New Zealand’s awesome landscapes, lush forests, amazing wildlife and pleasant climate make it a haven for many outdoor activities, and a great place to unwind. New Zealand society is diverse, sophisticated, and multicultural, and the honesty, friendliness, and openness of Kiwis will impress you. And the great advantage of New Zealand is that all of its diverse physical, cultural, and artistic landscapes are so close to each other.
History
New Zealand is one of the most recently settled major land masses. Polynesian settlers arrived in their waka some time between the 11th century and the 13th century to establish the indigenous Māori culture. New Zealand's Māori name, Aotearoa, is usually translated as "Land of the long white cloud", reputedly referring to the cloud the explorers saw on the horizon as they approached. Settlement of the Chatham Islands to the east of the mainland produced the Moriori people; linguistic evidence, in particular the innovations uniquely shared by the Moriori and Māori languages, indicates that they moved there from New Zealand.
Most of New Zealand was divided into tribal territories called rohe, resources within which were controlled by hapū ('subtribes'). Māori adapted their tropically-based culture to eating the local marine resources, flora and fauna for food. They also hunted the giant flightless moa (which soon became extinct). They showed great ingenuity in adapting their tropical agricultural technology to a temperate climate, successfully cultivating taro, gourds, kumara (sweet potato), and other plants which they introduced from Polynesia; it is thought that kūmara were grown as far south as Banks Peninsula in the middle of the South Island.
Government
New Zealand is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary democracy. Under the New Zealand Royal Titles Act (1953), Queen Elizabeth II is Queen of New Zealand and is represented as head of state by the Governor-General, currently Anand Satyanand.
New Zealand is the only country in the world in which all the highest offices in the land have been occupied simultaneously by women, between March 2005 and August 2006 - The Sovereign, Queen Elizabeth II; Governor-General Dame Silvia Cartwright; Prime Minister Helen Clark; Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives Margaret Wilson; and Chief Justice Dame Sian Elias.
The Leader of the Opposition, is National Party leader John Key. The ACT party and the Māori Party are both also in opposition.
Major political parties:
Labour Party (50 seats)
National Party (48 seats)
Minor political parties (in Parliament):
ACT New Zealand (2 seats)
Green Party (6 seats)
Jim Anderton's Progressive Party (1 seat)
Māori Party (4 seats)
New Zealand First (7 seats)
United Future (3 seats)
Geography
New Zealand comprises two main islands (called the North and South Islands in English, Te-Ika-a-Maui and Te Wai Pounamu in Māori) and a number of smaller islands. The total land area, 268,680 square kilometres (103,738 sq miles), 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 Rēkohu by Moriori.
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 18 peaks of more than 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.
