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New Zealand is an island country in the south

-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses (the North Island and the South Island) and numerous smaller islands, most notably Stewart Island and the Chatham Islands. The indigenous M?ori name for New Zealand is Aotearoa, commonly translated as land of the long white cloud. The Realm of New Zealand also includes Tokelau; the Cook Islands and Niue (self-governing but in free association); and the Ross Dependency, New Zealand’s territorial claim in Antarctica.

New Zealand is geographically isolated, situated about 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) southeast of Australia across theTasman Sea. Its closest neighbours to the north are the Pacific islands of New Caledonia, Fiji and Tonga. The country’s sharp mountain peaks owe much to the earthquakes and volcanic activity caused by the clashing Pacific andIndo-Australian Plates. The climate is mild and temperate and most of the landscape is covered by tussock grass or forests of podocarp, kauri or southern beech. During its long isolation New Zealand developed a distinctive faunadominated by birds, a number of which became extinct after the arrival of humans and introduced mammals.

Polynesians settled New Zealand in 1250–1300 AD and Europeans first made contact in 1642 AD. In 1840 a treatywas signed between the M?ori and British, making New Zealand a colony of Britain. The colony became self governing in 1852 and was made a Commonwealth realm in 1947. During liberal reforms in the 1890s New Zealand became the first country to extend voting rights to women and to develop a system of compulsory arbitration between unions and employers. Elizabeth II, as the Queen of New Zealand, is the country’s head of state and is represented by a Governor-General. The Queen’s role is limited and executive political power is exercised by the Cabinet, led by the Prime Minister. New Zealand has close ties with Britain, Australia and the United States and several Pacific Island nations.

New Zealanders enjoyed one of the highest standards of living in the world until the stagflation of the 1970s. The county underwent major economic changes during the 1980s, transforming from a protectionist economy to a liberalised free-trade economy. The economy is highly dependent on trade, particularly in agricultural products. The majority of New Zealand’s population is of European descent; the indigenous M?ori are the largest minority followed by Asians and non-M?ori Polynesians. English, te reo M?ori and New Zealand Sign Language are the official languages, with English the most prevalent. Much of New Zealand’s culture is derived from the M?ori and early British settlers, although recently it has been broadened by globalisation and immigration from the Pacific Islands and Asia.

Aotearoa (which literally translates as “land of the long white cloud”)^[8] is the current M?ori name for New Zealand, and is also used in New Zealand English. It is unknown whether M?ori had a name for the whole country before the arrival of Europeans, with Aotearoa originally just referring to theNorth Island.^[9] Abel Tasman sighted the islands in 1642 and named themStaten Landt, assuming they were connected to land off the southern tip of South America.^[10] In 1645 Dutch cartographers renamed the islands Nova Zeelandia after the Dutch province of Zeeland.^[11][12] British explorer James Cook subsequently anglicised the name to New Zealand.^{[n 8]}

M?ori traditionally had several names for the two main islands; including Te Ika a M?ui (the fish of M?ui) for the North Island and Te Wai Pounamu (the waters of greenstone) or Te Waka o Aoraki (the canoe of Aoraki) for theSouth Island.^[13] Early European maps labelled the islands North (North Island), Middle (South Island) and South (Stewart Island / Rakiura).^[14] In 1830 maps began using North and South to distinguish the two largest islands and by 1907 this was the accepted norm.^[15] The New Zealand Geographic Boarddiscovered in 2009 that the names of the North Island and South Island had never been formalised, but now plans to do so.^[16] The board is also considering suitable M?ori names,^[17] with Te Ika-a-M?ui and Te Wai Pounamu the most likely choices according to the chairman of the M?ori Language Commission.^[18]

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New Zealand was one of the last major landmasses settled by humans. Radiocarbon dating, evidence ofdeforestation and mitochondrial DNA variability within M?ori populations suggest New Zealand was first settled by Eastern Polynesians between 1250 and 1300,^[13][20] concluding a long series of voyages through the southern Pacific islands.^[21] Over the following centuries these settlers developed a distinct culture now known as M?ori. The population was divided into iwi (tribes) and hap? (subtribes) which would cooperate, compete and sometimes fight with each other. At some point a group of M?ori migrated to R?kohu (theChatham Islands) where they developed their distinct Moriori culture.^[22][23]

The first Europeans known to have reached New Zealand were Dutch explorer Abel Tasman and his crew in 1642.^[24] In a hostile encounter, four crew members were killed and at least one M?ori was hit by canister shot.^[25] Europeans did not revisit New Zealand until 1769 when British explorer James Cook mapped almost the entire coastline.^[24] Following Cook, New Zealand was visited by numerous European and North American whaling, sealing and trading ships. They traded food, metal tools, weapons and other goods for timber, food, artefacts, water, and on occasion sex.^[26] The introduction of the potato and the muskettransformed M?ori agriculture and warfare. Potatoes provided a reliable food surplus, enabling longer and more sustained military campaigns.^[27] The resulting inter-tribal Musket Wars encompassed over 600 battles between 1801 and 1840, killing between 30,000–40,000 M?ori.^[28] From the early 19th century, Christian missionaries began to settle New Zealand, eventually converting most of the M?ori population.^[29]The M?ori population declined to around 40 percent of its pre-contact level during the 19th century, with introduced diseases being the major factor.^[30]ritish Resident to New Zealand in 1832^[31] and in 1835, following an announcement of impending French sovereignty, the nebulous United Tribes of New Zealand sent a Declaration of the Independence to King William IV of the United Kingdom asking for protection.^[31] Ongoing unrest and the dubious legal standing of the Declaration of Independence prompted the Colonial Office to send Captain William Hobson to claim sovereignty for the British Crown and negotiate a treaty with the M?ori.^[32] The Treaty of Waitangi was first signed in the Bay of Islands on 6 February 1840.^[33] In response to the commercially run New Zealand Company‘s attempts to establish an independent settlement inWellington^[34] and French settlers “purchasing” land in Akaroa,^[35] Hobson declared British sovereignty over all of New Zealand on 21 May 1840, even though copies of the Treaty were still circulating.^[36] With the signing of the Treaty and declaration of sovereignty the number of immigrants, particularly from the United Kingdom, began to increase.^[37]

New Zealand, originally part of the colony of New South Wales, became a separate Crown colony in 1841^[38] and Hobson moved the capital from Okiato to Auckland. As immigrant numbers increased, conflicts over land led to the New Zealand Land Wars of the 1860s and 1870s, resulting in the loss and confiscation of much M?ori land.^[39] The colony gained a representative government in 1852 and the 1st New Zealand Parliament met in 1854.^[40] In 1856 the colony effectively became self-governing, gaining responsible over all domestic matters other than native policy (control over native policy was granted in the mid-1860s).^[40]Following concerns that the South Island might form a separate colony, premier Alfred Domett moved a resolution to transfer the capital to a locality near the Cook Strait.^[41] Wellington was chosen due to its harbour and central location, with parliament officially sitting there for the first time in 1865. In 1893 the country became the first nation in the world to grant all women the right to vote^[42] and in 1894 pioneered the adoption of compulsory arbitration between employers and unions.^[43]

In 1907 New Zealand declared itself a Dominion within the British Empire and in 1947 the country adopted the Statute of Westminster, making New Zealand a Commonwealth realm.^[40] New Zealand was involved in world affairs, fighting with the British Empire in the first and second World Wars^[44] and suffered through the Great Depression.^[45] The depression led to the election of the first Labour government and the establishment of a comprehensive welfare state and a protectionist economy.^[46] New Zealand experienced increasing prosperity following World War II^[47] and M?ori began to leave their traditional rural life and move to the cities in search of work.^[48] A M?ori protest movement developed, which criticised Eurocentrism and worked for greater recognition of M?ori culture and the Treaty of Waitangi.^[49] In 1975, a Waitangi Tribunal was set up to investigate alleged breaches of the Treaty, and it was enabled to investigate historic grievances in 1985.^[33] Britain joined the European Economic Community in 1973 drastically reducing New Zealand’s export market^[50] leading the fourth Labour government to initiate a radical market liberalisation programme.^[51]

The Parliament of New Zealand holds legislative power and consists of the Sovereign (represented by the Governor-General) and the House of Representatives.^[59] The supremacy of the House over the Sovereign was established in England by the Bill of Rights 1689 and has been ratified as law in New Zealand.^[59] The House of Representatives is democratically elected and a Government is formed from the party or coalition with the majority of seats.^[59] If no majority is formed a minority government can be formed if support from other parties is obtained through confidence votes. The Governor-General appoints ministers under advice from the Prime Minister, who is by convention, the Parliamentary leader of the governing party or coalition.^[60] Cabinet, formed by ministers and led by the Prime Minister, is the highest policy-making body in government and responsible for deciding significant government actions.^[61] By convention, members of cabinet are bound by collective responsibility to decisions made by cabinet.^[62]

The first judge of the judiciary was appointed in 1842 when New Zealand became a crown colony and was no longer under the jurisdiction of the New South Wales Supreme Court.^[63] Judges and judicial officers are appointed non-politically and under strict rules regarding tenure in order to maintain constitutional independence from the government.^[53] This theoretically allows the judiciary to interpret the law based solely on policies passed by Parliament without other influences on their decision.^[64] The Privy Council in London was the country’s final court of appeal until 2004, when it was replaced with the newly established Supreme Court of New Zealand. The judiciary, headed by the Chief Justice,^[65] includes the Court of Appeal, the High Court, and subordinad the Parliament Buildings (right), in Wellington

Almost all parliamentary general elections between 1853 and 1996 were held under the first past the post system.^[66]Under this system the elections since 1930 have been dominated by two political parties, National and Labour.^[66] Since 1996, a form of proportional representation called Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) has been used.^[53] Under the MMP system each person has two votes, one is for the 65 electoral seats (including seven reserved for M?ori) and the other is for a party. The remaining 55 seats are assigned so that representation in parliament reflects the party vote, although a party has to win one electoral seat or 5 percent of the total party vote before it is eligible for these seats. Between March 2005 and August 2006 New Zealand became the only country in the world in which all the highest offices in the land (Head of State, Governor-General, Prime Minister, Speaker and Chief Justice) were occupied simultaneously by women.^[67]

[edit]Foreign relations

Early colonial New Zealand allowed the British Government to determine external trade and be responsible for foreign policy.^[68] The 1923 and 1926 Imperial Conferences decided that New Zealand should be allowed to negotiate their own political treaties, with the first successful commercial treaty being with Japan in 1928. Despite this independence New Zealand readily followed Britain in declaring war on Germany on 3 September 1939 with then Prime Minister Michael Savageproclaiming, “Where she goes, we go; where she stands, we stand.”^[69]

In 1951 New Zealand joined Australia and the United States in the ANZUS security treaty,^[70] while the United Kingdom became increasingly focused on its European interests.^[71] The influence of the United States on New Zealand weakened following protests over the Vietnam War,^[72] the failure of the United States to admonish France after the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior,^[73] disagreements over environmental and agricultural trade issues and New Zealand’s nuclear-free policy.^[74][75] Despite the USA’s suspension of ANZUS obligations the treaty remained in effect between New Zealand and Australia, whose foreign policy has followed a similar historical trend.^[76] Close political contact is maintained between the two countries, with free trade agreements and travel arrangements that allow citizens to visit, live and work in both countries without restrictions.^[77] Currently over 500,000 New Zealanders live in Australia and 65,000 Australians live in New Zealand.^[77]

New Zealand has a strong presence among the Pacific Island countries. A large proportion of New Zealand’s aid goes to the islands and many migrate to New Zealand for employment.^[78] New Zealand is involved in the Pacific Islands Forum, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Regional Forum (including the East Asia Summit).^[77] Nm left to right, the flags of NZ, the UK and Australia.

[edit]Military

The New Zealand Defence Force has three branches: the Royal New Zealand Navy, the New Zealand Army and the Royal New Zealand Air Force.^[83] New Zealand’s national defence needs are modest due to the unlikelihood of direct attack,^[84] although it does have a global presence; fighting in both world wars, with notable campaigns in Gallipoli, Crete,^[85] El Alamein^[86] andCassino.^[87] The Gallipoli campaign played an important part in fostering a national identity^[88][89] and strengthened the ANZACtradition between New Zealand and Australia.^[90] New Zealand also played key parts in the naval Battle of the River Plate^[91] and the Battle of Britain air campaign.^[92][93] During the Pacific part of World War II, the United States had more than 400,000 American military personnel stationed in New Zealand.^[94]

In addition to Vietnam and the two world wars, New Zealand fought in the Korean War, the Second Boer War,^[95] the Malayan Emergency,^[96] the Gulf War and the Afghanistan War. It contributed forces to recent regional and global peacekeeping missions, such as those in Cyprus, Somalia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Sinai, Angola, Cambodia, the Iran–Iraq border, Bougainville, East Timor, and the Solomon Islands.^[97] New Zealand also sent a unit of army engineers to es, which had a degree of autonomy.^[98] These were abolished in 1876 and government was centralised due to financial pressure and the desire to consolidate railways, education, land sales and other policies.^[99] As a result, New Zealand now has no separately represented subnational entities. However remnants of the provinces live on in competitive rivalries exhibited in sporting and cultural events.^[100]

Since 1876, various councils have administered local areas under legislation determined by the central government.^[98][101] In 1989, the government reorganised local government into the current two-tier structure of regional councils and territorial authorities.^[102] The249 municipalities^[102] that existed in 1975 have now been consolidated into 73 territorial authorities and 11 regional councils.^[103] The regional councils role is to regulate “the natural environment with particular emphasis on resource management“,^[102] while territorial authorities are responsible for sewage, water, local roads, building consents and other local matters.^[104] Five of the territorial councils are unitary authorities and also act as regional councils.^[105] The territorial authorities consist of 16 city councils, 57 district councils, and the Chatham Islands Council. While officially the Chatham Islands Council is not a Unitary Authority it undertakes many functions of a regional council.^[106]

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