NZR J A class 1271 crossing the Otaki River on returning from an excusion to Woodville, New Zealand , 22 September 2012.
Photo: Karora, Public domain · source
Lake Rotoroa in Nelson Lakes National Park in the South Island, New Zealand
Photo: Krzysztof Golik, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Black sand beach north of Kaikoura, Canterbury, New Zealand
Photo: Michal Klajban, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Did you know?
The islands of New Zealand were the last large habitable land to be settled by humans. Between about 1280 and 1350, Polynesians began to settle in the islands and subsequently developed a distinctive Māori culture. In 1642, the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman became the first European to sight and record New Zealand. In 1769, the British explorer Captain James Cook became the first European to set foot on and map New Zealand.
Wikipedia: New Zealand – read more, CC BY-SA 4.0
Corroding iron machinery at the White Island sulphur mine, abandoned after a lahar killed all the workers in 1914.
Photo: Avenue, CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Flora of the South Island, New Zealand
Photo: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Full description from Page 446 of the October 31 1863 The Illustrated London News : Large Meeting of Settlers and Maoris at a Native Village near Napier, Hawke's Bay,…
Photo: Mason Jackson, CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Etymology
The first European visitor to New Zealand, Dutch explorer Abel Tasman, named the islands Staten Land, believing they were part of the Staten Landt that Jacob Le Maire had sighted off the southern end of South America. The next year, in 1643, Hendrik Brouwer proved that the South American land was just a small island, and Dutch cartographers subsequently renamed Tasman's discovery Nova Zeelandia from Latin, after the Dutch province of Zeeland. This name was later anglicised to New Zealand.
This was written as Nu Tireni in the Māori language (spelt Nu Tirani in Te Tiriti o Waitangi).
Wikipedia: New Zealand – read more, CC BY-SA 4.0
Air New Zealand Boeing 787 (All Blacks livery) at Narita International Airport
Photo: Masakatsu Ukon, CC BY-SA 2.0 · source
History
The first people to reach New Zealand were Polynesians in oceangoing waka, who are believed to have arrived in several waves between about 1280 and 1350. According to most Māori oral traditions, the islands were first discovered by the semi-legendary explorer Kupe while in pursuit of a giant octopus. These traditions hold that Kupe was followed by a great fleet of settlers, who set out from Hawaiki in eastern Polynesia around 1350. The existence of a single great fleet that settled New Zealand has since been superseded by the belief that the majority of settlement was a planned and deliberate event that occurred over several decades.
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Geography
New Zealand is near the centre of the water hemisphere and comprises two main islands and more than 700 smaller islands. The two main islands (the North Island, or Te Ika-a-Māui, and the South Island, or Te Waipounamu) are separated by Cook Strait, 22 kilometres (14 mi) wide at its narrowest point. Besides the North and South Islands, the five largest inhabited islands are Stewart Island (across the Foveaux Strait), Chatham Island, Great Barrier Island (in the Hauraki Gulf), D'Urville Island (in the Marlborough Sounds) and Waiheke Island (about 22 km (14 mi) from central Auckland).
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Lake Tekapo ist der größte See der Region Canterbury auf der Südinsel von Neuseeland.
Photo: Krzysztof Golik, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Baldy Hill from Snowslide Valley, Craigieburn Range, Canterbury, New Zealand
Photo: Michal Klajban, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Government and politics
New Zealand is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary democracy, although its constitution is not codified. Charles III is the King of New Zealand and thus the head of state. The king is represented by the governor-general, whom he appoints on the advice of the prime minister.
Wikipedia: New Zealand – read more, CC BY-SA 4.0
Flora of the South Island, New Zealand
Photo: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Blue Lake in Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park in the South Island, New Zealand.
Photo: Krzysztof Golik, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
A stream on a track between Sabine Hut and Speargrass Hut, Nelson Lakes National Park, New Zealand
Photo: Michal Klajban, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Economy
New Zealand has an advanced market economy, ranked 16th in the 2022 Human Development Index, and fourth in the 2022 Index of Economic Freedom. It is a high-income economy with a nominal gross domestic product (GDP) per capita (in United States dollar equivalents) of $48,071 as of 2023.The currency is the New Zealand dollar, informally known as the "Kiwi dollar"; it also circulates in the Cook Islands (see Cook Islands dollar), Niue, Tokelau, and the Pitcairn Islands.
Wikipedia: New Zealand – read more, CC BY-SA 4.0
Oamaru, New Zealand
Photo: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Demographics
The 2023 New Zealand census enumerated a resident population of 4,993,923, an increase of 6.3% over the 2018 census figure. As of September 2026, the total population has risen to an estimated 5,357,140. New Zealand's population increased at a rate of 1.9% per year in the seven years ended June 2020. In September 2020 Statistics New Zealand reported that the population had climbed above 5 million people in September 2019, according to population estimates based on the 2018 census.
Wikipedia: New Zealand – read more, CC BY-SA 4.0
Culture
Statistics have shown around 20% of New Zealanders identify with more than one ethnic group. Around 80% are of European descent, 15% Maori, and others coming from China, the Pacific Islands and elsewhere. This means there is little sense in talking of one New
Zealand culture, although, according to one writer, "New Zealanders will argue strongly for the existence of a unique identity, for the existence of something that sets them apart from others, a "Kiwi culture"."
Wikipedia: New Zealand – read more, CC BY-SA 4.0