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 (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...)

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The 1972 New Zealand eight was a team of Olympic gold medallists in rowing from New Zealand, having previously won the 1971 European Rowing Championships. At the time, the eight was regarded as the blue ribbon class of rowing, and the sport still had amateur-status in New Zealand, unlike many other nations competing in rowing. After a disappointing Olympic performance at the 1968 Summer Olympics by the New Zealand eight, national selectors Rusty Robertson, Don Rowlands, and Fred Strachan were tasked with assembling a new crew. Robertson was also the team's coach. The next time a New Zealand eight competed was at the 1970 World Rowing Championships, where they came third. The team was once again significantly changed for the next rowing season, with the 1971 edition of the European Rowing Championships and other international regattas beforehand seen as the ultimate test for the 1972 Summer Olympics. The team put up an impressive performance, beat the highly favoured East German eight, and became European champion; at the time the win was regarded as holding world championship status. No further changes were made to the team, not even their seating position, for the 1972 season. Despite a shoe-string budget, financial constraints, and all rowers working part-time, the 1971 success was repeated and the team won Olympic gold in Munich. The president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Avery Brundage, was a zealous advocate of amateurism; he was so impressed by the New Zealand performance that he insisted on handing out the gold medals himself. During the medal ceremony, much to almost everybody's surprise, "God Defend New Zealand" was played instead of the national anthem, "God Save the Queen". It was the impetus for a campaign to make "God Defend New Zealand" the New Zealand anthem, and in 1977 it was gazetted as having equal status to the traditional anthem.

The team won some significant awards and recognition for its successes. The rules of the "Sportsman of the Year Award" had to be changed so that a team could win the supreme award; this was awarded after their European championship win. Brundage also awarded the Taher Pacha Trophy to the team for distinction in amateur sport in 1971. After the Olympic success, the team was again awarded "Sportsman of the Year"; the first time a back-to-back award had been handed out. Rowlands, their manager, was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1973 New Year Honours. Over time, coach Robertson, manager Rowlands, and then the team as a whole were inducted into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame. (Full article...)

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General images

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

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

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More Did you know? - show different entries

...that the main threat to Pisonia brunoniana (pictured) in New Zealand is cutting by people trying to prevent small songbirds from getting trapped by its very sticky seeds?

... that the Kaipara Harbour was named after a hāngi on the Pouto Peninsula, at which the para fern (Ptisana salicina) was served?

... that the Agricultural emissions research levy is commonly described as a "fart tax"?

...that cricketer Dick Motz took one wicket in his last Test match in August 1969, becoming the first New Zealand bowler to take 100 Test wickets?

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In Māori mythology, Māui is a culture hero famous for his exploits and his trickery. Cast into the sea by his mother Taranga, Māui-tikitiki-a-Taranga (or Māui of the topknot of Taranga) was rescued by ocean spirits and raised by his divine ancestor, Tama-nui-ki-te-rangi (Rangi).

Māui emerged from the sea and found his four brothers, Māui-taha, Māui-roto, Māui-pae, and Māui-waho. Māui's brothers at first are wary of the new-comer but, after he performs several feats such as transforming himself into different kinds of birds, they acknowledge his power and admire him.

With the help of his brothers, Māui netted the Sun and beat him severely with a jaw-bone club until the Sun promised to go slower in future, because the days were getting too short for people to get their work done.

Later, Māui took his brothers fishing, this time using the jaw-bone as a fish-hook. Māui, using blood from his nose for bait, hauled a great fish up from the depths, which became the North Island of New Zealand, or Te Ika-a-Māui (The Fish of Māui).

When the people need to recover the lost secret of fire, it is up to Māui to face Mahuika the Fire-goddess. He succeeds through trickery, infuriating the goddess, and he barely escapes with his life. (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 the Waitangiroto Nature Reserve is the only known nesting area for the eastern great egret in New Zealand?
... that the Auckland meteorite crashed through the roof of a house in New Zealand?
... that Clark House hosted Cold War meetings?
... that New Zealand composer Maewa Kaihau sold her rights to the song "Now is the Hour" for £10, a decade before it became a hit in the United Kingdom and United States?
... that after the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake destroyed Napier Technical College, it was disestablished and amalgamated into its rivals?
... that one of the largest fishing companies of New Zealand started as a fish and chip shop?
... that despite being New Zealand's biggest earthquake in 78 years, the 2009 Dusky Sound earthquake caused only minor damage?
... that Scottish painter Gordon Coutts left Australia without paying maintenance to his estranged wife, but was arrested in New Zealand?

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