New Zealand

New Zealand (/njuË?ˈziË?lÉ™nd/ new-ZEE-lÉ™nd, MÄ?ori: Aotearoa [aɔˈtÉ›aɾɔa]) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The country geographically comprises two main landmasses – that of the North Island, or Te Ika-a-MÄ?ui, and the South Island, or Te Waipounamu – and numerous smaller islands. New Zealand is situated some 1,500 kilometres (900 mi) east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and roughly 1,000 kilometres (600 mi) south of the Pacific island areas of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga. Because of its remoteness, it was one of the last lands to be settled by humans. During its long isolation, New Zealand developed a distinctive biodiversity of animal, fungal and plant life. The country's varied topography and its sharp mountain peaks, such as the Southern Alps, owe much to the tectonic uplift of land and volcanic eruptions. New Zealand's capital city is Wellington, while its most populous city is Auckland.

Somewhere between 1250 and 1300 CE, Polynesians settled in the islands that were to become New Zealand, and developed a distinctive MÄ?ori culture. In 1642, Abel Tasman, a Dutch explorer, became the first European to sight New Zealand. In 1840, representatives of the British Crown and MÄ?ori Chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi, making New Zealand a British colony. Today, the majority of New Zealand's population of 4.5 million is of European descent; the indigenous MÄ?ori are the largest minority, followed by Asians and Pacific Islanders. Reflecting this, New Zealand's culture is mainly derived from MÄ?ori and early British settlers, with recent broadening arising from increased immigration. The official languages are English, MÄ?ori and New Zealand Sign Language, with English predominant.

1926 in New Zealand

Population

A census was held in March 1926.

Incumbents

Regal and viceregal

Government

The 22nd New Zealand Parliament continued with the Reform Party governing.

Parliamentary opposition

Main centre leaders

Events

2011 Rugby World Cup

The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Africa at a meeting in Dublin on 17 November 2005. The tournament was won by New Zealand, who defeated France 8–7 in the final. The defending champions, South Africa, were eliminated by Australia 11–9 in the quarter-finals. The result marked the third time that the tournament was won by the country that hosted the event (following New Zealand in 1987 and South Africa in 1995).

It was the largest sporting event ever held in New Zealand, eclipsing the 1987 Rugby World Cup, 1990 Commonwealth Games, 1992 Cricket World Cup and the 2003 America's Cup. Overseas visitors to New Zealand for the event totalled 133,000, more than the 95,000 that the organisers expected. However, there was a drop in non-event visitors, meaning the net increase in visitors over the previous year was less than 80,000.

New Zealand art

New Zealand art is visual art created in New Zealand or by New Zealanders. It includes traditional MÄ?ori art, which was developed in New Zealand from Polynesian art forms, and more recent forms which take their inspiration from MÄ?ori, European and other traditions.

Prehistoric art

Charcoal drawings can be found on limestone rock shelters in the centre of the South Island, with over 500 sites stretching from Kaikoura to North Otago. The drawings are estimated to be between 500 and 800 years old, and portray animals, people and fantastic creatures, possibly stylised reptiles. Some of the birds pictured are long extinct, including moa and Haast's eagles. They were drawn by early MÄ?ori, but by the time Europeans arrived, local inhabitants did not know the origins of the drawings.

Traditional MÄ?ori art

MÄ?ori visual art consists primarily of four forms: carving, tattooing (ta moko), weaving and painting. It was rare for any of these to be purely decorative; traditional MÄ?ori art was highly spiritual and in a pre-literate society conveyed information about spiritual matters, ancestry, and other culturally important topics. The creation of art was governed by the rules of tapu. Styles varied from region to region: the style now sometimes seen as 'typical' in fact originates from Te Arawa, who maintained a strong continuity in their artistic traditions thanks partly to early engagement with the tourist industry. Most traditional MÄ?ori art was highly stylised and featured motifs such as the spiral, the chevron and the koru. The colours black, white and red dominated.

New Zealand wine

New Zealand wine is largely produced in ten major wine growing regions spanning latitudes 36° to 45° South and extending 1,600 kilometres (990 mi). They are, from north to south Northland, Auckland, Waikato/Bay of Plenty, Gisborne, Hawke's Bay, Wellington, Nelson, Marlborough, Canterbury/Waipara and Central Otago.

History

New Zealand (disambiguation)

New Zealand is a country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean.

New Zealand may also refer to:

Places

Other

See also

New Zealand national Australian rules football team

The New Zealand national Australian rules football team nicknamed the Hawks, is the national team for the sport of Australian rules football in New Zealand. The team is selected from the best New Zealand born and developed players, primarily from the clubs of the New Zealand AFL. New Zealand-born players in the Australian Football League are not considered for selection. The team mainly plays only for the purposes of the Australian Football International Cup, and won the tournament in 2005.

Identity

The NZ Hawks wear a distinctive silver and black ADIDAS uniform which consists of a guernsey (singlet), shorts and socks. The guernsey contains New Zealand's silver fern and the Hawks logo. Before every match, similar to the all blacks, the NZ Hawks will perform a haka.

History

The Hawks are the modern version of the team that defeated both New South Wales and Queensland at the Jubilee Australasian Football Carnival. Australian Football was seldom played in New Zealand between 1908 and 1974.