Portal:New Zealand

New Zealand
*Aotearoa* (Māori)
New Zealand Aotearoa (Māori)
	Flag Coat of arms
	Location of New Zealand, including outlying islands, its territorial claim in the Antarctic, and Tokelau
ISO 3166 code	NZ

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New Zealand (Māori: Aotearoa [aɔˈtɛaɾɔa]) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island (Te Ika-a-Māui) and the South Island (Te Waipounamu)—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island country by area and lies east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and south of the islands of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga. The country's varied topography and sharp mountain peaks, including the Southern Alps, owe much to tectonic uplift and volcanic eruptions. New Zealand's capital city is Wellington, and its most populous city is Auckland.

A developed country, it was the first to introduce a minimum wage, and the first to give women the right to vote. It ranks very highly in international measures of quality of life, human rights, and it has low levels of perceived corruption. It retains visible levels of inequality, having structural disparities between its Māori and European populations. New Zealand underwent major economic changes during the 1980s, which transformed it from a protectionist to a liberalised free-trade economy. The service sector dominates the national economy, followed by the industrial sector, and agriculture; international tourism is also a significant source of revenue. New Zealand is a member of the United Nations, Commonwealth of Nations, ANZUS, UKUSA, OECD, ASEAN Plus Six, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, the Pacific Community and the Pacific Islands Forum. It enjoys particularly close relations with the United States and is one of its major non-NATO allies; the United Kingdom; Samoa, Fiji, and Tonga; and with Australia, with a shared "Trans-Tasman" identity between the two countries stemming from centuries of British colonisation. (Full article...)

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Marshal of the RAF Sir Cyril Newall c. 1940

Marshal of the Royal Air Force Cyril Louis Norton Newall, 1st Baron Newall, GCB, OM, GCMG, CBE, AM (15 February 1886 – 30 November 1963) was a senior officer of the British Army and Royal Air Force. He commanded units of the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force in the First World War, and served as Chief of the Air Staff during the first years of the Second World War. From 1941 to 1946 he was the Governor-General of New Zealand.

Born to a military family, Newall studied at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, before taking a commission as a junior officer in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment in 1905. After transferring to the 2nd Gurkha Rifles in the Indian Army, he saw active service on the North West Frontier, but after learning to fly in 1911 turned towards a career in military aviation. During the First World War he rose from flying instructor to command of 41st Wing RFC, the main strategic bombing force, and was awarded the Albert Medal for putting out a fire in an explosives store. (Full article...)

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General images

The following are images from various New Zealand-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1The Mission House at Kerikeri is New Zealand's oldest surviving building, having been completed in 1822 (from History of New Zealand)
Image 2Fiordland is dominated by steep, glacier-carved valleys. (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 3The scalloped bays indenting Lake Taupō's northern and western coasts are typical of large volcanic caldera margins. The caldera they surround was formed during the huge Oruanui eruption. (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 4Zealandia rejecting Australian Constitution in 1900 (from History of New Zealand)
Image 5Lorde as part of the 2014 Lollapalooza lineup (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 6European settlers developed an identity that was influenced by their rustic lifestyle. In this scene from 1909, men at their camp site display a catch of rabbits and fish. (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 7Central Plateau in winter (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 8Strong winds in the Cook Strait produce high waves which erode the shore, as shown in this image (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 9Children's and young adult author Margaret Mahy, July 2011 (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 10Residents of Dunedin celebrate the news of the Armistice of 11 November 1918. (from History of New Zealand)
Image 11The first Government House in Auckland, as painted by Edward Ashworth in 1842 or 1843. Auckland was the second capital of New Zealand. (from History of New Zealand)
Image 12Cook Island dancers at Auckland's Pasifika Festival, 2010 (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 13"First Scottish Colony for New Zealand" – 1839 poster advertising emigration from Scotland to New Zealand. Collection of Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow, Scotland. (from History of New Zealand)
Image 14George V with his prime ministers at the 1926 Imperial Conference. Standing (left to right): Monroe (Newfoundland), Coates (New Zealand), Bruce (Australia),Hertzog (Union of South Africa),Cosgrave (Irish Free State). Seated: Baldwin (UK), King George V, King (Canada). (from History of New Zealand)
Image 15An aerial view of the Auckland urban area, showing its location on the Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 16The Original All Blacks during the "haka", 1905 (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 17The kiwi has become a New Zealand icon. (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 18Richard Seddon, Liberal Prime Minister from 1893 to his death in 1906 (from History of New Zealand)
Image 19HMS North Star destroying Pomare's Pā during the Northern/Flagstaff War, 1845, Painting by John Williams. (from History of New Zealand)
Image 20New Zealand Division in 1916 (from History of New Zealand)
Image 21Aoraki / Mount Cook, as seen from Hooker Valley (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 22A Māori ancestor (tekoteko) depicted in a wood carving at the Tamatekapua Meeting House in Ohinemutu (c. 1880) (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 23A meeting of European and Māori inhabitants of Hawke's Bay Province. Engraving, 1863.
Image 24Elizabeth II and Muldoon's Cabinet, taken during the Queen's 1981 visit to New Zealand (from History of New Zealand)
Image 25Putting down a hāngī (earth oven) (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 26The Māori are most likely descended from people who emigrated from Taiwan to Melanesia and then travelled east through to the Society Islands. After a pause of 70 to 265 years, a new wave of exploration led to the discovery and settlement of New Zealand.
Image 27Prime Ministers John Key and Helen Clark (from History of New Zealand)
Image 28Tekoteko from the gable of a wharenui, Te Arawa (20th century) (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 29Men of the Māori Battalion, New Zealand Expeditionary Force, after disembarking at Gourock in Scotland in June 1940 (from History of New Zealand)
Image 30Art deco in Napier (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 31A modern wharenui (meeting house of a marae) exhibited at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 32Michael Joseph Savage, Labour Prime Minister 1935–1940. This portrait was hung on the walls of many supporters. (from History of New Zealand)
Image 33Kapa haka is performed at a School Strike for Climate in Christchurch 2019. (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 34A 1943 poster produced during the war. The poster reads: "When war broke out ... industries were unprepared for munitions production. To-day New Zealand is not only manufacturing many kinds of munitions for her own defence but is making a valuable contribution to the defence of the other areas in the Pacific..." (from History of New Zealand)
Image 35New Zealand is antipodal to points of the North Atlantic, the Iberian Peninsula and Morocco.
Image 36Māori whānau (extended family) from Rotorua in the 1880s. Many aspects of Western life and culture, including European clothing and architecture, became incorporated into Māori society during the 19th century. (from History of New Zealand)
Image 37The 1935 Labour Cabinet. Michael Joseph Savage is seated in the front row, centre. (from History of New Zealand)
Image 38Pavlova, a popular New Zealand dessert, garnished with cream and strawberries. (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 39Roger Douglas, the architect of New Zealand's 1980s neo-liberal reform programme (from History of New Zealand)
Image 40An annotated relief map (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 41Percentages of people reporting affiliation with Christianity at the 2001, 2006 and 2013 censuses; there has been a steady decrease over twelve years. (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 42Vigil in Wellington for the victims of the Christchurch mosques attacks (from History of New Zealand)
Image 43Topography of Zealandia, the submerged continent, and the two tectonic plates (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 44The Waikato River flowing out of Lake Taupō (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 45A beach barbecue – an established part of New Zealand culture (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 46One of the few extant copies of the Treaty of Waitangi (from History of New Zealand)
Image 47Tribute to the Suffragettes memorial in Christchurch adjacent to Our City. The figures shown from left to right are Amey Daldy, Kate Sheppard, Ada Wells and Harriet Morison (from History of New Zealand)
Image 48Knox Church, a Presbyterian church, in Dunedin. The city was founded by Scottish Presbyterian settlers. (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 49The Forty-Fours viewed from the north; the leftmost islet is the easternmost point of New Zealand. (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 50Rural landscape close to Mt Ruapehu (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 51Poet Selina Tusitala Marsh, 2019 (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 52Hinepare of Ngāti Kahungunu, is wearing a traditional korowai cloak adorned with a black fringe border. The two huia feathers in her hair, indicate a chiefly lineage. She also wears a pounamu hei-tiki and earring, as well as a shark tooth (mako) earring. The moko-kauae (chin-tattoo) is often based on one's role in the iwi. (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 53Scorching Bay, Wellington, in summer (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 54Water pollution sign on the Waimakariri River (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 55Scottish Highland family migrating to New Zealand, 1844, by William Allsworth. Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington. (from History of New Zealand)

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...that megaherbs on the uninhabited New Zealand sub-antarctic islands almost became extinct by overbrowsing by livestock introduced to support shipwrecked sailors?

...that one of the Powelliphanta sp. is found only on a five hectare area northeast of Westport, New Zealand?

...that Mauisaurus was the largest plesiosaur to roam New Zealand waters and that it gets its name from the Māori demigod Māui?

...that it was during the Ngāti Whātua victory at the battle of Te Kai a te Karoro, or Seagull's Feast, that Ngā Puhi became the first Māori iwi to use muskets in combat?

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Leiopelmatida (Hochstetter's Frog), one of many biological families endemic to New Zealand

The biodiversity of New Zealand is one of the most unusual on Earth, due to its long geological isolation from other continental landmasses. Its genetic affinities are derived from Gondwana, from which it separated 82 million years (Ma) ago, along with Australia, New Caledonia and Lord Howe Island, part of the same tectonic plate.

New Zealand's pre-human biodiversity exhibited high levels of endemism in its flora and fauna. The range of ancient fauna is not well-known but at least one species of non-flying terrestrial mammal existed in New Zealand around 19 Ma ago. Prior to 65 Ma ago, the fauna included dinosaurs, pterosaurs and marine reptiles.

For at least several Ma before the arrival of humans and their commensal species, the islands had no terrestrial mammals except for bats, the main component of the terrestrial fauna being insects and birds. Its flora is dominated by Gondwanan plants, comprising historically of forests, most famously the giant kauri, Agathis australis.

New Zealand has developed a national Biodiversity Action Plan to address conservation of considerable numbers of threatened flora and fauna within New Zealand. (Full article...)

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Queenstown (Māori: Tāhuna) is a resort town in Otago in the south-west of New Zealand's South Island. It is the seat and largest town in the Queenstown-Lakes District. (Full article...)

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... that the first meeting of the New Zealand Women Writers' Society was chaired by a man?
... that British intervention reversed the lacquering of a statue in New Zealand?
... that New Zealand author Patricia Grace did not include a glossary for Māori terms in her book Potiki because she "didn't want the Māori language to be treated as a foreign language in its own country"?
... that although it was a centennial project, the Canterbury Pioneer Women's Memorial in New Zealand was opened 90 years after the region's organised settlement began?
... that the patu clubs on the New Zealand threepence were compared to bottles of ginger beer?
... that New Zealand choreographer and dancer Louise Potiki Bryant was coated in clay by sculptor Paerau Corneal in their interdisciplinary work Kiri?
... that the New Zealand tree tarahinau has evolved to develop thinner leaves as it matures, probably as a result of the high winds of the Chatham Islands?
... that New Zealand composer Maewa Kaihau sold her rights to the song "Now is the Hour" for £10, a decade before it became a hit in the United Kingdom and United States?

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