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New Zealand, New Zealand

The indigenous Mori named New Zealand Aotearoa , which is commonly translated into English as The Land of the Long White Cloud . The Realm of New Zealand also includes the Cook Islands and Niue, which are self-governing but in free association; Tokelau; and the Ross Dependency (New Zealand's territorial claim in Antarctica).

During its long isolation New Zealand developed a distinctive fauna dominated by birds, many of which became extinct after the arrival of humans and the mammals they introduced.

Asian and non-Maori Polynesians are also significant minorities, especially in the cities. Elizabeth II, as the Queen of New Zealand, is the Head of State and, in her absence, is represented by a non-partisan Governor-General. The Queen 'reigns but does not rule.' She has no real political influence, and her position is essentially symbolic. Political power is held by the democratically elected Parliament of New Zealand under the leadership of the Prime Minister, who is the Head of Government.

Tasman assumed it was part of a southern continent connected with land discovered in 1615 off the southern tip of South America by Jacob Le Maire. The name New Zealand originated with Dutch cartographers, who called the islands Nova Zeelandia , after the Dutch province of Zeeland.

The first settlers of New Zealand were Eastern Polynesians who came to New Zealand, probably in a series of migrations, sometime between around AD 800 and 1300. Mein Smith (2005), pg 6.

At some point a group of Mori migrated to the Chatham Islands where they developed their own distinct Moriori culture. Clark (1994) pg 123–135 The first European known to have reached New Zealand were Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman and his crew in 1642. Mein Smith (2005), pg 23.

From the early nineteenth century, Christian missionaries began to settle New Zealand, eventually converting most of the Mori population, who had become disillusioned with their indigenous faith by the introduction of Western culture.

The drafting was done hastily and confusion and disagreement continues to surround the translation. The Treaty is regarded as New Zealand's foundation as a nation and is revered by Mori as a guarantee of their rights. Hobson initially selected Okiato as the capital in 1840, before moving the seat of government to Auckland in 1841.

As settler numbers increased, conflicts over land led to the New Zealand Land Wars of the 1860s and 1870s, resulting in the loss of much Mori land. The detail of European settlement and the acquisition of land from Mori remain controversial. is shot during the land wars Representative government for the colony was provided for by the passing of the 1852 New Zealand Constitution Act by the United Kingdom.

As New Zealand became more politically independent it became more dependent economically; in the 1890s, refrigerated shipping allowed New Zealand to base its entire economy on the export of meat and dairy products to Britain.

Queen Elizabeth II is the head of state and is titled Queen of New Zealand under the Royal Titles Act 1974. She is represented by the Governor-General, whom she appoints on the exclusive advice of the Prime Minister. The current Governor-General is Anand Satyanand.

The ACT party and the Mori Party are also in opposition. The Greens, New Zealand First and United Future each vote against the government on some legislation.

The act also abolished the option to appeal to the Privy Council in London. The current Chief Justice is Dame Sian Elias. New Zealand's judiciary also includes the Court of Appeal; the High Court, which deals with serious criminal offences and civil matters at the trial level and with appeals from lower courts and tribunals; and subordinate courts.

New Zealand has signed up to a number of free trade agreements, of which the most important are the China-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement & Closer Economic Relations with Australia.

In February 1985, New Zealand refused nuclear-powered or nuclear-armed ships access to its ports. New Zealand became a Nuclear-free zone in June 1987, the first Western-allied state to do so. Lange (1990).

The New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act 1987 prohibits the stationing of nuclear weapons on the territory of New Zealand and the entry into New Zealand waters of nuclear armed or propelled ships. This legislation remains a source of contention and the basis for the United States' continued suspension of treaty obligations to New Zealand.

The New Zealand Defence Force has three branches: the New Zealand Army, the Royal New Zealand Navy, and the Royal New Zealand Air Force. New Zealand considers its own national defence needs to be modest; it dismantled its air combat capability in 2001. New Zealand has contributed forces to recent regional and global peacekeeping missions, including those in Cyprus, Somalia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Sinai, Angola, Cambodia, the Iran/Iraq border, Bougainville, East Timor, and the Solomon Islands.

As a result, New Zealand has no separately represented subnational entities such as provinces, states or territories, apart from its local government. The spirit of the provinces, however, still lives on, and there is fierce rivalry exhibited in sporting and cultural events. Since 1876, local government has administered the various regions of New Zealand. In 1989, the government completely reorganised local government, implementing the current two-tier structure of regional councils and territorial authorities which are constituted under the revised Local Government Act 2002 . In 1991, the Resource Management Act 1991 replaced the Town and Country Planning Act as the main planning legislation for local government.

There are 18 peaks over 3,000 metres (10,000 ft) in the South Island. The North Island is less mountainous than the South, but is marked by volcanism. The highest North Island mountain, Mount Ruapehu 9,177 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 The Last Samurai.

About 25 million years ago, a shift in plate tectonic movements began to pull Zealandia apart forcefully, with this now being most evident along the Alpine Fault and in the highly active Taupo volcanic zone. dominate the South Island, while the North Island's Northland Peninsula stretches towards the subtropics New Zealand is culturally and linguistically part of Polynesia, and constitutes the south-western anchor of the Polynesian Triangle.

NZPCN (2006). New Zealand indigenous vascular plant checklist. ISBN 0-473-11306-6. Written by P.J. de Lange, J.W.D. Sawyer and J.R. Rolfe The two main types of forest are those dominated by podocarps and/or the giant kauri, and in cooler climates the southern beech. The remaining vegetation types in New Zealand are grasslands of tussock and other grasses, usually in sub-alpine areas, and the low shrublands between grasslands and forests. is a national icon Until the arrival of humans, 80% of the land was forested. Until 2006, it was thought, barring three species of bat (one now extinct), there were no non-marine native mammals. However, in 2006, scientists discovered bones that belonged to a long-extinct, unique, mouse-sized land animal in the Otago region of the South Island.

Unique birds capable of flight included the Haast's eagle, which was the world's largest bird of prey (now extinct), and the large kk and kea parrots. Reptiles present in New Zealand include skinks, geckos and living fossil tuatara. There are four endemic species of primitive frogs. There are no snakes and there is only one venomous spider, the katipo, which is rare and restricted to coastal regions. However, there are many endemic species of insects, including the weta, one species of which may grow as large as a house mouse and is the heaviest insect in the world.

Five indigenous vascular plant species are now believed to be extinct, including Adam's mistletoe and a species of forget-me-not. NZPCN (2006). New Zealand indigenous vascular plant checklist. ISBN 0-473-11306-6. Written by P.J. de Lange, J.W.D. Sawyer and J.R. Rolfe However, New Zealand has led the world in island restoration projects where offshore islands are cleared of introduced mammalian pests and native species are reintroduced. Several islands located near to the three main islands are wildlife reserves where common pests such as possums and rodents have been eradicated to allow the reintroduction of endangered species to the islands. A more recent development is the mainland ecological island.

Exports account for around 24% of its output, which is a relatively high figure (it is around 50% for many smaller European countries). This makes New Zealand particularly vulnerable to international commodity prices and global economic slowdowns. Its principal export industries are agriculture, horticulture, fishing and forestry. These make up about half of the country's exports. Its major export partners are Australia 20.5%, US 13.1%, Japan 10.3%, China 5.4%, UK 4.9% (2006).

High demand for these products - such as the New Zealand wool boom of 1951 created sustained periods of economic prosperity. However, in 1973 the United Kingdom joined the European Community which effectively ended this particularly close economic relationship between the two countries. During the 1970s other factors such as the oil crises undermined the viability of the New Zealand economy; which for periods before 1973 had achieved levels of living standards exceeding both Australia and Western Europe.

A recession began after the 1987 share market crash and caused unemployment to reach 10% in the early 1990s. However the economy recovered and New Zealands unemployment rate is now the second lowest of the twenty-seven OECD nations with comparable data (3.7%).

On 7 April 2008, New Zealand and China signed the New Zealand China Free Trade Agreement, the first such agreement China has signed with a developed country.

It also includes significant influences from American, Australian and Mori cultures, along with those of other European cultures and – more recently – non-Mori Polynesian and Asian cultures. Large festivals in celebration of Diwali and Chinese New Year are held in several of the larger centres. The world's largest Polynesian festival, Pasifika, is an annual event in Auckland. Cultural links between New Zealand and the United Kingdom and Ireland are maintained by a common language, sustained migration from the United Kingdom and Ireland, and many young New Zealanders spending time in the United Kingdom/Ireland on their "overseas experience" (OE). The music and cuisine of New Zealand are similar to that of Britain and the United States, although both have some distinct New Zealand and Pacific qualities.

Films such as Sleeping Dogs and Goodbye Pork Pie achieved local success and launched the careers of actors and directors including Sam Neill, Geoff Murphy and Roger Donaldson. In the early 1990s, New Zealand films such as Jane Campion's Academy Award-winning film The Piano , Lee Tamahori's Once Were Warriors and Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures began to garner international acclaim. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Jackson filmed The Lord of the Rings film trilogy in New Zealand, using a mostly New Zealand crew and many New Zealand actors in minor parts.

Many non-New Zealand productions, primarily from Hollywood but also from Bollywood, have been made in New Zealand.

The Broadcasting Standards Authority and the New Zealand Press Council can investigate allegations of bias and inaccuracy in the broadcast and print media. This combined with New Zealand's libel laws means that the New Zealand news media is fairly tame by international standards, but also reasonably fair and impartial. New Zealand television is dominated by American and British programming, with a small number of Australian and New Zealand shows.

Source: Wikipedia > New Zealand