New Zealand (0)

NEW ZEALAND

Geography:
New Zealand is situated midway between the Equator and the South pole in the southern Pacific Ocean . It consists of two large islands , North Island and South Island, plus several smaller ones of which Stewart Island is the largest. North and South Islands are separated by the 32km wide Cook Strait. The total land area is 270,535 sq Km, about the size of Italy, the United Kingdom or the US state of Colorado.
North Island is volcanically active with three active volcanoes. South Island has the high snow covered mountain peaks and glaciers of the Southern Alps, a range running almost 500Km along the Island.
The longest river is the Waikato on North Island (425 Km), the largest inland stretch of water is Lake Taupo also on North Island (607 sq Km) and the highest point is Mount Cook on South Island (3754 m). Over 75% of New Zealand is above 200m .
Land use is broken down to about: forested 30% - meadows and pastures 50% - agricultural and under permanent cultivation 15% . Sheep and cattle graze on the rich farmland around Hamilton and New Plymouth in North Island and around Dunedin and Invercargill on South Island.
It lies just west of the International Date Line and is among the first into the new millennium .
People :
New Zealand has a population of around 3.65 million.
People from a wide range of European countries have arrived since Captain James Cook to make up 75% of the population while Maori make up about 10%. The Maori first arrived on these shores just over a 1000 years ago at the close of the last millennium. Today , the Maori have adopted western lifestyles but have actively been encouraged to keep alive their culture, language and art. Other ethnic groups have arrived from Polynesia ( Tonga , Samoa , Cook Islands) with Auckland now being the Polynesia capital of the South Pacific. People from China , Taiwan, Korea, Vietnam, etc have also settled in New Zealand making for a diverse population mix.
History :
New Zealand was one of the last corners of the planet to be inhabited by people. Around 950AD the Maori arrived from Polynesia (Tonga and Hawaii ) to the northern part of the North Island. There is however evidence of earlier settlement by other more peaceful Polynesian people.
After the dutch sailor Abel Tasman visited New Zealand and named it Zeeland, more and more settlers arrived, conflicts over land led to several wars between the British and Maori in the North Island. The South island remained rather peaceful until gold was found there and thousand of people hurried there to look for gold.
Since World War ІІ, New Zealand has moved towards its own unique national identity and place in the world. New Zealand was the first sovereign state to give votes to women.
Weather and climate:
New Zealand is in the Southern Hemisphere, which of course means mid summer is at Christmas time while mid winter is June/ July . The climate is oceanic temperate. The seasonal variations in New Zealand weather are smaller than continental North America or mainland Europe .
North Island has a warm mild climate, almost sub- tropical in the extreme north. Auckland average summer temperature ( January ) is about 21C and winter is 11C. Annual rainfall in North Island is around 125-150cm, the west receiving slightly more rain than the east .
South island is colder.
Energy and natural resources:

Despite a comparatively small population and abundant natural resources, New Zealand is a net importer of energy. Energy importation is in the form of oil products . About 30% of primary energy is from renewable energy sources. The leading manufacturing sectors are food processing, metal fabrication, wood and paper products.
Natural resources: natural gas, iron ore, sand , coal, timber , hydropower, gold, limestone

Government & economy:
New Zealand is a constitutional monarchy with a parlamentary democracy. The House of Representatives - with 120 members an 5 seats for Maoris . Queen Elizabeth ІІ is Queen of New Zealand and is represented as head of state by the Governorgeneral.
Free education and medical healthcare for children and adult alike are part of the Goverment social platforms. Economy has traditionally been based on exports.

Biggest cities:

Although agriculture is important to the New Zealand economy, most New Zealanders live in cities. Of our 3.65 million population almost three quarters live in urban areas. Auckland is the largest city while Wellington is the country 's capital city. Greater Auckland contains almost one quarter of the country's population.
The largest cities are: Auckland, Manukau, North Shore, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, and Hamilton
. 
Arts:

New Zealand art is visual art created in New Zealand or by New Zealanders. It includes traditional Maori art, which was developed in New Zealand from Polynesian artforms, and more recent forms which take their inspiration from Maori, European and other traditions.
Maori visual art consists primarily of four forms: carving , tattooing (ta moko ), weaving and painting.
Ta moko is the art of traditional Maori tattooing, done with a chisel. Carving was done in three media: wood, bone, and stone . Arguably ta moko was another form of carving. Weaving was used to create numerous things, including wall panels in meeting houses and other important buildings, as well as clothing and bags. Although the oldest forms of Maori art are rock paintings, in ' classical ' Maori art, painting was not an important art form. It was mainly used as a minor decoration in meeting houses. Traditional arts are practised througout the country.
Sports:
New Zealand has more golf-courses per head than any other country in the world - almost 400! With New Zealand's temperate climate, golf is a year round sport . Many of the courses are situated in impressive scenery and often offer unique obstacles to the round such as hot mud pools or sheep or the occasional wandering Scotsman.
With its mild climate, mountains , fast rivers and many marine inlets - every manner of outdoor pursuit can be experienced here! From skiing to sailing from climbing to bungee jumping!
It’s no wonder that many call it "a pocket wonder world".
Education:
Education in New Zealand follows the three-tier model which includes primary schools , followed by secondary schools (high schools) and tertiary education at universities and/or polytechs.
The Programme for International Student Assessment ranks New Zealand's education as the 7th best in the world.
Education is free and compulsory between the ages of 6 and 16; though typically, children start school on their 5th birthday , or the first School Day after it.
The academic year in New Zealand varies between institutions, but generally runs from late January until mid-December for primary and secondary schools and polytechnics, and from late February until mid-November for universities.
Plants and animal life:
For millions of years New Zealand has been isolated and unique birds, animals and plants have developed here. Best known are flightless birds such as the Kiwi. Because there were no ground based enemies for ancient birds many lost there ability to fly with the passage of time.
Lizards, frogs, and bats are the only indigenous land animals in New Zealand. Dogs (kiri) and rats were introduced by the Maori, and red and fallow deer, trout, salmon, Australian opossum, rabbits, and domestic animals have been introduced over the last 150 years by European settlers. There are now strict regulations with very heavy penalties against the importing of plants, fruit and animals unless approved by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries to protect the New Zealand environment.
Agriculture:
Agriculture has been and continues to be the main export industry in New Zealand. The largest company of the country, Fonterra, a dairy cooperative, controls almost one-third of the international dairy trade. Other agricultural items were meat 13.2%, wood 6.3%, fruit 3.5% and fishing 3.3%. New Zealand also has a thriving wine industry.