New Zealand was a founder
member of the Commonwealth in 1931 when its independence was recognised
under the Statute of Westminster.
Sir Don McKinnon of New Zealand was Commonwealth Secretary-General
2000–08.
Six New Zealanders have won overall Commonwealth Writers’ Prizes: Witi
lhimaera in 1987 (Best First Book); Janet Frame in 1989; John Cranna in
1990 (Best First Book); Lloyd Jones in 2007; Craig Cliff in 2011 (Best
First Book); and Emma Martin in 2012 (Short Story Prize). Another,
Eleanor Catton, took the Man Booker Prize in 2013.
Key facts
Joined Commonwealth: 1931 (Statute of Westminster)
Population: 4,506,000 (2013)
GDP: 1.5% p.a. 1990–2013
UN HDI: world ranking 7
Official language: English, Maori
Timezone: GMT plus 12–13hr
Currency: New Zealand dollar (NZ$)
Geography
Area: 270,500 sq km
Coastline: 15,130km
Capital city: Wellington
Population density (per sq. km): 17
New Zealand’s Maori name is Aotearoa, meaning ‘Land of the Long White
Cloud’. A well-watered and fertile mountainous island country in the
South Pacific, New Zealand consists of two large islands (North Island
and South Island), Stewart Island and a number of offshore islands. It
is somewhat isolated, being about 1,600 km east of Australia, the
nearest land mass. Other neighbouring countries are Vanuatu and Tonga.
Main towns:
Wellington (capital, pop. 190,065 in 2013; greater Wellington includes
Lower Hutt, Porirua and Upper Hutt), Auckland (427,110; greater Auckland
includes Manukau, North Shore and Waitakere), Manukau (greater Auckland,
401,883), Christchurch (353,349), North Shore (greater Auckland,
273,594), Waitakere (greater Auckland, 206,244), Hamilton (170,571),
Tauranga (120,414), Dunedin (112,032), Lower Hutt (greater Wellington,
97,653), Palmerston North (78,195), Hastings (64,002), Nelson (60,561),
Napier (58,221), Rotorua (53,268), New Plymouth (52,695), Porirua
(greater Wellington, 51,537), Whangarei (49,182) and Invercargill
(47,898).
Transport:
There are 94,280 km of roads, 66 per cent paved. The railway network,
privatised in 1993 and subsequently renationalised, extends over 3,900
km, with many scenic routes.
There are 13 major commercial ports, including those in Whangarei
(shipping oil products), Tauranga (timber and newsprint) and Bluff
(alumina and aluminium) as well as container ports in Auckland,
Wellington, Lyttleton (near Christchurch) and Dunedin.
There are international airports in Auckland (23 km to the south of the
city), Christchurch (10 km north-west), Wellington (8 km south- east),
Hamilton and Dunedin.
International relations:
New Zealand is a member of Asia–Pacific Economic Cooperation,
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Pacific
Community, Pacific Islands Forum, United Nations and World Trade
Organization.
Topography:
New Zealand being in the ‘Pacific ring of fire’, volcanic activity has
shaped the landscape. Earthquakes, mostly shallow, are common, and
volcanic eruptions occur in the North Island and offshore to the
Kermadec Islands. Some 75 per cent of the country is higher than 200
metres above sea level. Around one- tenth of the North Island (113,729
sq km) is mountainous. Its Rotorua area, a much-visited tourist
attraction, has boiling mud pools and geysers. The South Island (150,437
sq km) is very mountainous; the Southern Alps extend almost its entire
length; they have many outlying ranges to the north and south-west;
there are at least 223 peaks over 2,300 metres above sea level and 360
glaciers. There are numerous lakes, mostly at high altitude, and many
rivers, mostly fast-flowing and difficult to navigate, which are
important sources of hydroelectricity (which provides more than 90 per
cent of the country’s power). Stewart Island, named after Captain
Stewart, who first charted the island in 1809, and (further out) the
Auckland Islands lie south of the South Island. The Chatham and Pitt
Islands are 850 km east of Christchurch. In addition, the Kermadec
Islands were annexed in 1887 and the Ross Dependency in Antarctica was
acquired in 1923. The country has a long coastline (15,130 km) in
relation to its area.
Climate:
Temperate marine climate influenced by the surrounding ocean, the
prevailing westerly winds, and the mountainous nature of the islands.
The weather tends to be changeable. Winds can be very strong, sometimes
damaging buildings and trees. Rain, sometimes very heavy, occurs
throughout the year. Cold southerly winds bring snow in winter,
sometimes in spring. At Wellington, yearly average rainfall is 1,270 mm
(143 mm in July, and averaging 87 mm from November to February); average
January temperature is 13–20°C, and July temperature 6–11°C. Most of the
country experiences at least 2,000 hours of sunshine annually. In recent
years, weather patterns have been affected by La Niña and El Niño; some
unusually high temperatures have been recorded; and drought and
unusually heavy rainfall have occurred.
Environment:
The most significant environmental issues are deforestation and soil
erosion and the impact on native flora and fauna of species introduced
from other countries.
Vegetation:
Forest cover includes species of conifer, kauri (North Island only) and
beech – forest covers 31 per cent of the land area, having increased at
0.3 per cent p.a. 1990–2010. A great range of flora, depending on
latitude and altitude, from subtropical rainforest to alpine, with 25
per cent of plants growing above the tree-line. Many species are unique
to New Zealand. Arable land comprises two per cent of the total land
area.
Wildlife:
Fauna are often also unique because of geographical isolation, and
include such flightless birds as the kiwi, kakapo and weka, and a great
diversity of seabirds, as well as 400 kinds of marine fish and many
sea-mammals including 32 whale species. The introduction of land-mammals
(unknown before the arrival of humans, save for three species of bat) by
successive settlers, Polynesian and European, has seriously damaged the
habitat of many species, including the flightless birds – of which the
moa, adzebill and flightless goose have become extinct – and reduced the
forest area.
History:
The Polynesian ancestors of the present Maori, skilled navigators of
canoes fitted with sails and outriggers, arrived in New Zealand around
the tenth century from Hawaiki (Eastern Polynesia). The Maori population
may have been over 100,000 at the time the first Europeans arrived. The
Dutchman Abel Tasman sighted New Zealand in 1642 in his search for the
southern continent, i.e. Antarctica, but was driven off by Maori on his
one attempt to land. He named the South Island Nieuw Zeeland after the
Dutch province.
James Cook, on a search for the southern continent combined with general
scientific and navigational observation, sighted the North Island in
1769. He circumnavigated both islands and charted the shores. He visited
the country twice more, in 1773–74 and in 1777. His encounters with
Maori were usually peaceful, though occasional skirmishes resulted in
one Maori and ten European deaths. Jean de Surville (France) arrived in
the country in the mid-1770s; his relations with the Maori, bad from the
beginning, ended in the deaths of 25 of his men and the subsequent
massacre of over 200 Maori. Cook’s good reports attracted sealers and
traders, some from the new community in Sydney (established in 1788 as
Port Jackson, a penal settlement), and whalers came from America,
Britain and France.
With extensive European arrival, the Maori suffered severely from
influenza, dysentery and diphtheria, to which they had no resistance. In
1814 the Maori were taken under the protection of the British monarch,
but this protection was not always effective in practice. In 1828 the
jurisdiction of the courts of New South Wales was extended to New
Zealand whose population of European and European-descended settlers was
estimated at 2,000 by 1839. Pressure from settlers, traders and
missionaries led to intervention by Britain. On 14 January 1840 the
Governor of New South Wales proclaimed British sovereignty over New
Zealand and appointed a governor. Under the Treaty of Waitangi (6
February 1840) the Maori received the full rights and privileges of
British subjects, and 46 Maori chiefs ceded sovereignty to Queen
Victoria, in exchange for retaining ownership of their natural
resources. The treaty has been widely interpreted and is now applied in
all aspects of New Zealand public life, notably in organisation and
employment practice.
When New Zealand became a British territory in 1840, it was divided into
two provinces. Twelve years later the number of provinces was increased
to six (and later increased still further) and a general assembly
established, consisting of the governor, a nominated Legislative Council
(an upper house) and an elected House of Representatives (a lower
house). This bicameral system lasted until 1950. Maori-occupied land was
governed according to Maori custom.
Immigration from Britain increased in the mid-19th century, and by 1858
settlers outnumbered Maori. A census of Maori, in 1857–58, put their
numbers at about 56,000. Pressure to acquire land from reluctant Maori
led to land wars from 1860 to 1872, which resulted in general but not
absolute European domination. Sheep farming was expanded in the late
1840s. Wool overtook timber and flax as export commodities and in 1882
the first ship carrying refrigerated meat sailed for England. There was
gold mining on the South Island during the 1860s; this attracted
considerable European immigration but ended in a slump.
During the 1890s a series of laws turned New Zealand into what was
probably the most socially advanced state in the world. New Zealand
women were the first in the world to be enfranchised, obtaining the vote
in 1893. Men had been enfranchised in 1890, the year of the country’s
first general election. From 1936 the country developed into a
pioneering welfare state.
In 1907, New Zealand became a Dominion – in effect an acknowledgement of
its independence, which was formally recognised by the Statute of
Westminster in 1931. In 1947 the last restrictions on the right of its
parliament to amend its constitution were removed.
Maori membership of the House of Representatives was increased on six
occasions. A Ministry of Maori Development was established in 1992,
replacing the Ministry of Maori Affairs. The purpose of the Ministry of
Maori Development is to assist in developing an environment of
opportunity and choice for Maori, consistent with the Treaty of
Waitangi.
At the general election in November 1993, the National Party won 50
seats, the Labour Party 45 seats. The National Party, not having an
overall majority following defections and realignments, agreed in
February 1996 on a coalition with the United New Zealand Party, which
had seven MPs.
The first general election under the mixed member proportional
representation system was held in October 1996. It gave 53 seats to a
grouping consisting of: the National Party (44 seats) and its allies the
Association of Consumers and Taxpayers of New Zealand (eight) and United
New Zealand (one). The Labour Party won 37 seats, New Zealand First 17
and the Alliance Party 13. Although 34 parties contested the elections,
only five received more than five per cent of the votes and so earned
the right to party seats. As no single party had an overall majority in
the 120- member house, New Zealand First held the balance of power. Only
when that party decided to support the National Party was party leader
Jim Bolger able to form a government.
In November 1997 Bolger announced his resignation as Prime Minister,
when it became clear that Transport Minister Jenny Shipley had enough
support among National Party MPs to force his resignation from the job
he had held continuously since 1990. He took on a foreign affairs role
outside the cabinet until he became US ambassador in April 1998.
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