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Portal:New Zealand

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New Zealand
Aotearoa (Māori)
A map of the hemisphere centred on New Zealand, using an orthographic projection.
Location of New Zealand, including outlying islands, its territorial claim in the Antarctic, and Tokelau
ISO 3166 codeNZ

New Zealand (Māori: Aotearoa, pronounced [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 600 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 (Kā Tiritiri o te Moana), 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, New Zealand was the first to introduce a minimum wage and give women the right to vote. It ranks very highly in international measures of quality of life and human rights and has one of the lowest levels of perceived corruption in the world. It retains visible levels of inequality, including structural disparities between its Māori and European populations. During the 1980s, New Zealand underwent major economic changes that transformed it from a protectionist to a liberalised free-trade economy. The service sector dominates the country's economy, followed by the industrial sector, and agriculture; international tourism is also a significant source of revenue. New Zealand and Australia have a strong relationship and are considered to share a strong Trans-Tasman identity, stemming from centuries of British colonisation. The country is part of multiple international organisations and forums. (Full article...)

This is a Good article, an article that meets a core set of high editorial standards.

A 19th-century carving of a tattooed Maori from kauri gum. The carving is owned and displayed by the Dargaville Museum, New Zealand.

Kauri gum is resin from kauri trees (Agathis australis), which historically had several important industrial uses. It can also be used to make crafts such as jewellery. Kauri forests once covered much of the North Island of New Zealand, before early settlers caused the forests to retreat, causing several areas to revert to weeds, scrubs, and swamps. Even afterwards, ancient kauri fields and the remaining forests continued to provide a source for the gum. Between 1820 and 1900, over 90% of Kauri forests were logged or burnt by Europeans.

Kauri gum forms when resin from kauri trees leaks out through fractures or cracks in the bark, hardening upon exposure to air. Lumps commonly fall to the ground and can be covered with soil and forest litter, eventually fossilising. Other lumps form as branches forked or trees are damaged, releasing the resin. (Full article...)

General images

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

More Did you know? - show different entries

...that botanist Thomas Frederic Cheeseman (pictured) had a wide range of interests including Māori ethnology?

...that there was once an estuarine valley with a rich abundance of New Zealand flounders near Waipatiki Beach, Hawke's Bay, New Zealand, but it became a stream system after an earthquake in 1931?

...that Frank Rennie joined the New Zealand Army at age 16, to prove to himself 20 months in hospital hadn't crippled him, and went on to become Colonel?

Selected article - show another


Sir Keith Jacka Holyoake, KG, GCMG, CH, QSO, KStJ (11 February 1904 - 8 December 1983) was a New Zealand politician. The only person to have been both Prime Minister and Governor-General of New Zealand, Holyoake was National Party prime minister from 20 September 1957 to 12 December 1957, then again from 12 December 1960 to 7 February 1972. He was appointed as governor-general in 1977 and served until 1980. Before becoming National Party leader, Holyoake served as the first Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand, under Sidney Holland.

Holyoake was the third longest-serving New Zealand prime minister (just under 12 years), surpassed only by Richard Seddon's 13 years and William Massey's close to 13 years; he was also the first to be born in the 20th century. He was known for his diplomatic style and "plummy" voice. He was also fondly (or mockingly) known as Kiwi Keith, a name given to him in childhood to distinguish him from an Australian child with the same name. (Full article...)

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New Zealand Parliamentary Buildings
New Zealand Parliamentary Buildings

New Zealand Parliament Buildings house the New Zealand Parliament and are on a 45,000 square metre site at the northern end of Lambton Quay, Wellington. From north to south, they are the Parliamentary Library building (1899); the Edwardian neoclassical-style Parliament House (1922); the executive wing, called "The Beehive" (1977); and Bowen House (in use since 1991). Currently, an additional building for housing Members of Parliament is under construction, which is expected to be completed in 2026. Whilst most of the individual buildings are outstanding for different reasons, the overall setting that has been achieved "has little aesthetic or architectural coherence". (Full article...)

Did you know (auto-generated) - load new batch

  • ... that Richard Davis made the earliest known continuous land-based weather recordings in New Zealand?
  • ... that in 1936, a dairy farmer unsuccessfully attempted to cut a signal wire to prevent a train from derailing as it approached a landslide in New Zealand?
  • ... that New Zealand politician Hamish Campbell is a cancer researcher and runs a flower-delivery business?
  • ... that trampolinist Dylan Schmidt is New Zealand's first Olympic medallist in any gymnastics discipline?
  • ... that George Jameson was the highest-scoring New Zealand night fighter pilot of World War II?
  • ... that Ada Schnee, a former actress born in New Zealand, experienced World War I in East Africa as the wife of the German governor?
  • ... that a design for the 1930s New Zealand penny depicted a rugby player?
  • ... that Matahi Brightwell reintroduced the sport of waka ama to New Zealand?

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