NEW ZEALAND

TEN FACTS

• Capital: Wellington
• Official languages: 95.9% English, 4.2% Māori 0.6% NZ Sign Language
• Demonym: New Zealander, Kiwi (colloquial)
• Monarch: Elizabeth II
• Independence from the United Kingdom 17 January 1853

MORE FACTS

• Religion: 55.6% christian, 34% non religious
• Total land size: 268,021 km2 (75th)
• Population: 4,537,081 (123rd)
• Largest city: Auckland (my friend lives there)
• Currency: New Zealand dollar

HISTORY

• First settled by Eastern Polynesians between 1250 and 1300
• The Dutch explorer Abel Tasman and his crew discovered NZ in 1642
• Whalers and fishers came after Abel

HISTORY

• 1788 the governor of South Wales claims NZ
• 1832 Great Britian appoints a "resident" of NZ
• 1907 NZ becomes a self governing state of GB
• 1947 it became its own country

GEOGRAPHY

• Two major islands
• the North Island, or Te Ika-a-Māui, and the South Island, or Te Waipounamu
• Seperated by 22KM of water

BIO DIVERSITY

• It used to be 80% forest
• There are 2300 species of fungi
• Home to The Kiwi (a flightless bird)

CULTURE

• One of the most secular countries
• Māori culture came from East Polynesian culture
• "Tall Poppy Syndrome"

MUSIC

• Māori developed traditional chants and songs from South-East Asia
• They created a unique "monotonous" and "doleful" sound.
• They kept that music into the 20th century

SPORTS

• Rugby is considered the national sport
• Golf, netball, tennis and cricket have the highest rates of adult participation
• Football (soccer) has the highest in young people

NETBALL

• Similar to basketball
• Players have specific places on the court they can move within
• You can only hold the ball for 3 seconds
• There aren't back boards on the hoops
• More of a women's sport but men can play

BIBLIOGRAPHY

• http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand