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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Fat Freddy's Drop during a European tour in 2008. Left to right: Tehimana Kerr, Joe Lindsey, Chris Faiumu, Iain Gordon, Dallas Tamaira, Toby Laing, and Scott Towers.

Fat Freddy's Drop is a New Zealand seven-piece band from Wellington, whose musical style has been characterised as any combination of dub, reggae, soul, jazz, rhythm and blues, and techno. Originally a jam band formed in the late 1990s by musicians from other bands in Wellington, Fat Freddy's Drop gradually became its members' sole focus. Band members continued playing with their other respective groups—The Black Seeds, TrinityRoots, Bongmaster, and others—for much of their 20-year career. Fat Freddy's Drop are known for their improvised live performances. Songs on their studio albums are versions refined over years of playing them live in New Zealand and on tour abroad.

The group gained international recognition in 2003 after their single "Midnight Marauders" was re-distributed by record labels and DJs in Germany. The group has toured Europe nearly every year since then. The first studio album by Fat Freddy's Drop, Based on a True Story, was the first independently distributed album to reach first place in New Zealand record sales directly after release in 2005, and is the third highest-selling album by a national artist in the country's history. Based on a True Story won Best Album at the New Zealand Music Awards the same year, and remained on the top 40 New Zealand sales chart for over two years, establishing them as one of the most successful contemporary bands in the island nation. (Full article...)

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General images

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

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

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More Did you know? - show different entries

... that during the construction of Fairfield Bridge (pictured) a burial cave was found with the heads of several dead Māori people?

... that the Hatepe eruption was the most recent eruption of Lake Taupo, which ejected some 120 cubic kilometres of material, can be reliably dated to 186 CE by meteorological phenomena described by Fan Ye in China and by Herodian in Rome?

... that the Pink and White Terraces (Otukapuarangi in Māori) were considered a natural wonder until they were destroyed by a violent volcanic eruption in 1886?

... that the snow grasses can be several centuries old?

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

... that the phrase "togs, togs, undies" was popularised in New Zealand by an advertisement for Trumpet ice cream cones?
... that a hut on New Zealand's Copland Track had to be moved after being hit by a mudslide just 13 weeks after opening?
... that New Zealand petrol stations were filled with queues before a change in government policy?
... that Hende's Hut on Roberts Point Track, a tramping track in New Zealand, originally had no windows?
... that fridges filled with "frozen duck" sent to Britain actually contained illegal coins?
... that Matahi Brightwell reintroduced the sport of waka ama to New Zealand?
... that West Auckland is home to the largest stratovolcano in the geologic history of New Zealand?
... that one of the largest fishing companies of New Zealand started as a fish and chip shop?

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