NZ Facts and Statistics

General

New Zealand is an island country in the south-west Pacific. The capital is Wellington . The largest city and the leading port is Auckland.

New Zealand is an independent nation and a member of British Commonwealth . Comparable in size (270,500 sq km) and/or shape to Great Britain, Japan or Colorado in the United States . New Zealand has a diverse multicultural population of four million people making it one of the world's least corwded countries. The majority of New Zealanders are of British descent. New Zealand indigenous Mäori, a Polynesian people, make up around 15% of the population.

Climate

A temperate climate with relatively small seasonal variation makes New Zealand an ideal year round holiday destination. The north is subtropical and the south temperate. The seasons are opposite to the Northern Hemisphere. The warmest months are December, January and February, and the coldest are June, July and August. In summer, the average maximum temperature ranges between 20ºC and 30ºC; in winter, between 10ºC and 15ºC. Extremes of temperatures are unusual.

Physical

New Zealand comprises the North and South Islands (the two main islands), and a host of smaller islands including Waiheke, Stewart and the Chatham Islands . Extensive areas of New Zealand have been put aside as national parks, including Fiordland, Aoraki/Mt Cook and Tongariro.

Protected offshore islands and oceanic reserves ensure New Zealand 's unique plants and wildlife preserved. New Zealand 's wildlife includes the flightless kiwi bird, after which both the people and the fruit are names. There are also species of parrot, and frogs and reptiles. New Zealand has no native land mammals other than bats. There are no snakes.

The North Island has New Zealand's largest lake, Taupo (606 sq km), longest river, Waikato (425 km), and most of the country's active volcanoes - Ruapehu, Ngauruhoe and Tongariro - all of them usually quiet. Hot springs , geysers and mudpools also form part of the volcanic system centred around Rotorua.

In the South Island, on eof the most striking physical features is the Southern Alps . These, along with fiords, glaciers and lakes, and the coastal plains of Canterbury and Southland, add to the variety of the South Island 's scenery. New Zealands 's deepest lake (Hauroko, 482 m) and deepest cave (Nettlebed, 889 m) are also located in the South Island .

History

New Zealand has been inhabited by Mäori since about AD 1000. Dutch navigator Able Tasman mapped part of the coast during his voyage of 1642-43 and named the counter after Zealand in Holland . New Zealand was charted by Capt. James Cook on his three voyages (1769-78). Between 1792 and 1840, sealing, whaling and trading led to organised European settlement.

New Zealand is ruled by an elected single-house legislature presided over by a Speaker, with legislative power led by a Prime Minister. Queen Elizabeth II of Britain is also New Zealand 's sovereign and the New Zealand Government is referred to as 'the Crown'. Queen Elizabeth's representative in New Zealand is titled Governor-General.

New Zealand has been a leader in progressive social legislation. New Zealand was the first country to grant women right to vote (1893). New Zealand has a general election every three years.

Population

1995 3,673,400

2005 (provisional) 4,098,300

2015 (projected) 4,418,600

Resident population at 30 June 2005 (provisional)

Main urban area

Auckland 1,241,600

Hamilton 185,000

Napier-Hastings 119,600

Wellington 370,000

Christchurch 367,700

Dunedin 114,700

Remaining urban areas 558,000

Tourism

New Zealand lies around 1,600 km from Australia 's eastern coast (a three and a half hour flight) and 9,000 to 12,000 km from all Pacific Rim destinations (10 to 16 hours' flight). Auckland has the busiest of the several airports servicing international travellers. Peak travel months are December to February.

Exports

Principal exports are dairy products, meat, forest products, machinery, fruit and fish. Food processing is the largest manufacturing industry and there are a variety of small, light manufacturing industries. New Zealand produces coal, oil and natural gas and various metallic and non-metallic minerals, including pounamu/greenstone, used in jewellery.

Culture

More than 80% of the population lives in the urban areas and nearly 72% in the 16 largest. In addition to Wellington and Auckland, New Zealand 's major urban centres are Christchurch, Hamilton, Napier-Hastings and Dunedin .

English is the everyday language of New Zealand. Both English and Mäori are official languages. New Zealand 's largest religious denominations are Anglican, Roman Catholic and Presbyterian.

According to the Census 2001 figures, the number of multilingual people has increased by 20 percent from the 1996 census to nearly 1 in 6. English remain the predominant language spoken. Excluding children under 5 years of age, 1 in 50 people do not speak English. The other languages most widely spoken were:

Mäori 160,527

Samoan 81,035

French 49,722

Yue (Cantonese) 37,143

German 33,981

Sport is a major part of New Zealand life and most children participate in organised sport from primary school age onwards. Sports coverage takes up about 10% of normal daily newspaper.

Snapshot from Census 2001

Increasing ethnic diversity

The census counted more people of Asian ethnicity than Pacific peoples ethnicity.

• Almost 240,000 or 1 in 15 people were of Asian ethnicity.
• Counts of people of Asian ethnicity have more than doubled between 1991 and 2001.
• There were 231,801 people of Pacific peoples ethnicity.
• The count of people of European ethnicity has declined from 83 percent of the total in the 1991 Census to 80 percent in 2001.
• 1 in 7 people (526,281) are of Mäori ethnicity.
• Two-thirds of people of Asian ethnicity live in the Auckland region and 1 in 8 live in the Wellington region.
• Two-thirds of the people of Pacific people's ethnicity live in the Auckland region.
• In the Auckland region, 1 in 8 people are of Asian ethnicity, 1 in 8 of Pacific peoples ethnicity and 1 in 10 of Mäori ethnicity.
• Nearly 9 out of 20 people in the Gisborne region are of Mäori ethnicity.

More people born overseas

• Almost 1 in 5 New Zealand residents were born overseas compared with 1 in 6 in 1991 and 1 in 3 in 1901.
• In the Auckland region, 1 in 3 people were born overseas.
• In the Auckland region, 1 in 9 people were born in Asia .
• Almost three-quarters of people born in the Pacific Islands and two-thirds of those born in Asia live in Auckland .
• Almost 1 in 4 people in the Wellington region were born overseas, while fewer than 1 in 15 people in the Southland region were born overseas.
• The main countries of overseas birthplace were:

• While the number of New Zealand residents born in Europe has shown a small decline since 1996, there have been large increases from Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
• The greatest increase in counts of overseas birthplace between 1996 and 2001 were for: