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) 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, 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 and Australia have a strong relationship and are considered to have a shared Trans-Tasman identity between the two countries, stemming from centuries of British colonisation. The country is part of multiple international organizations and forums. (Full article...)

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The 1972 New Zealand eight was a team of Olympic gold medallists in rowing from New Zealand, having previously won the 1971 European Rowing Championships. At the time, the eight was regarded as the blue ribbon class of rowing, and the sport still had amateur-status in New Zealand, unlike many other nations competing in rowing. After a disappointing Olympic performance at the 1968 Summer Olympics by the New Zealand eight, national selectors Rusty Robertson, Don Rowlands, and Fred Strachan were tasked with assembling a new crew. Robertson was also the team's coach. The next time a New Zealand eight competed was at the 1970 World Rowing Championships, where they came third. The team was once again significantly changed for the next rowing season, with the 1971 edition of the European Rowing Championships and other international regattas beforehand seen as the ultimate test for the 1972 Summer Olympics. The team put up an impressive performance, beat the highly favoured East German eight, and became European champion; at the time the win was regarded as holding world championship status. No further changes were made to the team, not even their seating position, for the 1972 season. Despite a shoe-string budget, financial constraints, and all rowers working part-time, the 1971 success was repeated and the team won Olympic gold in Munich. The president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Avery Brundage, was a zealous advocate of amateurism; he was so impressed by the New Zealand performance that he insisted on handing out the gold medals himself. During the medal ceremony, much to almost everybody's surprise, "God Defend New Zealand" was played instead of the national anthem, "God Save the Queen". It was the impetus for a campaign to make "God Defend New Zealand" the New Zealand anthem, and in 1977 it was gazetted as having equal status to the traditional anthem.

The team won some significant awards and recognition for its successes. The rules of the "Sportsman of the Year Award" had to be changed so that a team could win the supreme award; this was awarded after their European championship win. Brundage also awarded the Taher Pacha Trophy to the team for distinction in amateur sport in 1971. After the Olympic success, the team was again awarded "Sportsman of the Year"; the first time a back-to-back award had been handed out. Rowlands, their manager, was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1973 New Year Honours. Over time, coach Robertson, manager Rowlands, and then the team as a whole were inducted into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame. (Full article...)

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General images

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

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

...that the New Zealand land gastropod Schizoglossa novoseelandica (pictured) is predatory and also cannibalistic?

...that Outhwaite Park in Auckland is named after early settlers, the Outhwaite family?

...that The Most Reverend Whakahuihui Vercoe was the first Bishop of Aotearoa to be elected by its Maori congregation, the first Maori to become Archbishop of New Zealand, and the first Principal Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit?

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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, Kuramārōtini, 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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Waiouru is a small town in the Ruapehu District, in New Zealand's Manawatū-Whanganui region. It is located on the south-eastern North Island Volcanic Plateau, 130 km (81 mi) north of Palmerston North and 25 kilometres south-east of Mount Ruapehu. The town had a population of 765 in the 2018 census. (Full article...)

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... that Ron Tiavaasue was born in Samoa, grew up in New Zealand, played college football in the United States, and now plays professional football in Canada?
... that trampolinist Dylan Schmidt is New Zealand's first Olympic medallist in any gymnastics discipline?
... that Walter Nash's 14 years as New Zealand's minister of finance is the longest continuous time that anyone has ever served in that post?
... that fridges filled with "frozen duck" sent to Britain actually contained illegal coins?
... that the New Zealand goose Thomas has been described as an "icon of the LGBT community"?
... that there is a 7.5-metre-tall (25 ft) statue of an apple in Waitomo, New Zealand?
... that the sheep-farming founder of Kekerengu in New Zealand became an international fugitive?
... that when she was elected to the New Zealand parliament, Catherine Wedd defeated her former coworker at a marketing company?

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