The number of overseas students receiving education in New Zealand expanded dramatically and the importance of “export education” to the national economy rivaled that of other more established industries. During the 1990s, tourism became the country’s leading earner of foreign exchange. Primary export industries are agriculture (sheep, cattle, dairy), horticulture (apples, kiwifruit), fishing, and forestry. New Zealand is dependent on trade—particularly in agricultural products—and has been affected by global economic slowdowns and slumps in commodity prices.
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New Zealand has been described as a middle power in the Asia-Pacific region, and an emerging power. A seasonal workers scheme for temporary migration was introduced in 2007, and in 2009 about 8,000 Pacific Islanders were employed under it. New Zealand has a strong presence among the Pacific Island countries, and enjoys strong diplomatic relations with Samoa, Fiji, and Tonga, and among smaller nations. Despite the United States’s suspension of ANZUS obligations, the treaty remained in effect between New Zealand and Australia, whose foreign policy has followed a similar historical trend. In 1951, the United Kingdom became increasingly focused on its European interests, while New Zealand joined Australia and the United States in the ANZUS security treaty. On 3 September 1939, New Zealand allied itself with Britain and declared war on Germany with Prime Minister Michael Joseph Savage proclaiming, “Where she goes, we go; where she stands, we stand”.
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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.
The Māori were the first people to reach New Zealand, followed by the early European settlers. While the demonym for a New Zealand citizen is New Zealander, the informal “Kiwi” is commonly used both internationally and by locals. For legacy systems which can only accept one ethnicity, people are usually allocated to a single ethnicity based on a pre-determined priority order, with Māori given highest priority and New Zealand European given lowest priority. Statistics New Zealand allows people to choose multiple ethnicities and reports ethnic data based on total responses, therefore ethnicities add up to more than 100%. The median age of the New Zealand population at the 2018 census was 37.4 years, with life expectancy in 2017–2019 being 80.0 years for males and 83.5 years for females.
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- 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 All Blacks, the national rugby union team, are the most successful in the history of international rugby.
- In 1973, New Zealand’s export market was reduced when the United Kingdom joined the European Economic Community and other compounding factors, such as the 1973 oil and 1979 energy crises, led to a severe economic depression.
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- 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.
- While the demonym for a New Zealand citizen is New Zealander, the informal “Kiwi” is commonly used both internationally and by locals.
- 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 northern and northeastern parts of the South Island are the sunniest areas of the country and receive about 2,400–2,500 hours. Elsewhere, the plate boundary involves the subduction of one plate under the other, producing the Puysegur Trench to the south, the Hikurangi Trough east of the North Island, and the Kermadec and Tonga Trenches further north. The two main islands (the North Island, or Te Ika-a-Māui, and the South Island, or Te Waipounamu) are separated by Cook Strait, 22 kilometres (14 mi) wide at its narrowest point. New Zealand is near the centre of the water hemisphere and is made up of two main islands and more than 700 smaller islands. After the 1982 UNCLOS, the islands contributed significantly to New Zealand’s exclusive economic zone. According to most Māori oral traditions, the islands were first discovered by the semi-legendary explorer Kupe while in pursuit of a giant octopus.
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Christianity is the predominant religion in New Zealand, although nearly 40 percent of the population has no religious affiliation. Successive government policies on the relationship between Maori and non-Maori people have worsened race relations. English and Maori are the two official languages, although most visitors would find New Zealand exclusively an English-speaking country. A result of Pacific Island immigration is that South Auckland has become the world’s largest Polynesian city. About 70 percent of New Zealand’s population is of European descent, mostly English, Scottish, Welsh, Irish, and Dutch. New Zealand once had about 20 times more sheep than people; by 2001 there were only 12 times as many.
The country has the distinction of being the only one outside the U.S. to hold multiple America’s Cup races, but lost the cup in 2003 to a Swiss team (with a New Zealander skipper). New Zealand hosted the last two competitions for international yacht racing’s top prize, the America’s Cup (2000 and 2003), by virtue of being the home of the winning team in 1995 and 2000. British colonists brought a legal, political, and economic system that has flourished, along with the English system of agriculture that has transformed the landscape.
The population, in slight excess of four million, is similar in size to Costa Rica’s. New Zealand’s total land area, nearly 270,000 km², is about the same as that of Colorado and somewhat smaller than the Philippines. The closest neighbors to the north are New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga. It is separated from Australia to the northwest by the Tasman Sea, which is some 2,000 km across.
- The two main types of forest are those dominated by broadleaf trees with emergent podocarps, or by southern beech in cooler climates.
- The Moriori people of the Chatham Islands, located to the east of the main islands, multiplied from a group of New Zealand Polynesians who traveled there by canoe in the fourteenth or fifteenth century.
- More penguin species are found in New Zealand than in any other country, with 13 of the world’s 18 penguin species.
- New Zealand’s population today is concentrated to the north of the country, with around 76.4% of the population living in the North Island and 23.6% in the South Island as of June 2025.
- Full independence was granted with the Statute of Westminster in 1931, which was adopted by the New Zealand parliament in 1947.
The All Blacks perform a traditional Maori war dance, or haka, before the start of international matches. The country’s national sporting colors are black and white, and the silver fern is a national emblem. The national rugby team, the All Blacks, has the best winning record of any national team in the world, including being the inaugural winner of the 1987 Rugby Union World Cup. The British brought the Protestant work ethic—the industrious newcomers astonished Maori people.
The southern and southwestern parts of the South Island have a cooler and cloudier climate, with around 1,400–1,600 hours. Oceania is a wider region encompassing the Australian continent, New Zealand, and various island countries in the Pacific Ocean that are not included in the seven-continent model. The plateau also hosts the country’s largest lake, Lake Taupō, nestled in the caldera of one of the world’s most active supervolcanoes. Fiordland’s steep mountains and deep fiords record the extensive ice age glaciation of this southwestern corner of the South Island.
The entry of Britain into the European Community in the early 1970s, however, forced New Zealand to expand its trade relations with other countries. Economically the country was dependent on the export of agricultural products, especially to Great Britain. The ascent of Mount Everest by New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary with Sherpa Tenzing Norgay in 1953 was one of the defining moments of the 20th century.
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.
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.
The 1923 and 1926 Imperial Conferences decided that New Zealand should be allowed to negotiate its own political treaties, and the first commercial treaty was ratified in 1928 with Japan. During the period of the New Zealand colony, Britain was responsible for external trade and foreign relations. The Ross Dependency is New Zealand’s territorial claim in Antarctica, where it operates the Scott Base research facility.
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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. Smaller islands include Stewart Island, which lies south of South Island; Waiheke and Great Barrier islands, near the north end of North Island; and the Chatham Islands, more than 800 km east of South Island. Despite New Zealand’s isolation, the country has been fully engaged in international affairs since the early 20th century, being an active member of a number of intergovernmental institutions, including the United Nations.
Geothermal power is also a significant generator of electricity, with several large stations located across the Taupō Volcanic Zone in the North Island. The majority of the country’s electricity supply is generated from hydroelectric power, with major schemes on the Waikato, Waitaki and Clutha / Mata-Au rivers, as well as at Manapouri. New Zealand’s wine industry has followed a similar trend to dairy, the number of vineyards doubling over the same period, overtaking wool exports for the first time in 2007. In 2017, international visitor arrivals were expected to betista casino login increase at a rate of 5.4% annually up to 2022. Tourism plays a significant role in the economy, contributing $12.9 billion (or 5.6%) to New Zealand’s total GDP and supporting 7.5% of the total workforce in 2016. The service sector is the largest sector in the economy, followed by manufacturing and construction and then farming and raw material extraction.
New Zealand’s transport network comprises 94,000 kilometres (58,410 mi) of roads, including 199 kilometres (124 mi) of motorways, and 4,128 kilometres (2,565 mi) of railway lines. In contrast, dairy farming increased, with the number of dairy cows doubling between 1990 and 2007, to become New Zealand’s largest export earner. On 7 April 2008, New Zealand and China signed the New Zealand–China Free Trade Agreement, the first such agreement China has signed with a developed country. Food products made up 55% of the value of all the country’s exports in 2014; wood was the second largest earner (7%). Exports account for 24% of its output, making New Zealand vulnerable to international commodity prices and global economic slowdowns.
Māori developed a varied musical tradition around songs and chants, including ceremonial performances, laments, and love songs. Although still largely influenced by global trends (modernism) and events (the Great Depression), writers in the 1930s began to develop stories increasingly focused on their experiences in New Zealand. Most early English literature was obtained from Britain, and it was not until the 1950s when local publishing outlets increased that New Zealand literature started to become widely known. However, the local fashion industry has grown significantly since 2000, doubling exports and increasing from a handful to about 50 established labels, with some labels gaining international recognition. Standards have since relaxed and New Zealand fashion has received a reputation for being casual, practical and lacklustre.
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New Zealand is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary democracy, although its constitution is not codified. Marine mammals are abundant, with almost half the world’s cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises) and large numbers of fur seals reported in New Zealand waters. Three species of bats (one since extinct) were the only sign of native land mammals in New Zealand until the 2006 discovery of bones from a unique, mouse-sized land mammal at least 16 million years old. Much of the remaining forest fell after European settlement, being logged or cleared to make room for pastoral farming, leaving forest occupying only 23% of the land in 1997. Before humans arrived, an estimated 80% of the land was covered in forest, with only high alpine, wet, infertile and volcanic areas without trees. The two main types of forest are those dominated by broadleaf trees with emergent podocarps, or by southern beech in cooler climates.
Early in the 20th century, New Zealand was involved in world affairs, fighting in the First and Second World Wars and suffering through the Great Depression. The British government’s residual legislative powers were later removed by the Constitution Act 1986, and final rights of appeal to British courts were abolished in 2003. In 1907, at the request of the New Zealand Parliament, King Edward VII proclaimed New Zealand a Dominion within the British Empire, reflecting its self-governing status. In 1893, New Zealand was the first nation in the world to grant all women the right to vote and pioneered the adoption of compulsory arbitration between employers and unions in 1894. Following concerns that the South Island might form a separate colony, premier Alfred Domett moved a resolution to transfer the capital from Auckland to a locality near Cook Strait.
