New Zealand - zēˈlənd, island country (1996 pop. 3,618,302), 104,454 sq mi (270,534 sq km), in the S Pacific Ocean, over 1,000 mi (1,600 km) SE of Australia. The capital is Wellington; the largest city and leading port is Auckland.

Land and People

New Zealand comprises the North Island and the South Island (the two principal islands), Stewart Island, and the Chatham Islands. Small outlying islands belonging to New Zealand include the Auckland Islands, the Kermadec Islands, Campbell Island, the Antipodes, Three Kings Island, Bounty Island, the Snares Islands, and the Solander Islands. Dependencies are Tokelau and Ross Dependency. The Cook Islands and Niue, both internally self-governing, are in free association with New Zealand.

The North Island is known for its active volcanic mountains and its hot springs. The country's longest river (the Waikato) and largest lake (Taupo) are both on the North Island. On the South Island, the massive Southern Alps extend almost the length of the island, and in the southwest are beautiful fjords. The largest areas of virgin forest are in the southern and northern extremities of the South Island. Among the unusual animals native to New Zealand are the kiwi, certain species of parrot, the tuatara (survivor of a prehistoric order of reptiles), and various frogs and reptiles. New Zealand has no native land mammals other than bats. Large oyster beds are found in the Foveaux Strait between Stewart Island and the South Island. Extensive areas of New Zealand have been set aside as national parks, including the Fiordland, Mt. Aorangi-Cook, and Tongariro parks.

More than 85% of the population lives in urban areas. In addition to Wellington and Auckland, the principal cities are Christchurch, Dunedin, Hamilton, Palmerston North, Hutt City, and Invercargill. People of European background constitute almost 80% of the population. The Maori, New Zealand's indigenous inhabitants, now make up about 14% of the population, with most living on the North Island. There are also small minorities of Pacific Islanders and Asians. Both English and Maori are official languages. New Zealand has no established religion; the three largest faiths are Anglican, Presbyterian, and Roman Catholic. There are universities at Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Palmerston North, Christchurch, and Dunedin.

Economy

Agriculture is the mainstay of the economy, although industry employs more people. The agricultural sector has diversified from a reliance on sheep raising to such additional enterprises as dairying, forestry, and horticulture. The principal exports are wool, meat, dairy products, fish, fruit, and timber products. Small amounts of coal, gold, iron, and natural gas are also produced. Food processing is the largest manufacturing industry; and there is a variety of small light-manufacturing industries. Beginning in the 1980s, New Zealand transformed its highly protected and regulated economy into one that was much more privatized, market oriented, and deregulated.

Government

New Zealand's government consists of the governor-general (representing the British crown), a prime minister and cabinet (the effective executive), and a 120-seat unicameral parliament (the House of Representatives) whose members are elected for three-year terms. The chief political parties are Labor, the National party, and the New Zealand First party. In 1993 a system of mixed constituency and proportional representation was introduced, giving smaller parties a greater chance to win seats. Administratively, New Zealand is divided into 93 counties, nine districts, and three town districts. New Zealand is a member of the Commonwealth and the United Nations.

History

New Zealand has been inhabited since at least a.d. 1000 by Polynesian Maoris. The first European to visit was the Dutch navigator Abel Tasman, who stopped there during his voyage of 1642–43. New Zealand was charted by Capt. James Cook on his three voyages (1769–78). Between 1792 and 1840, sealing, whaling, and trading led to European settlement. In a series of intertribal wars between 1815 and 1840, tens of thousands of Maoris died.

In 1840 the first settlement was made at Wellington by a group sent by the New Zealand Company, founded by Edward Gibbon Wakefield. In that year the Treaty of Waitangi guaranteed to the Maoris the full possession of their land in exchange for their recognition of British sovereignty. But as European settlement increased, Maori opposition to land settlement resulted in continuing conflict from 1860 to 1872.

Originally part of New South Wales (Australia), New Zealand became a separate colony in 1840 and received a large measure of self-government after 1852. In 1907 it assumed complete self-government as the Dominion of New Zealand, but, preferring that Great Britain handle most of its foreign affairs, did not confirm the Statute of Westminster (1931) until 1947.

New Zealand has been a leader in progressive social legislation. It was the first country to grant (1893) women the right to vote. A comprehensive social security system was begun in 1898 with the enactment of an old age pension law.

During World War I and World War II, New Zealand fought on the side of the Allies, and it joined the UN forces in the Korean War. New Zealand also sent troops to aid U.S. forces in South Vietnam in the 1960s. In 1951, New Zealand joined in a mutual defense treaty with the United States and Australia. This pact was suspended in 1986 after New Zealand refused to let U.S. ships with nuclear arms enter its ports. In 1997, Jenny Shipley of the National party, which had been in power since 1990, became New Zealand's first woman prime minister. The Labor party, led by Helen Clark, and its center-left coalition defeated the National party in the 1999 elections and formed a minority government. Clark's coalition retained power, again as a minority government, after the 2002 elections.

Bibliography

See K. B. Cumberland and J. W. Fox, New Zealand: A Regional View (1964); A. H. McLintock, ed., An Encyclopedia of New Zealand (3 vol., 1966); G. R. Hawke, The Making of New Zealand (1985); G. McLauchlan, ed., Encyclopedia of New Zealand (52 vol., 1986–87); K. Sinclair, A History of New Zealand (4th rev. ed. 1991); G. W. Rice, ed., Oxford History of New Zealand (2d ed. 1992).

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