In September 2020 Statistics New Zealand reported that the population had climbed above 5 million people in September 2019, according to population estimates based on the 2018 census.n 9 The road and rail networks in the two main islands are linked by roll-on/roll-off ferries between Wellington and Picton, operated by Interislander (part of KiwiRail) and Bluebridge. In the year to June 2018, dairy products accounted for 17.7% ($14.1 billion) of total exports, and the country’s largest company, Fonterra, controls almost one-third of the international dairy trade. The increase of this since the 1960s led to the formation of the Pasifika New Zealander pan-ethnic group, the fourth-largest ethnic grouping in the country.
The government sold its telecommunications company, railway network, a number of radio stations, and two financial institutions. The formal relationship with the U.S. changed, in 1986, however, after the Labour government adopted an anti-nuclear position, which ended visits of American warships. New Zealand is a party to the ANZUS security treaty between Australia, New Zealand, and the U.S.

Regions and external territories

New Zealand participated at the Summer Olympics in 1908 and 1912 as a joint team with Australia, before first participating on its own in 1920. The Polynesian sport of waka ama racing has experienced a resurgence of interest in New Zealand since the 1980s. New Zealand is known for its extreme sports, adventure tourism and strong mountaineering tradition, as seen in the success of notable New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary summiting Mount Everest first. Golf, netball, tennis and cricket have the highest rates of adult participation, while netball, rugby union and football (soccer) are particularly popular among young people. A hāngī is a traditional Māori method of cooking food using heated rocks buried in a pit oven that is still used for large groups on special occasions, such as tangihanga. New Zealand yields produce from land and sea—most crops and livestock, such as maize, potatoes and pigs, were gradually introduced by the early European settlers.

No Condo posts

Early European maps labelled the islands North (North Island), Middle (South Island), and South (Stewart Island / Rakiura). The service sector dominates the country’s economy, followed by the industrial sector, and agriculture; international tourism is also a significant source of revenue. Today, the majority of New Zealand’s population of around 5.3 million is of European descent; the indigenous Māori are the largest minority, followed by Asians and Pasifika. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island (Te Ika-a-Māui) and the South Island (Te Waipounamu)—and over 600 smaller islands.
At the 2023 census, 51.6% of population said they had no religion, up from 48.2% in 2018 census. As recorded in the 2018 census, Samoan is the most widely spoken non-official language (2.2%), followed by “Northern Chinese” (including Mandarin, 2.0%), Hindi (1.5%), and French (1.2%). The number of fee-paying international students and international exchange students increased sharply in the late 1990s, with more than 20,000 studying in public tertiary institutions in 2002. The most popular countries of origin for overseas-born residents were England (14.6%), mainland China (10.2%), India (10.0%), the Philippines (7.0%), South Africa (6.7%), Australia (6.1%), Fiji (4.8%) and Samoa (4.3%). In 2009–10, an annual target of 45,000–50,000 permanent residence approvals was set by the New Zealand Immigration Service—more than one new migrant for every 100 New Zealand residents. Following colonisation, immigrants were predominantly from Britain, Ireland and Australia because of restrictive policies similar to the White Australia policy.

  • Participation in the world wars gave some New Zealand writers a new perspective on New Zealand culture and with the postwar expansion of universities local literature flourished.
  • The colony gained a representative government in 1852, and the first Parliament met in 1854.
  • The country’s varied topography and sharp mountain peaks, including the Southern Alps (Kā Tiritiri o te Moana), owe much to tectonic uplift and volcanic eruptions.
  • According to the Ministry of Justice, Māori are overrepresented, comprising 45% of New Zealanders convicted of crimes and 53% of those imprisoned, while only being 16.5% of the population.
  • As of 2022, the agency is New Zealand’s largest employer, consolidating the DHBs’ combined work force of 80,000, with an estimated annual operating budget of NZ$20 billion and an asset base of about NZ$24 billion.
  • His Constitution Act of 1853 set up a national system of representative government and a prime minister.

Ethnicity and immigration

After financial reforms in 1984, successive governments transformed New Zealand from a highly protectionist and regulated economy to a liberalized betista casino login free market economy. New Zealand recorded the highest casualties per head of population of any combatant nation during World War I, when 100,000 served and 17,000 were killed. The first capital was in the Bay of Islands, in the far north, but soon moved to Auckland. The Maori called the North Island Aotearoa, a name which is now the most widely known and accepted Maori name for the entire country. Conditions vary from wet and cold on South Island’s west coast to dry and continental a short distance away across the mountains and subtropical in the northern reaches of North Island.

The main subreddit

From the early 19th century, Christian missionaries began to settle New Zealand, eventually converting most of the Māori population. Some Māori later migrated to the Chatham Islands, where they developed their distinct Moriori culture; a later 1835 invasion by Māori iwi resulted in the massacre and virtual extinction of the Moriori. The first people to reach New Zealand were Polynesians in ocean going waka, who are believed to have arrived in several waves between about 1280 and 1350. Similarly the Māori and English names for the whole country are sometimes used together (Aotearoa New Zealand); however, this has no official recognition. For each island, either its English or Māori name can be used, or both can be used together.

  • In Northland you can swim with Dolphins, or jump off New Zealand’s tallest building, the Sky Tower, in Auckland
  • Māori participation in European sports was particularly evident in rugby, and the country’s team performs a haka, a traditional Māori challenge, before international matches.
  • The British and Irish immigrants brought aspects of their own culture to New Zealand and also influenced Māori culture, particularly with the introduction of Christianity.
  • Following these armed conflicts, large areas of Māori land were confiscated by the government to meet settler demands.
  • As of 2023,update the country is ranked second in the strength of its democratic institutions, and third in government transparency and lack of corruption.
  • The country’s isolation delayed the influence of European artistic trends allowing local artists to develop their own distinctive style of regionalism.
  • The northern and northeastern parts of the South Island are the sunniest areas of the country and receive about 2,400–2,500 hours.

In Northland you can swim with Dolphins, or jump off New Zealand’s tallest building, the Sky Tower, in Auckland If thrillseeking is what you are after there’s options galore in every corner of the country. Canterbury offers a glimpse at New Zealand’s rural heritage, with the stunning Southern Alps down the centre of the region. No South Island trip would be complete without experiencing dramatic mountains rising straight out of the water in the breathtaking Marlborough Sounds. In Rotorua you can delve into the heart of Maori culture, or be the first in the world to see the sun in Gisborne. Did we mention the wine rich region of Marlborough and the bread basket of the country, the sunny Hawkes Bay?
The two main islands are named North and South islands in English, or Te-Ika-a-Maui and Te Wai Pounamu, respectively, in Maori. Discover vibrant cities like the largest city Auckland and capital city Wellington, where culture and entertainment thrive. New Zealand is about 1,000 miles (1,600 km) long (north-south) and about 280 miles (450 km) across at its widest point. New Zealand was the largest country in Polynesia when it was annexed by Great Britain in 1840. Participation in the world wars gave some New Zealand writers a new perspective on New Zealand culture and with the postwar expansion of universities local literature flourished.
Because of its long isolation from the rest of the world, New Zealand has unique flora. The tallest peak on North Island is Mount Ruapehu (2,797 m), an active, cone-shaped volcano. South Island is dominated by the Southern Alps, the highest peak of which is Aoraki/Mount Cook, at 3,754 m. New Zealand aligned itself with the allied nations in World War I, World War II, and the Korean War. Maori legends describe South Island as a canoe and North Island as a fish.
A massive mountain chain, the Southern Alps, runs almost the length of the South Island. What is the capital of New Zealand? What is the current weather in New Zealand? Because of its numerous harbours and fjords, the country has an extremely long coastline relative to its area. The country has slightly less surface area than the U.S. state of Colorado and a little more than the United Kingdom. Minority rights and race-related issues continue to play an important role in New Zealand politics.
However, British inability to protect the country from Japanese aggression in World War II began a period of American influence. Since then, the country has been a sovereign constitutional monarchy within the Commonwealth of Nations. Full independence was granted with the Statute of Westminster in 1931, which was adopted by the New Zealand parliament in 1947. The discovery of gold on South Island in 1861 sparked concerns that settlers there would form a separate colony, so in 1865 the capital was moved to the more central city of Wellington. His Constitution Act of 1853 set up a national system of representative government and a prime minister. New Zealand was initially administered as a part of the colony of New South Wales.
For instance, in 2016, Auckland was ranked the world’s third most liveable city and Wellington the twelfth by the Mercer Quality of Living Survey. Most private and commercial research organisations in New Zealand focus on the agricultural and fisheries sectors. Their role is to research and develop new science, knowledge, products and services across the economic, environmental, social and cultural spectrum for the benefit of New Zealand.
The British and Irish immigrants brought aspects of their own culture to New Zealand and also influenced Māori culture, particularly with the introduction of Christianity. As of 2022, the agency is New Zealand’s largest employer, consolidating the DHBs’ combined work force of 80,000, with an estimated annual operating budget of NZ$20 billion and an asset base of about NZ$24 billion. The New Zealand Government established it to replace the country’s 20 district health boards (DHBs) on 1 July 2022.

It is the sole home, for example, of the long-beaked, flightless kiwi, the ubiquitous nickname for New Zealanders. Niue and the Cook Islands are self-governing states in free association with New Zealand. New Zealand is ranked 5th in the International Cricket Council Men’s Test Team Rankings 2025 with a rating of 100. The All Blacks, the national rugby union team, are the most successful in the history of international rugby.
This rule was made to prevent the subreddit from being flooded by request posts. You can still ask artists for porn of your avatar, but do not make a post of it. If you post any porn of an avatar that’s confirmed to be owned by a minor, it will be removed. Your account can be banned permanently if your posts or comments have any red flags until you can prove to one of the moderators that you’re not a minor. Anyone can view, post, and comment to this community
In 1642, the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman became the first European to sight and record New Zealand. Source your posts in the comments as best as possible. No Reposts within 180 days of the original post or for content already in the top 50. For example, posting 20 images of Sage from various different artists would not be allowed. Album posts must contain related images from the same set, and not assorted images you put into one post.
The government has negotiated settlements of these grievances with many iwi, although Māori claims to the foreshore and seabed proved controversial in the 2000s. A Māori protest movement developed, which criticised Eurocentrism and worked for greater recognition of Māori culture and of the Treaty of Waitangi. New Zealand experienced increasing prosperity following the Second World War, and Māori began to leave their traditional rural life and move to the cities in search of work.