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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KiwiRail DL9020 on MetroPort train MP4 at Papakura, Auckland on 29 August 2011.

Rail transport in New Zealand is an integral part of New Zealand's transport network, with a nationwide network of 4,375.5 km (2,718.8 mi) of track linking most major cities in the North and South Islands, connected by inter-island rail and road ferries. Rail transport in New Zealand has a particular focus on bulk freight exports and imports, with 19 million net tonnes moved by rail annually, accounting for more than half of rail revenue.

Rail transport played an important role in the opening up and development of the hinterland outside of New Zealand's predominantly dispersed and coastal settlements. Starting with the Ferrymead Railway in 1863, most public railway lines were short, built by provincial governments and connected major centres to their nearest seaport (such as Christchurch and its port at Lyttelton Harbour). From the 1870s, the focus shifted to building a nationwide network linking major centres, especially during the Vogel Era of railway construction following the abolition of the provinces. Narrow gauge of 3ft 6in (1,067mm) was adopted nationally. Bush tramways or light industrial railways sprang up connecting to the national network as it expanded. Railways became centrally controlled as a government department under the names New Zealand Government Railways or New Zealand Railways Department (NZR), and land transport was heavily regulated from 1931 onwards. NZR eventually expanded into other transport modes, especially with the Railways Road Services, inter-island ferries and Rail Air service. NZR also had an extensive network of workshops. By 1981, NZR employed 22,000 staff. (Full article...)

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General images

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

Image 1Topography of Zealandia, the submerged continent, and the two tectonic plates (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 2New Zealand is antipodal to points of the North Atlantic, the Iberian Peninsula and Morocco.
Image 3Water pollution sign on the Waimakariri River (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 4Roger Douglas, the architect of New Zealand's 1980s neo-liberal reform programme (from History of New Zealand)
Image 5Percentages 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 6Māori 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 7A beach barbecue – an established part of New Zealand culture (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 8Putting down a hāngī (earth oven) (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 9A 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 10Rural landscape close to Mt Ruapehu (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 11Residents of Dunedin celebrate the news of the Armistice of 11 November 1918. (from History of New Zealand)
Image 12An annotated relief map (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 13The Original All Blacks during the "haka", 1905 (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 14Fiordland is dominated by steep, glacier-carved valleys. (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 15Zealandia rejecting Australian Constitution in 1900 (from History of New Zealand)
Image 16Scottish Highland family migrating to New Zealand, 1844, by William Allsworth. Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington. (from History of New Zealand)
Image 17Kapa haka is performed at a School Strike for Climate in Christchurch 2019. (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 18The 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 19Central Plateau in winter (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 20The 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 21Cook Island dancers at Auckland's Pasifika Festival, 2010 (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 22Men of the Māori Battalion, New Zealand Expeditionary Force, after disembarking at Gourock in Scotland in June 1940 (from History of New Zealand)
Image 23The 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 24Children's and young adult author Margaret Mahy, July 2011 (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 25George 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 26New Zealand Division in 1916 (from History of New Zealand)
Image 27Scorching Bay, Wellington, in summer (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 28One of the few extant copies of the Treaty of Waitangi (from History of New Zealand)
Image 29Michael Joseph Savage, Labour Prime Minister 1935–1940. This portrait was hung on the walls of many supporters. (from History of New Zealand)
Image 30The Forty-Fours viewed from the north; the leftmost islet is the easternmost point of New Zealand. (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 31Knox Church, a Presbyterian church, in Dunedin. The city was founded by Scottish Presbyterian settlers. (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 32Art deco in Napier (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 33Richard Seddon, Liberal Prime Minister from 1893 to his death in 1906 (from History of New Zealand)
Image 34"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 35An aerial view of the Auckland urban area, showing its location on the Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 36Strong winds in the Cook Strait produce high waves which erode the shore, as shown in this image (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 37Poet Selina Tusitala Marsh, 2019 (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 38European 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 39The 1935 Labour Cabinet. Michael Joseph Savage is seated in the front row, centre. (from History of New Zealand)
Image 40HMS North Star destroying Pomare's Pā during the Northern/Flagstaff War, 1845, Painting by John Williams. (from History of New Zealand)
Image 41The Waikato River flowing out of Lake Taupō (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 42Pavlova, a popular New Zealand dessert, garnished with cream and strawberries. (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 43The Mission House at Kerikeri is New Zealand's oldest surviving building, having been completed in 1822 (from History of New Zealand)
Image 44A modern wharenui (meeting house of a marae) exhibited at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 45The kiwi has become a New Zealand icon. (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 46Prime Ministers John Key and Helen Clark (from History of New Zealand)
Image 47Vigil in Wellington for the victims of the Christchurch mosques attacks (from History of New Zealand)
Image 48Hinepare 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 49Elizabeth II and Muldoon's Cabinet, taken during the Queen's 1981 visit to New Zealand (from History of New Zealand)
Image 50A meeting of European and Māori inhabitants of Hawke's Bay Province. Engraving, 1863.
Image 51Tribute 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 52Lorde as part of the 2014 Lollapalooza lineup (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 53Aoraki / Mount Cook, as seen from Hooker Valley (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 54A Māori ancestor (tekoteko) depicted in a wood carving at the Tamatekapua Meeting House in Ohinemutu (c. 1880) (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 55Tekoteko from the gable of a wharenui, Te Arawa (20th century) (from Culture of New Zealand)

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...that Baldwin Street (pictured) in Dunedin is reputedly the world's steepest street?

...that, because of its aluminium cladding and shape, the Westpac Stadium in Wellington is nicknamed "The Caketin"?

...that the 1990 movie Arachnophobia used 374 Avondale spiders, a species first documented in Avondale, Auckland?

...that the Bounty Islands were named in 1788 by captain William Bligh after his ship, just months before the infamous mutiny?

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Sir Edmund Percival Hillary, KG, ONZ, KBE (20 July 1919 – 11 January 2008) was a New Zealand mountaineer and explorer. On 29 May 1953 he and Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers known to have reached the summit of Mount Everest. They were part of the ninth British expedition to Everest, led by John Hunt. Hillary also led the third team to reach the South Pole over land. He devoted much energy to helping the Sherpa people of Nepal through his Himalayan Trust, building many schools and hospitals for instance.

Hillary was created a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) on 16 July 1953; a member of the Order of New Zealand (ONZ) in 1987; and a Knight of the Order of the Garter (KG) on 23 April 1995. He has been the only New Zealander to appear on a banknote during their lifetime. Various streets, schools, and organisations around New Zealand and abroad are named after him.

To mark the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the first successful ascent of Everest, the Nepalese Government conferred honorary citizenship upon Hillary at a special Golden Jubilee celebration in Kathmandu. He was the first foreign national to receive such an honour from the Nepalese. (Full article...)

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Backdropped by a colourful Earth, astronaut Robert L. Curbeam, Jr. (left) and European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Christer Fuglesang, both STS-116 mission specialists, participate in the mission's first of three planned sessions of extravehicular activity as construction resumes on the International Space Station. The landmasses depicted are the South Island (left) and North Island (right) of New Zealand.

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... that Aucklanders have a reputation for making false earthquake reports on New Zealand's earthquake monitoring website GeoNet?
... that the first meeting of the New Zealand Women Writers' Society was chaired by a man?
... that Mihi Edwards did not use her own name as a young woman because of discrimination against Māori people in New Zealand?
... that when public radio stations aired Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in solidarity with Ukraine on 10 March 2022, the bass voice of Anthony Robin Schneider was heard live from Frankfurt and recorded from Auckland?
... that a New Zealand coin was declared evidence of an atheistic government by detractors?
... that shipwreck hunter Noel Hilliam claimed to have found a sunken U-boat off the coast of New Zealand?
... that the hiking track through the Pororari River gorge has become part of New Zealand's newest Great Walk, the Paparoa Track (video featured)?
... that New Zealand politician Hamish Campbell is a cancer researcher and runs a flower-delivery business?

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