a distinct culture now known as Maori. The population was divided into hapu (subtribes) which would co-operate, compete and sometimes fight with each other. At some point a group of Maori migrated to the Chatham Islands where they developed their own distinct culture, known as the Moriori.
The first Europeans to reach New Zealand were Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman and his crew, in 1642. Several of the crew were killed by Maori, and no Europeans returned to New Zealand until British explorer James Cook's voyage of 1768. Following Cook, New Zealand was visited by numerous European and North American whaling, sealing and trading ships. They traded European food and goods, especially metal tools and weapons, for Maori timber, food, artefacts, water. Maori agriculture and warfare were transformed by the potato and the musket, although the resulting Musket Wars died out once the tribal imbalance of arms had been rectified. From the early 19th century, Christian missionaries began to settle in New Zealand, eventually converting most of the Maori population.
After several ineffectual attempts in the 1830s to control European visitors and settlers without actually establishing British law in New Zealand, the British government sent William Hobson to New Zealand to claim sovereignty and negotiate a treaty with Maori. The Treaty of Waitangi was signed in the Bay of Islands on 6 February 1840. The drafting and translation was done hastily and inexpertly, leading to ongoing confusion and disagreement. The Treaty is regarded as New Zealand's foundation as a nation, and is revered by Maori as a guarantee of their rights.
Gustavus von Tempsky is shot during the land wars.From 1840, European settlers streamed into New Zealand. At first Maori were eager to trade with the 'Pakeha', as they called them, and many iwi (tribes) became wealthy. As settler numbers increased, conflicts over land led to the New Zealand Land Wars of the 1860s and 1870s. The wars and the subsequent imposition of British land law led to massive Maori land loss. The wars took place in the North Island; the South Island, with its low Maori population, was fairly peaceful and experienced huge European (and some Chinese) immigration as a result of gold discoveries in the early 1860s.
New Zealand was granted limited self-government in the 1850s, and by the late 19th century was a fully self governing country in most senses. In 1893 it became the first nation in the world to give women the vote. In 1907, New Zealand became an independent Dominion, and a fully independent nation in 1947 when the Statute of Westminster (1931) was ratified, although in practice Britain had ceased to play any real role in the government of New Zealand much earlier than this. As New Zealand became more politically independent, it became more dependent economically; in the 1890s refrigerated shipping allowed New Zealand to base its entire economy on the export of meat and dairy products to Britain.
New Zealand was an enthusiastic member of the British Empire, fighting in the Boer War, World War One and World War Two, and supporting Britain in the Suez Crisis. The country was very much a part of the world economy, and suffered as others did in the Great Depression of the 1930s. The depression led to the election of the first Labour government, which established a comprehensive welfare state and a protectionist economy.
New Zealand became wealthy following the end of World War Two.
Geography
New Zealand comprises two main islands (called the North and South Islands in English, Te-Ika-a-Maui and Te Wai Pounamu in Maori) and a number of smaller islands, located near the center of the water hemisphere. The total land area, 268,680 square kilometres (103,738 sq mi), is a little less than that of Italy and Japan, and a little more than the United Kingdom. The country extends more than 1600 kilometres (1000 miles) along its main, north-north-east axis, with approximately 15,134 km of coastline. The most significant of the smaller inhabited islands include Stewart Island/Rakiura; Waiheke Island, in Auckland's Hauraki Gulf; Great Barrier Island, east of the Hauraki Gulf; and the Chatham Islands, named Rekohu by Moriori. The country has extensive marine resources, with the seventh-largest Exclusive Economic Zone in the world, covering over four million square kilometres (1.5 million sq mi), more than 15 times its land area.
The South Island is the largest land mass, and is divided along its length by the Southern Alps, the highest peak of which is Aoraki/Mount Cook at 3754 metres (12,316 ft). There are eighteen peaks over 3000 metres (9800 ft) in the South Island. The North Island is less mountainous than the South, but is marked by volcanism. The tallest North Island mountain, Mount Ruapehu (2797 m / 9176 ft), is an active cone volcano. The dramatic and varied landscape of New Zealand has made it a popular location for the production of television programmes and films, including the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and The Last Samurai.
Aoraki/Mount Cook is the tallest mountain in New Zealand. The climate throughout the country is mild, mostly cool temperate to warm temperate, with temperatures rarely falling below 0°C (32°F) or rising above 30°C (86°F). Conditions vary from wet and cold on the West Coast of the South Island to dry and continental in the Mackenzie Basin of inland Canterbury and almost subtropical in Northland. Of the main cities, Christchurch is the driest, receiving only some 640 mm (25 in) of rain per year. Auckland, the wettest, receives almost twice that amount.
New Zealand is part of Zealandia, a continent that is 93% submerged. Zealandia is almost half the size of Australia and is unusually long and narrow. About 25 million years ago, a shift in plate tectonic movements began to pull Zealandia apart forcefully. The submerged parts of Zealandia are the Lord Howe Rise, Challenger Plateau, Campbell Plateau, Norfolk Ridge and the Chatham Rise.
Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu, a hill in the Hawke's Bay region of the North Island, is credited by The Guinness Book of World Records with having the longest place name in the world.
Flora and fauna
Because of its long isolation from the rest of the world and its island biogeography, New Zealand has extraordinary flora and fauna. About 80% of the New Zealand flora occurs only in New Zealand, including more than 40 endemic genera. The two main types of forest are those dominated by podocarps including the giant kauri, and in cooler climates the southern beech. The remaining vegetation types in New Zealand are grasslands of tussock and other grasses, usually in sub-alpine areas, and the low shrublands between grasslands and forests.
Until the arrival of humans, 80% of the land was forested. Until 2006, it was thought, barring three species of bat (one now extinct), there were no non-marine native mammals. However, in 2006, scientists discovered bones that belonged to a long-extinct, unique, mouse-sized land animal in the Otago region of the South Island. New Zealand's forests were inhabited by a diverse range of birds including the flightless moa (now extinct), and the kiwi, kakapo, and takahe, all endangered by human actions. Unique birds capable of flight include the Haast's eagle, which was the world's largest bird of prey (now extinct), and the large kaka and kea parrots. Reptiles present in New Zealand include skinks, geckos and tuatara. There are four endemic species of primitive frogs. There are no snakes and there is only one venomous spider, the katipo, which is rare and restricted to coastal regions.
However, there are many endemic species of insects, including the weta, one species of which may grow as large as a house
mouse and is the heaviest insect in the world.
New Zealand has led the world in clearing offshore islands of introduced mammalian pests and reintroducing rare native species to ensure their survival. A more recent development is the mainland ecological island.
Demographics
Main article: Demographics of New Zealand
New Zealand has a population of about 4.1 million, of which approximately 78% are of European descent.
According to the 2001 census, Christianity is the predominant religion (60% identification).
The main Christian denominations are Anglicanism, Presbyterianism and Methodism.
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