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N E W Zealand
N E W Zealand
N E W Zealand
HISTORY
New Zealand has a rich and fascinating history, reflecting both its Maori and European heritage. Amazing Maori historic sites and taonga (treasures), some dating back almost a thousand years, are a contrast to many beautiful colonial buildings.
New Zealand was the last land mass on Earth to be discovered, making New Zealand the youngest country on Earth.
NATION OF MIGRANTS
The first New Zealanders, the Maori, migrated here from their ancestral Polynesian homeland of Hawaiki. This was followed about 800 years later by extensive European migration. The influence of Pacific Island and Asian immigrants during the 20th century has helped shape New Zealand into an even more vibrant and diverse multicultural society.
EUROPEAN MIGRATION
Abel Tasman became the first European to sight New Zealand, but it was after Captain James Cook began exploring the country in 1769 that European migration began. The first European migrants were whalers and missionaries.
ONE
NATION
In 1839 there were only about 2000 Pakeha (Europeans) in New Zealand. However the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, which saw New Zealand become a British colony, had an enormous effect on the New Zealand population. British migrants were offered a paid passage to NZ, and 40,000 arrived here between 1840 and 1860. By 1858 the Maori and Pakeha populations were nearly equal. The South Island gold rush of the 1860s saw even more migrants flood in from around the world, including English, Scots, Irish and Chinese.
KILT
COUNTRY
During the mid and late 1800s a large number of Scottish migrants settled in New Zealand, especially in the South Island provinces of Otago and Southland. Dunedin (from Dun Edin, the old Edin, Celtic name for Edinburgh) is the capital of Otago. Otago. The Scottish influence can still be seen throughout the city s architecture, particularly in the University and Medical School.
(Cunningham Tartan)
CLIMATE
As New Zealand is in the Southern Hemisphere, the summer months are December, January and February, and the winter months are June, July and August.
LANGUAGE
English is the common and everyday language of New Zealand. Maori is also an official language of New Zealand. However, NZ is a multi-cultural society and multiyou may hear many other languages spoken.
POPULATION
New Zealand is an independent nation and a member of the British Commonwealth. It has a diverse multi-cultural population of multifour million people, the majority of whom are of British descent. New Zealand's indigenous Maori make up around 14 per cent of the population.
Referring to New Zealanders as Kiwis probably dates back to the First World War, when New Zealand soldiers first acquired this nickname. In the international financial markets, New Zealand s basic currency unit, the New Zealand dollar, is frequently called the kiwi The dollar coin features a kiwi bird on one side.
Perhaps the best - known kiwi is the bestdelicious kiwifruit. Originating in China, kiwifruit were grown in New Zealand domestic gardens for decades as Chinese gooseberries . However, when enterprising New Zealand farmers began propagating the fruit intensively for export, it was given the name kiwifruit and has since achieved worldwide fame.
TIME
DIFFERENCES
New Zealand is one of the first places in the world to see the new day, 12 hours ahead of GMT (Greenwich Mean Time)
WEB-PAGES
http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/places/ countries/country_newzealand.html http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/ player/places/regions-places/australia-andoceania/newzealand-overview-dest.html www.newzealand.com http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdMCAV 6Yd0Y&feature=related