Jump to content

Portal:New Zealand

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The New Zealand Portal

New Zealand
Aotearoa (Māori)
A map of the hemisphere centred on New Zealand, using an orthographic projection.
Location of New Zealand, including outlying islands, its territorial claim in the Antarctic, and Tokelau
ISO 3166 codeNZ

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 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...)

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

Hargest in 1935

Brigadier James Hargest, CBE, DSO & Two Bars, MC, ED (4 September 1891 – 12 August 1944) was an officer of the New Zealand Military Forces, serving in both the First and Second World Wars. He was a Member of New Zealand's Parliament from 1931 to 1944, representing firstly the Invercargill and then the Awarua electorates.

Born in Gore in 1891, Hargest was a farmer when he volunteered for the New Zealand Expeditionary Force following the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914. Commissioned as an officer, he served in the Gallipoli campaign in 1915 and was seriously wounded. Following his recovery from his wounds, he returned to active duty on the Western Front. He commanded an infantry battalion during the later stages of the war and received several awards for his leadership. After the war, he returned to New Zealand to resume farming. In 1931 Hargest entered the Parliament of New Zealand as the member for Invercargill. Initially an independent, he was one of the strongest supporters of the National Party that was formed in 1936, and held an executive role in the party hierarchy. From 1938, he represented the Awarua electorate and had been considered for the party leadership, but he was no longer available once he volunteered for active service. (Full article...)

General images

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

More Did you know? - show different entries

A petrified log embedded in rocks at Curio Bay.

...that Curio Bay in the Catlins is the site of a petrified forest, buried by a volcano some 160 million years ago?

...that Battle of Britain Spitfire pilot, New Zealander Alan Deere was shot down or crashed nine times?

...that English law was deemed to have taken effect in New Zealand on 14 January 1840, the date that New South Wales Governor George Gipps proclaimed his jurisdiction over New Zealand. New Zealand became a colony in its own right in 1841.

...that the mineral motukoreaite is named after one of Auckland's volcanoes, Browns Island (Motukorea in Māori), where it was first found?


Selected article - show another

Prime Minister David Lange posts a letter, at the opening of the new Foxton Post Office, 1980’s
Prime Minister David Lange posts a letter, at the opening of the new Foxton Post Office, 1980’s
David Russell Lange CH, ONZ (who pronounced his name "long-ee", /ˈlɒŋi/) (4 August 1942 – 13 August 2005), served as Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1984 to 1989. He headed New Zealand's fourth Labour Government, one of the most reforming administrations in his country's history, but one which did not always conform to traditional expectations of a social-democrat party. He had a reputation for cutting wit and eloquence. His government implemented far-reaching free market reforms, some of which he later came to oppose and regret. New Zealand's nuclear-free legislation, perhaps his most lasting legacy, symbolised for many a pacifist identity for New Zealand. (Full article...)

Selected picture - show another

Rapanui Rock during sunset, Sumner, Christchurch, New Zealand
Rapanui Rock during sunset, Sumner, Christchurch, New Zealand

Shag Rock (also known as Rapanui) is a sea stack that marks the entrance of the Avon Heathcote Estuary near Christchurch, New Zealand. It is a prominent landmark for navigators at sea as well as travelers on the road to Sumner. The rock stands close to the southern shore just above the low tide level. In the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake it shattered and the remains, which are still easily seen from the road, have, with dark humour by some locals, been called "Shag Pile" (a pun referencing the style of carpet). (Full article...)

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

Topics

Categories

Category puzzle
Category puzzle
Select [►] to view subcategories

Recognised content

Extended content

Good articles

Associated Wikimedia

The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:

Things you can do

Sources

Discover Wikipedia using portals

purge cache