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Portal:New Zealand

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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 and Australia have a strong relationship and are considered to have a shared Trans-Tasman identity between the two countries, stemming from centuries of British colonisation. The country is part of multiple international organizations and forums. (Full article...)

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

The 37th Battalion was an infantry battalion of the New Zealand Military Forces, which served during the Second World War. Attached to the 14th Brigade, New Zealand 3rd Division, the battalion was formed in late 1941 and saw service in the Pacific against the Japanese. They were initially used for garrison duties on Fiji and New Caledonia before being committed to the fighting in the Solomon Islands in 1943. Returned to New Zealand in late 1944, the battalion was disbanded in early 1945 as part of a partial demobilisation of New Zealand forces. Many of its personnel returned to civilian employment while others were sent to Italy as reinforcements for the New Zealand 2nd Division. The battalion was awarded four battle honours for its various engagements during the war. (Full article...)

General images

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

More Did you know? - show different entries

...that New Zealand palaeontologists refer to the last 330,000 years as the Haweran stage of the Wanganui epoch?

...that the North Island's Kaingaroa Forest is the largest plantation in the Southern Hemisphere?

...that Jacquemart Island in the Campbell Islands is New Zealand's southernmost island?

...that New Zealand native Mystacinidae bats spend much of their time on the ground and fold their wings into a leathery membrane when not in use?


Selected article - show another

Leiopelmatida (Hochstetter's Frog), one of many biological families endemic to New Zealand
Leiopelmatida (Hochstetter's Frog), one of many biological families endemic to New Zealand
The biodiversity of New Zealand is one of the most unusual on Earth, due to its long geological isolation from other continental landmasses. Its genetic affinities are derived from Gondwana, from which it separated 82 million years (Ma) ago, along with Australia, New Caledonia and Lord Howe Island, part of the same tectonic plate.

New Zealand's pre-human biodiversity exhibited high levels of endemism in its flora and fauna. The range of ancient fauna is not well-known but at least one species of non-flying terrestrial mammal existed in New Zealand around 19 Ma ago. Prior to 65 Ma ago, the fauna included dinosaurs, pterosaurs and marine reptiles.

For at least several Ma before the arrival of humans and their commensal species, the islands had no terrestrial mammals except for bats, the main component of the terrestrial fauna being insects and birds. Its flora is dominated by Gondwanan plants, comprising historically of forests, most famously the giant kauri, Agathis australis.

New Zealand has developed a national Biodiversity Action Plan to address conservation of considerable numbers of threatened flora and fauna within New Zealand. (Full article...)

Selected picture - show another

Queenstown Kiwi sculpture
Queenstown Kiwi sculpture

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...)

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

  • ... that a commemorative coin was made for a cancelled royal visit to New Zealand?
  • ... that as a child, New Zealand economist Brad Olsen would write notes about stock market trends while watching the evening news?
  • ... that New Zealand politician Hamish Campbell is a cancer researcher and runs a flower-delivery business?
  • ... that the sheep-farming founder of Kekerengu in New Zealand became an international fugitive?
  • ... that Henry Jackson served for 44 days, the shortest tenure of any New Zealand member of parliament?
  • ... that in 1936, a dairy farmer unsuccessfully attempted to cut a signal wire to prevent a train from derailing as it approached a landslide in New Zealand?
  • ... that New Zealand's Native Island hosted a colony of Samoyeds and huskies used in both the Southern Cross and Nimrod expeditions to the South Pole?
  • ... that Phomen Singh, an early Indian migrant to New Zealand, sold sweets and chutneys out of a suitcase?

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