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

The Highlanders (Māori: Kahupeka; formerly the Otago Highlanders) is a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Dunedin that compete in Super Rugby. The team was formed in 1996 to represent the lower South Island in the newly formed Super 12 competition, and includes the Otago, North Otago and Southland unions. The Highlanders take their name from the Scottish immigrants that founded the Otago, North Otago, and Southland regions in the 1840s and 1850s.

Their main ground through the 2011 Super Rugby season was Carisbrook in Dunedin, with home games occasionally being played in Invercargill and Queenstown. The Highlanders moved into Carisbrook's replacement, Forsyth Barr Stadium at University Plaza, for the 2012 season; the stadium opened in time for the 2011 Rugby World Cup, but after the Super Rugby season. (Full article...)

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General images

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

Image 1The 1935 Labour Cabinet. Michael Joseph Savage is seated in the front row, centre. (from History of New Zealand)
Image 2The 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 3Vigil in Wellington for the victims of the Christchurch mosques attacks (from History of New Zealand)
Image 4Central Plateau in winter (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 5Putting down a hāngī (earth oven) (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 6"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 7Water pollution sign on the Waimakariri River (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 8The 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 9Richard Seddon, Liberal Prime Minister from 1893 to his death in 1906 (from History of New Zealand)
Image 10A modern wharenui (meeting house of a marae) exhibited at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 11New Zealand Division in 1916 (from History of New Zealand)
Image 12Topography of Zealandia, the submerged continent, and the two tectonic plates (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 13Scorching Bay, Wellington, in summer (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 14George 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 15Children's and young adult author Margaret Mahy, July 2011 (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 16Art deco in Napier (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 17Prime Ministers John Key and Helen Clark (from History of New Zealand)
Image 18An annotated relief map (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 19Poet Selina Tusitala Marsh, 2019 (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 20A meeting of European and Māori inhabitants of Hawke's Bay Province. Engraving, 1863.
Image 21A beach barbecue – an established part of New Zealand culture (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 22Strong winds in the Cook Strait produce high waves which erode the shore, as shown in this image (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 23Scottish Highland family migrating to New Zealand, 1844, by William Allsworth. Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington. (from History of New Zealand)
Image 24Michael Joseph Savage, Labour Prime Minister 1935–1940. This portrait was hung on the walls of many supporters. (from History of New Zealand)
Image 25HMS North Star destroying Pomare's Pā during the Northern/Flagstaff War, 1845, Painting by John Williams. (from History of New Zealand)
Image 26Men of the Māori Battalion, New Zealand Expeditionary Force, after disembarking at Gourock in Scotland in June 1940 (from History of New Zealand)
Image 27One of the few extant copies of the Treaty of Waitangi (from History of New Zealand)
Image 28The kiwi has become a New Zealand icon. (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 29Zealandia rejecting Australian Constitution in 1900 (from History of New Zealand)
Image 30Knox Church, a Presbyterian church, in Dunedin. The city was founded by Scottish Presbyterian settlers. (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 31Aoraki / Mount Cook, as seen from Hooker Valley (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 32Tribute 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 33Cook Island dancers at Auckland's Pasifika Festival, 2010 (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 34The Forty-Fours viewed from the north; the leftmost islet is the easternmost point of New Zealand. (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 35Kapa haka is performed at a School Strike for Climate in Christchurch 2019. (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 36Percentages 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 37New Zealand is antipodal to points of the North Atlantic, the Iberian Peninsula and Morocco.
Image 38A Māori ancestor (tekoteko) depicted in a wood carving at the Tamatekapua Meeting House in Ohinemutu (c. 1880) (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 39Māori 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 40A 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 41Lorde as part of the 2014 Lollapalooza lineup (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 42Rural landscape close to Mt Ruapehu (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 43The Waikato River flowing out of Lake Taupō (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 44An aerial view of the Auckland urban area, showing its location on the Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 45Elizabeth II and Muldoon's Cabinet, taken during the Queen's 1981 visit to New Zealand (from History of New Zealand)
Image 46Pavlova, a popular New Zealand dessert, garnished with cream and strawberries. (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 47Hinepare 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 48The Mission House at Kerikeri is New Zealand's oldest surviving building, having been completed in 1822 (from History of New Zealand)
Image 49Roger Douglas, the architect of New Zealand's 1980s neo-liberal reform programme (from History of New Zealand)
Image 50Residents of Dunedin celebrate the news of the Armistice of 11 November 1918. (from History of New Zealand)
Image 51Fiordland is dominated by steep, glacier-carved valleys. (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 52Tekoteko from the gable of a wharenui, Te Arawa (20th century) (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 53The Original All Blacks during the "haka", 1905 (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 54The 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 55European 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)

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...that Wellington is the only city in New Zealand to have electric passenger trains?

...that with the change of electoral systems to MMP, New Zealand elections are less distorted?

...that New Zealand was a pioneer in using aerial topdressing to spread fertiliser over farmland?

...that large-scale Muslim migration to New Zealand began in the late 1980s with the migration of Fijian Indians after the first Fiji coups of 1987?

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The Pleiades star cluster, known to the Māori as Matariki

In Māori culture, Matariki is the name of the Pleiades star cluster, which was important for agriculture in establishing the correct time to plant crops. There are two explanations of the name Matariki: firstly, mata-riki (small eyes) or mata-ariki (Eyes of God). The constellation is also believed to have been used by navigators.

Matariki has three hundred stars in total but you can see only seven in the night sky with the naked eye.

The first rising of the Pleiades and of Rigel (Puanga in Māori) occurs just prior to sunrise in late May or early June, and this indicates that the old year has ended and the new year has begun. The actual time for celebrating Matariki varies, depending on the iwi (tribe or clan). Some iwi celebrate it immediately. Others wait until the rising of the next full moon, or alternatively the dawn of the next new moon. It has become common practice for various private and public institutions to celebrate Matariki over the period of a week or month anywhere from early June to late July. Other iwi used the rising of Rigel in a similar way.

In traditional times, Matariki was a season to celebrate and to prepare the ground for the coming year. Offerings of the produce of the land were made to the gods, including Rongo, god of cultivated food. This time of the year was also a good time to instruct young people in the lore of the land and the forest. In addition, certain birds and fish were especially easy to harvest at this time. (Full article...)

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Jane Gardner Batten CBE OSC (15 September 1909 – 22 November 1982), commonly known as Jean Batten, was a New Zealand aviator who made several record-breaking flights – including the first solo flight from England to New Zealand in 1936. (Full article...)

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

... that New Zealand politician Hamish Campbell is a cancer researcher and runs a flower-delivery business?
... that Scottish painter Gordon Coutts left Australia without paying maintenance to his estranged wife, but was arrested in New Zealand?
... that Henry Jackson served for 44 days, the shortest tenure of any New Zealand member of parliament?
... that the New Zealand mollusc Eatoniella mortoni (pictured) can thrive in extreme carbon dioxide-rich environments, making it a subject for the study of ocean acidification?
... that New Zealand editor and journalist Madeleine Chapman, known for fashion label exposés and snack food ranking lists, is a champion javelin thrower?
... that over the course of several decades, the missionaries of New Zealand's German Mission House failed to convert a single person?
... that 14 months after taking up track cycling, René Heyde only narrowly missed out being selected to the New Zealand team at the 1972 Summer Olympics?
... that Cobb Power Station has the highest-elevation hydroelectric storage lake in New Zealand?

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