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 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 is a member of the United Nations, Commonwealth of Nations, ANZUS, UKUSA, Five Eyes, 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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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...)

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

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...that the Māori name for the New Zealand Agency for International Development is Nga Hoe Tuputupu-mai-tawhiti, which means 'the paddles that bring growth from afar'?

...that Te Kopuru once had the largest sawmill in New Zealand?

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The Clyde Dam, a "Think Big" project.

Think Big was an interventionist state economic strategy in the early 1980s, sponsored by Robert Muldoon (Prime Minister: 1975 - 1984) and his New Zealand National Party government. The 'Think Big' schemes saw the government borrow heavily overseas, running up a large external deficit, and using the funds for large-scale industrial projects. Petrochemical and energy related projects figured prominently, designed to utilize New Zealand's abundant natural gas to produce ammonia, urea fertilizer, methanol and petrol.

The core 'Think Big' projects included the construction of the Mobil synthetic-petrol plant at Motunui, the complementary expansion of the oil-refinery at Marsden Point near Whangarei, and the building of a stand-alone plant at Waitara to produce methanol for export. Motunui converted natural gas from the off-shore Maui field to methanol, which it then converted to petrol on-site. Declining oil prices rendered this process uneconomic and New Zealand abandoned the manufacture of synthetic petrol. The construction of the Clyde Dam on the Clutha River formed part of a scheme to generate electricity for smelting aluminium.

The New Zealand economy probably benefited from economic activity during the construction period, but the basic justification for the projects, a permanently higher oil-price, did not happen. Oil prices subsequently dropped in real terms. (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 Chlöe Swarbrick won the race for Auckland Central in 2020, during which she held a drag show as a campaign event?
... that Jeya Wilson invited New Zealand prime minister David Lange to debate the moral indefensibility of nuclear weapons at the Oxford Union?
... that Cobb Power Station has the highest-elevation hydroelectric storage lake in New Zealand?
... that Oscar Goodman was the tournament MVP for the first New Zealand under-17 basketball team to reach the FIBA Under-16 Asia Cup championship game?
... that all known populations of Epipterygium opararense live within a 5-metre (16 ft) radius in New Zealand?
... that the New Zealand Geographic Board initially rejected the name of the Garden of Eden Ice Plateau for being biblical in origin?
... that one threatened species of plant endemic to the North Island of New Zealand is colloquially known as a forget-me-not?
... that off-roading at Muriwai Beach in New Zealand may be damaging the habitat of the newly described korowai gecko?

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