Capital: Wellington / Largest city: Auckland

Official languages: English, Ma-ori | Currency New Zealand dollar (NZD)

Area: 268,680 km² (a little more than the UK) | Pop.: 4.1 million | [41°17S, 174°47E ] | Time zone: Summer UTC+13

New Zealand is a country of two large islands (North + South) and many much smaller islands in the SW Pacific Ocean. It is called Aotearoa in Ma-ori = the Land of the Long White Cloud. The population of New Zealand is mostly of European descent, with Ma-ori being the largest minority and Polynesian/Asian peoples minorities, especially in the cities.

New Zealand is one of the most recently settled major land masses. Polynesian settlers arrived between the 13th - 15th century to establish the indigenous Ma-ori culture. The first Europeans known to reach New Zealand were led by Abel Janszoon Tasman, who sailed up the west coasts of the South and North Islands in 1642.

1841 - NZ was initially administered as a part of the colony of New South Wales
1852 - Self-government was granted to the settler population
1893 - NZ first nation to grant full voting rights to women
1907 - became an independent dominion on by royal proclamation
1931 - Full independence granted by the UK

The South Island is the largest land mass, and is divided along its length by the Southern Alps, the highest peak of which is Aoraki/Mt. Cook (3,754 m).

The North Island is less mountainous than the South, but is marked by volcanism. Tallest mountain, the Mt. Ruapehu (2,797 m), is an active cone volcano.

The climate throughout the country is mild, temperatures rarely falling below 0°C or rising above 30°C.

Because of its long isolation from the rest of the world and its island biogeography, NZ has extraordinary flora and fauna. About 80% of its flora occurs only in NZ. Until the arrival of the first humans, 80% of the land was forested and, barring two species of bat, there were no non-marine mammals. Instead, New Zealand's forests were inhabited by a diverse range of birds including the flightless moa (now extinct), and the kiwi, kakapo, and takahe, the Haast's eagle (now extinct) and the large ka-ka- and kea parrots. Reptiles present in NZ include skinks, geckos and tuatara. There are no snakes but there are many species of insects including the weta, which may grow as large as a house mouse and is the heaviest insect in the world.

The 70% of NZ population comes from Europe. NZ-born Europeans are collectively known as Pa-keha - this term is used variously and some Ma-ori use it to refer to all non-Ma-ori New Zealanders. Most European New Zealanders are of British, Irish or Dutch ancestry. Ma-ori people are the second-largest ethnic group

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