New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country lying in the Pacific Ocean; it consists of Northern and Southen island, separated by the Cook Strait , and small Stewart Island
· its area is 270,000 square kilometres, population 3,7 million and consists of 90% British and 10% Maori aborigines; the religions are about 50% Christianity, some sects (Mormons) and Maori religions
· Northern island – rather flat land, variet, low mts., plains, volcanos and geizirs
Southern island – high mts. – Southern Alps with the highest peak Mt. Cook (3740m)
Rivers – short; Waganui and Waikato
· New Zealand is a Parliamentary democracy, where the Head of State is a Governor-general, representing the monarch of Great Britain; Head of Government is a Prime minister; it has an Unicameral legislature – only ane chamber of the parliament, which is the House of Representatives (99 members)
· the capital is Wellington and other important cities are Auckland, Queenstown, Dunedin and Christchurch
· the languages spoken in NZ are English (similiar to British English) and Maori; some famous personalities are Hillary, Rutherford, Snell …
· NZ is a rich agriculture country with important industry; the main agriculture products are wheat, vegetable, wool, meat, butter, milk and cheese and NZ is a big exporter of many kinds of food products
· the first people to settle NZ were the Polynesian tribes – the Maoris – in the 8th century
NZ was discovered by James Cook in 1769
Colonization began in the 19th century after the treaty of Waitagno, when the Maori chiefs acknowledged the sovereignity of the British Crown in return for the protection of their lands
However there were disputes between Maoris and British settlers over land ownership which led to war; it lasted about 10 years and by 1871 all Maori resistance was crushed
In 1907 NZ was granted the status of dominion
· Maoris are good in carving and making personal ornaments, e.g. necklesses, earings and amulets