New-Zealand
Precis
Compiler: Maiki Joakit
Instructor: Mailis Teppo
Misso 2011
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main
landmasses (the North Island and the South Island), and numerous smaller islands, most
notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands. The indigenous Mori language
name for New Zealand is Aotearoa, commonly translated as land of the long white cloud.
Population (1998): 3,801,000.New Zealand is notable for its geographic isolation; it is
situated about 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) southeast of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and
its closest neighbours to the north are New Caledonia, Fiji and Tonga. During its long
isolation New Zealand developed a distinctive fauna dominated by birds, a number of which