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 New Zealand - political GEOGRAPHYLocation and Size :New Zealand consists of two large islands, North Island and South Island, plus several smaller ones of which Stewart Island is the largest and often referred to as 'our third island'. North and South Islands are separated by the 32km / 20mile wide Cook Strait. To the north and east lies the Pacific Ocean and between ourselves and Australia lies the Tasman Sea. The total land area is 270,535 sq Km / 104,453 sq miles. North Island is volcanically active with a central plateau. South Island has the high snow covered mountain peaks and glaciers of the Southern Alps, a range running almost 500Km / 300miles along the Island. : Beautiful landscape of Wanaka Gorgeous mountains of Southern alps People :New Zealand has a population of around 3.65 million. People from a wide range of European countries have arrived since Captain James Cook to make up 75% of the population while Maori make up about 10%. The Maori first arrived on these shores just over a 1000 years ago at the close of the last millennium. Today, the Maori have adopted western lifestyles but have actively been encouraged to keep alive their culture, language and art. Other ethnic groups have arrived from Polynesia (Tonga, Samoa, Cook Islands) with Auckland now being the Polynesia capital of the South Pacific. People from China, Taiwan, Korea, Vietnam, etc have also settled in New Zealand making for a diverse population mix. back to Home |
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