New Zealand
From the Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that anyone can change
| New Zealand Aotearoa (Māori) |
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| National information | |||||
| National motto: | None | ||||
| National anthem: | God Defend New Zealand God Save the Queen |
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| About the people | |||||
| Official languages: | English, Māori, sign language | ||||
| Population: (# of people) | |||||
| - Total: | 4 177 000 (ranked 122) | ||||
| - Density: | 15 per km² | ||||
| Geography / Places | |||||
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| Capital city: | Wellington | ||||
| Largest city: | Auckland | ||||
| Area | |||||
| - Total: | 268,680 km² (ranked 75) | ||||
| - Water: | n/a km² (2.1%) | ||||
| Politics / Government | |||||
| Established: | Treaty of Waitangi (6 February 1840) Statute of Westminster (1931) |
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| Leaders: | Queen Elizabeth II Represented by Governor General Anand Satyanand Prime Minister Helen Clark |
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| Economy / Money | |||||
| Currency: (Name of money) |
New Zealand Dollar (NZ$) | ||||
| International information | |||||
| Time zone: | +12:00 | ||||
| Telephone dialing code: | 64 | ||||
| Internet domain: | .nz | ||||
New Zealand (also Aotearoa) is a country in the south-western Pacific Ocean. It is made up of two large islands (the North Island and South Island) and many much smaller islands.
The official languages are English, Māori and sign language.
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[change] Name
The name "New Zealand" comes from “Zeeland” in Dutch. Zeeland was a province of the Netherlands. New Zealand is called “Aotearoa” in the Maori language. It means "Land of the Long White Cloud". Ao means “cloud”, tea means “white”, and roa means “long”.
[change] Government and Politics
New Zealand is a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II. The Prime Minister is Helen Clark, of the New Zealand Labour Party.
New Zealand has made itself a Nuclear Free Zone: They do not use nuclear power and do not allow nuclear weapons in their territory.
[change] People
About 4 million people live in New Zealand. Most of them have European ancestors. The indigenous people of New Zealand, the Māori, have a population of about 600,000 people. The North Island is smaller than the South Island, but most people (more than 3 million) live there.
The main religion in New Zealand is Christianity.
[change] Cities
Most New Zealanders live in cities. Wellington is the capital of New Zealand. Auckland is the largest city in New Zealand. Other cities include Hamilton and Tauranga in the North Island, and Christchurch, Dunedin, Nelson and Invercargill in the South Island.
[change] Nature
New Zealand was isolated from the rest of the world for a long time. Because of this there are many plants and animals that only live in New Zealand. Before humans came to New Zealand, there were no mammals except two bat species. Instead New Zealand has many different kinds of bird, for example the kiwi.
[change] Other things
- New Zealand has become more popular over the past five years because New Zealand born Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings movies were all made there.
- New Zealand is home to lots of sheep. There are many more sheep than people in New Zealand. Contrary to popular legend, they aren't always walking over the highways. At least, not all the time.
- Most New Zealanders, sometimes called "kiwis", are very interested in sports. Their national game is rugby (Winter) and Cricket (Summer). They have impressive athletes in rowing, cycling, shotput, discus, iron man, triathalon, yachting, climbing, surfing, cricket, netball, softball, wind surfing, gliding, and more.
- They are in love with their great outdoors. They have a "clean, green" image as a country. Air and Water pollution is still fairly rare, though occasional outbreaks in the past two decades have caused problems for livestock and the surrounding waters.
- New Zealand, like many other small nations, has a strong local media. New Zealand has a wide variety of musicians, television (and even radio) celebrities, and stand-up comedians. Although most are simply "world-famous in New Zealand", many others have successfully made it on to the international scene (in some cases, only to be claimed as Aussies!)
- The centre of New Zealands North Island contains a decent sized desert. Through that desert goes state-highway 1, the main north-south road artery. If you're travelling in Winter, the section of the road in the desert - the Desert Road - can often be closed, so pack a blanket. Also, try to avoid getting out of your car and venturing more than some 20 metres off the road: on either side, most of it is a Military Training Zone (The NZ Army has a large training base at Waiouru).
- The NZ Army mostly does peacekeeping. When Bush was invading Iraq and asked New Zealand to send troops, Helen Clark defiantly said no (much to the applause of the New Zealand public).
| Countries and territories of Oceania | |
|---|---|
| Australia | Australia · Coral Sea Islands · Norfolk Island |
| Melanesia | East Timor · Fiji · Maluku Islands & Western New Guinea (part of Indonesia) · New Caledonia · Papua New Guinea · Solomon Islands · Vanuatu |
| Micronesia | Guam · Kiribati · Marshall Islands · Northern Mariana Islands · Federated States of Micronesia · Nauru · Palau |
| Polynesia | American Samoa · Cook Islands · French Polynesia · Hawaii · New Zealand · Niue · Pitcairn · Samoa · Tokelau · Tonga · Tuvalu · Wallis and Futuna |
