NEW ZEALAND






Population
Geography
Government
History
National Parks
Fun stuff
Links






POPULATION
4 million inhabitants (July 2005 estimation)

SURFACE AREA
268,680 sq km (square kilometres)

CAPITAL CITY - Wellington
163,824 inhabitants (2001 census)
Main airport : Wellington International Airport

MAJOR CITIES (state or territory)
Wellington - Auckland - Christchurch - Dunedin - Hamilton - Lower Hutt

GEORAPHY
16 regions and 1 territory

16 regions :
Auckland, Bay of Plenty, Canterbury, Gisborne, Hawke's Bay,
Manawatu-Wanganui, Marlborough, Nelson, Northland, Otago,
Southland, Taranaki, Tasman, Waikato, Wellington, West Coast

1 territory : Chatham Islands

MAPS
general
North Island
South Island
clickable map
detailed maps
worldatlas

MOTTO
Coat of Arms

FLAG
Blue with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant with four red five-pointed stars edged in white centered in the outer half of the flag.
The stars represent the Southern Cross constellation

NATIONAL ANTHEM
Thomas Bracken wrote his poem in the early 1870s, and offered a prize of 10 guineas for the best musical setting. This was won by Otago schoolteacher John Joseph Woods. In 1940, on the recommendation of the NZ Centennial Council, the Government declared "God Defend New Zealand" to be the National Hymn, and bought the copyright. In 1977, with the Queen's consent, God Defend New Zealand was given equal status with "God Save the Queen" as one of New Zealand's national anthems.

anthem lyrics, music, sheet music

NATIONAL EMBLEMS
Unofficial national emblem of New Zealand is the Kiwi, a flightless bird that is unique to the country. New Zealanders frequently refer to themselves as kiwis, and are also called kiwis by many people in other countries. The name was adopted by New Zealand soldiers in the First World War.
Another well-known emblem is the Silver Fern, which is a native plant. The Silver Fern emblem is traditionally worn by sporting teams representing New Zealand.

NATIONAL DAY
February 6th (1840) - "Waitangi Day"
(Treaty of Waitangi established British sovereignty over New Zealand)

EDUCATION
education system : table

ECONOMY
AGRICULTURE
World Factbook (CIA)

CURRENCY
The New Zealand Dollar
Exchange rate online

GOVERNMENT
Constitutional monarch with a parliamentary democracy

Chief of state : Queen ELIZABETH II (since February 6th 1952), represented by Governor General Dame Silvia CARTWRIGHT (since April 4th 2001)

Head of government : Prime Minister Helen CLARK (since December 10th 1999) and Deputy Prime Minister Michael CULLEN (since July 2002)

Cabinet : Executive Council appointed by the governor general on the recommendation of the prime minister.

Elections : none. The monarch is hereditary. Governor general appointed by the monarch. Following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of a majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the governor general; deputy prime minister appointed by the governor general.

PRIME MINISTER
Helen Clark (since 1999) - Labour Party site

RELIGION (2001 census)
Anglican 14.9%
Roman Catholic 12.4%
Presbyterian 10.9%
Methodist 2.9%
Pentacostal 1.7%
Baptist 1.3%
other Christian 9.4%
other 3.3%
unspecified 17.2%
none 26%

HISTORY
nzhistory
lonelyplanet

NATIONAL PARKS
site

FUN STUFF
kids' fun safety
kiwi
New Zealand Quiz

SELECTION of LINKS
worldatlas.com
wikipedia.org
World Factbook (CIA)

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