Visiting New Zealand
For travel guide for New Zealand and practical advice regarding eating, drinking, shopping, how to get around, price levels on lodging and holiday accomodation
(e.g. hotels, vacation rentals by owner, b&b's, vacation rental homes, holiday villas, condos, cabins, hostels, self-catering cottages) and safety hints
please click here. |
New Zealand facts, geography & history
Facts
Government: Parliamentary democracy.
Population (est.): 4,077,000.
Capital, population (est.): Wellington, 345,000.
Language: English, Maori (both official).
Monetary unit: New Zealand dollar.
Geography
New Zealand comprises two main islands (called the North and South Islands in English, Te-Ika-a-Maui and Te Wai Pounamu in Maori) and a number of smaller
islands, located near the center of the water hemisphere. The total land area, 268,680 square kilometres (103,738 sq mi), is a little less than that of
Italy and Japan, and a little more than the United Kingdom. The country extends more than 1600 kilometres (1000 miles) along its main, north-north-east
axis, with approximately 15,134 km of coastline. The most significant of the smaller inhabited islands include Stewart Island/Rakiura; Waiheke Island,
in Auckland's Hauraki Gulf; Great Barrier Island, east of the Hauraki Gulf; and the Chatham Islands, named Rekohu by Moriori. The country has extensive
marine resources, with the seventh-largest Exclusive Economic Zone in the world, covering over four million square kilometres (1.5 million sq mi), more
than 15 times its land area.
The South Island is the largest land mass, and is divided along its length by the Southern Alps, the highest peak of which is Aoraki/Mount Cook at 3754
metres (12,316 ft). There are eighteen peaks over 3000 metres (9800 ft) in the South Island. The North Island is less mountainous than the South, but is
marked by volcanism. The tallest North Island mountain, Mount Ruapehu (2797 m / 9176 ft), is an active cone volcano. The dramatic and varied landscape of
New Zealand has made it a popular location for the production of television programmes and films, including the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and the Last
Samurai.
The climate throughout the country is mild, mostly cool temperate to warm temperate, with temperatures rarely falling below 0°C (32°F) or rising above
30°C (86°F). Conditions vary from wet and cold on the West Coast of the South Island to dry and continental in the Mackenzie Basin of inland Canterbury
and almost subtropical in Northland. Of the main cities, Christchurch is the driest, receiving only some 640 mm (25 in) of rain per year. Auckland,
the wettest, receives almost twice that amount.
New Zealand is part of Zealandia, a continent that is 93% submerged. Zealandia is almost half the size of Australia and is unusually long and narrow.
About 25 million years ago, a shift in plate tectonic movements began to pull Zealandia apart forcefully. The submerged parts of Zealandia are the Lord
Howe Rise, Challenger Plateau, Campbell Plateau, Norfolk Ridge and the Chatham Rise.
Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu, a hill in the Hawke's Bay region of the North Island, is credited by The Guinness Book of World
Records with having the longest place name in the world.........
Adopted from and read more at:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand
History
If you are interested in this country's history, please take a look
here. |
