Facts
Location
Oceania, islands in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of Australia
Land Size
268,680 sq km
About the size of Colorado
NZ is made up of two bigger islands (North Island and South Island) and hundreds of smaller islands
Currency
New Zealand Dollar
1 USD = 1.41303 NZD
Sports
Rugby, soccer (popular among children), cric netball, golf, tennis, rowing, and sailing
Population
4,035,461 - 14 per square km
80% of the people live in cities
Wellington is the southernmost national capital in the world
Close to 75% of the population live in the North Island, 25% in the South Island
Ethnic Groups
European 69.8%, Maori 7.9%, Asian 5.7%, Pacific islander 4.4%, other 0.5%, mixed 7.8%, unspecified 3.8%
Religions
Anglican 14.9%, Roman Catholic 12.4%, Presbyterian 10.9%, Methodist 2.9%, Pentecostal 1.7%, Baptist 1.3%, other Christian 9.4%, other 3.3%, unspecified 17.2%, none 26%
Languages
English and Maori
Government Type
Parliamentary Democracy
Independence
September 26, 1907 (from UK)
Industries
Food processing, wood and paper products, textiles, machinery, transportation equipment, banking and insurance, tourism, mining
Climate
Temperate with sharp regional contrasts
Weather
NZ seasons are the opposite of the Northern Hemisphere
Spring - Sept-Nov
Summer - Dec-Feb
Fall - Mar-May
Winter - Jun-Aug
Landscape
The North Island is mildly volcanic, hilly and has coastal mangroves in the north
The South Island is known for its Southern Alps, glaciers, fiords, lakes and rivers
Extras
NZ has 39.5 million sheep - 135 per sq km
NZ was the first western democracy to give women the vote
NZer Edmund Hillary was the first person to climb Mt Everest
NZ invented bungee jumping.
NZ has the worlds largest flightless parrot (kakapo), the oldest reptile (tuatara), the biggest earthworms, the smallest bats (the only native land mammals), the heaviest insect (a weta), some of the oldest trees, and many of the rarest birds, insects, and plants in the world.