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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Dale in 2009

Alan Hugh Dale (born 6 May 1947) is a New Zealand actor, known for his early long-running role as Jim Robinson in Australian TV soap opera Neighbours, American series' The O.C. (as Caleb Nichol) and Ugly Betty (as Bradford Meade), as well as recurring and guest roles in Lost, 24, NCIS, ER, The West Wing, The X-Files, Entourage, Once Upon a Time and Dynasty as Joseph Anders. (Full article...)

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General images

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

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

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...that the SS Tararua sank off the Catlins in 1881, in New Zealand's worst civilian shipping disaster?

...that John William Hansen, a member of International Cricket Council's Code of Conduct Commission, is a New Zealand High Court justice?

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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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New Zealand Parliament Buildings (Māori: Ngā whare Paremata) house the New Zealand Parliament and are on a 45,000 square metre site at the northern end of Lambton Quay, Wellington. From north to south, they are the Parliamentary Library building (1899); the Edwardian neoclassical-style Parliament House (1922); the executive wing, called "The Beehive" (1977); and Bowen House (in use since 1991). Currently, an additional building for housing Members of Parliament is under construction, which is expected to be completed in 2026. Whilst most of the individual buildings are outstanding for different reasons, the overall setting that has been achieved "has little aesthetic or architectural coherence". (Full article...)

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... that Thomas Broun has been blamed for inflating the number of beetle species in New Zealand?
... that a founder of a New Zealand ice cream company was previously an investment banker?
... that Jeya Wilson invited New Zealand prime minister David Lange to debate the moral indefensibility of nuclear weapons at the Oxford Union?
... that the Arthur Dudley Dobson Memorial was unveiled by New Zealand's prime minister George Forbes on this day 85 years ago?
... that the Creamoata Mill, which once produced a now-nonexistent breakfast food, was listed as Gore's only "place of outstanding historical and cultural influence"?
... that in 1981, New Zealand prime minister Robert Muldoon controversially published a list of "subversives", including many members of the Workers' Communist League?
... that Matahi Brightwell reintroduced the sport of waka ama to New Zealand?
... that the support of conservationist Kae Miller for people recovering from mental illnesses resulted in the establishment of Te Rae Kaihau Park in Wellington, New Zealand?

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