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 one of the lowest levels of perceived corruption in the world. 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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Dale in 2009

Alan Hugh Dale (born 6 May 1947) is a New Zealand actor, known for his early long-running role as Jim Robinson in Australian tv soap opera Neighbours, American series' The O.C. (as Caleb Nichol) and Ugly Betty (as Bradford Meade), as well as recurring and guest roles in Lost, 24, NCIS, ER, The West Wing, The X-Files, Entourage, Once Upon a Time and Dynasty as Joseph Anders. (Full article...)

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General images

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

Image 1The 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 2Topography of Zealandia, the submerged continent, and the two tectonic plates (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 3Scottish Highland family migrating to New Zealand, 1844, by William Allsworth. Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington. (from History of New Zealand)
Image 4The 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 5The Waikato River flowing out of Lake Taupō (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 6Poet Selina Tusitala Marsh, 2019 (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 7Tekoteko from the gable of a wharenui, Te Arawa (20th century) (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 8Zealandia rejecting Australian Constitution in 1900 (from History of New Zealand)
Image 9Tribute 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 10Vigil in Wellington for the victims of the Christchurch mosques attacks (from History of New Zealand)
Image 11Strong winds in the Cook Strait produce high waves which erode the shore, as shown in this image (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 12Children's and young adult author Margaret Mahy, July 2011 (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 13A meeting of European and Māori inhabitants of Hawke's Bay Province. Engraving, 1863.
Image 14The 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 15Kapa haka is performed at a School Strike for Climate in Christchurch 2019. (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 16Lorde as part of the 2014 Lollapalooza lineup (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 17Prime Ministers John Key and Helen Clark (from History of New Zealand)
Image 18Roger Douglas, the architect of New Zealand's 1980s neo-liberal reform programme (from History of New Zealand)
Image 19Māori 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 20European 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 21A beach barbecue – an established part of New Zealand culture (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 22Aoraki / Mount Cook, as seen from Hooker Valley (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 23The Mission House at Kerikeri is New Zealand's oldest surviving building, having been completed in 1822 (from History of New Zealand)
Image 24Pavlova, a popular New Zealand dessert, garnished with cream and strawberries. (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 25Michael Joseph Savage, Labour Prime Minister 1935–1940. This portrait was hung on the walls of many supporters. (from History of New Zealand)
Image 26An aerial view of the Auckland urban area, showing its location on the Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 27Water pollution sign on the Waimakariri River (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 28Cook Island dancers at Auckland's Pasifika Festival, 2010 (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 29New Zealand Division in 1916 (from History of New Zealand)
Image 30Central Plateau in winter (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 31Rural landscape close to Mt Ruapehu (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 32New Zealand is antipodal to points of the North Atlantic, the Iberian Peninsula and Morocco.
Image 33Richard Seddon, Liberal Prime Minister from 1893 to his death in 1906 (from History of New Zealand)
Image 34Fiordland is dominated by steep, glacier-carved valleys. (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 35A 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 36Men of the Māori Battalion, New Zealand Expeditionary Force, after disembarking at Gourock in Scotland in June 1940 (from History of New Zealand)
Image 37A Māori ancestor (tekoteko) depicted in a wood carving at the Tamatekapua Meeting House in Ohinemutu (c. 1880) (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 38The Original All Blacks during the "haka", 1905 (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 39An annotated relief map (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 40Percentages 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 41The kiwi has become a New Zealand icon. (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 42Knox Church, a Presbyterian church, in Dunedin. The city was founded by Scottish Presbyterian settlers. (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 43The Forty-Fours viewed from the north; the leftmost islet is the easternmost point of New Zealand. (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 44Hinepare 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 45George 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 46Art deco in Napier (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 47One of the few extant copies of the Treaty of Waitangi (from History of New Zealand)
Image 48HMS North Star destroying Pomare's Pā during the Northern/Flagstaff War, 1845, Painting by John Williams. (from History of New Zealand)
Image 49"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 50Residents of Dunedin celebrate the news of the Armistice of 11 November 1918. (from History of New Zealand)
Image 51The 1935 Labour Cabinet. Michael Joseph Savage is seated in the front row, centre. (from History of New Zealand)
Image 52Putting down a hāngī (earth oven) (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 53A modern wharenui (meeting house of a marae) exhibited at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 54Scorching Bay, Wellington, in summer (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 55Elizabeth II and Muldoon's Cabinet, taken during the Queen's 1981 visit to New Zealand (from History of New Zealand)

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... that the Hocken Collections, one of the country's main historical archives, is housed in a former cheese factory?

... that Lloyd Geering was tried for heresy in 1967?

... that the main streets of Martinborough in the Wairarapa were deliberately laid out in the shape of a Union Jack?

... that the township of Whangamomona proclaimed itself a republic in 1989 when boundary changes moved it out of the Taranaki Region?

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House carving showing Kupe (holding a paddle), with two sea creatures at his feet

In the Māori mythology of some tribes, Kupe was involved in the Polynesian discovery of New Zealand.

According to one tradition (Craig 1989:127), Kupe was a great chief of Hawaiki who arrived in New Zealand in 925 AD. He left his cousin Hoturapa to drown during a fishing expedition and kidnapped his wife, Kuramarotini, with whom he fled in her great canoe Matahourua. During their subsequent journeys, they overcame numerous monsters and sea demons, including the great octopus named as Te Wheke-a-Muturangi, and discovered New Zealand. Returning to Hawaiki, Kupe told of his adventures and convinced others to migrate with him. Traditions about Kupe appear among the peoples of the following areas: Northland, Ngāti Kahungunu, Tainui, Whanganui-Taranaki, Rangitāne, and the South Island.

A.H. Reed wrote that "When Kupe, the first discoverer of New Zealand,first came in sight of the land,his wife cried,'He ao! He ao!" (a cloud! a cloud!). Great Barrier Island was therefore named Aotea (white cloud), and the long mainland Aotearoa (long white cloud). When Kupe finally returned to his homeland his people asked him why he did not call the newly discovered country after his fatherland. He replied, 'I preferred the warm breast to the cold one, the new land to the old land long forsaken'." (Full article...)

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Shag Rock, also known as Rapanui, is a notable sea stack that marks the entrance of the Avon Heathcote Estuary near Christchurch, New Zealand. It is a prominent landmark for navigators at sea as well as travelers on the road to Sumner. The rock stands close to the southern shore just above the low tide level. In the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake it shattered and the remains, which are still easily seen from the road, have, with dark humour by some locals, been called "Shag Pile" (a pun referencing the style of carpet). (Full article...)

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... that Grace Harrison was one of two women who played in the New Zealand Ice Hockey League in 2021?
... that Māori fiction written in English, now a key part of New Zealand literature, only emerged in the 1950s?
... that in November 2022 the Supreme Court of New Zealand ruled that the voting age of 18 was unjustified age discrimination in Make It 16 Incorporated v Attorney-General?
... that a hut on New Zealand's Copland Track had to be moved after being hit by a mudslide just 13 weeks after opening?
... that New Zealand footballer Milly Clegg was called "an absolute unicorn" after appearing at three FIFA World Cups in under twelve months?
... that a third of the MPs elected in the 2023 New Zealand election were new to Parliament, including Carlos Cheung, Grant McCallum, Suze Redmayne, Dana Kirkpatrick, Ryan Hamilton, James Meager, Greg Fleming, Vanessa Weenink, Mike Butterick, Katie Nimon, David MacLeod, Miles Anderson, Carl Bates, Rima Nakhle, Nancy Lu, Cushla Tangaere-Manuel, Reuben Davidson, Scott Willis, Darleen Tana, Takutai Moana Kemp, Kahurangi Carter, Todd Stephenson, Laura Trask, Cameron Luxton, Tākuta Ferris, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, Casey Costello, Jamie Arbuckle, and Tanya Unkovich?
... that during a temporary public holiday to mourn the death of Elizabeth II, New Zealand had another public holiday on the same day?
... that Lucy Greenish was the first woman in New Zealand to become a registered architect?

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