New Zealand. The two main islands of New Zealand, lying more than 1,000 miles to the east of Australia, have a land area of nearly 104,000 square miles, and are larger than the United Kingdom (94,000). South Island is rather bigger than North Island, but contains only a quarter of the people. In the mid-1990s the population was 3½ million, most of them living in towns. The capital, Wellington, with 329,000 people, is in North Island: Auckland has nearly 1 million people, and Christchurch 318,000. Mount Cook in the Southern Alps rises to more than 12,000 feet and in North Island there are geysers and hot springs. The economy is still largely based on cattle- and sheep-rearing, with Australia, Japan, USA, and UK the main markets, but New Zealand wine flourishes, industry increases, and tourism expanded rapidly after the spread of fast air travel.

The first inhabitants were Polynesian people, ancestors of the Maoris, who settled by the 8th cent. Abel Tasman, the Dutch explorer, sighted the west coast of South Island in December 1642, but four of his men were killed by the Maoris and he did not land. The Dutch named the land New Zealand but showed no further interest in it. The first encounter confirmed the warlike nature of the natives. Captain Cook, in the 18th cent., guessed that there were 100,000 of them, but he had no means of knowing and the figure was probably a substantial underestimate. They lived mainly in North Island, expectation of life was little more than thirty years, and cannibalism was practised.

Not until 1769 was Tasman's initiative followed up when, on his first voyage, Cook circumnavigated both islands. Again, his landing found a hostile reception and several Maoris were shot in skirmishes. He revisited the country on his second and third voyages, reporting that it would sustain an industrious people and that the natives would be too divided to offer much opposition. Thereafter contacts increased, with whalers and sealers calling in for supplies. In 1814 a small Christian mission was established, with little success at first, but progress by mid-century. For fifty years, the situation was close to a state of nature. Increased contact brought diseases to which the Maoris were extremely vulnerable and the acquisition of guns allowed them to try to exterminate each other. The native population declined sharply. By 1838 there were some 2,000 Europeans living and trading in New Zealand—the English, in Darwin's opinion, ‘the very refuse of society’. Disputes over land deals and violent clashes led many settlers to demand British protection. A New Zealand Association in 1837, supported by Lord Durham and E. G. Wakefield, was founded in London to encourage mass emigration. In 1839 an unenthusiastic British government sent Captain William Hobson to propose annexation to the Maoris to protect them from indiscriminate expropriation and in 1840 the treaty of Waitangi was signed, ceding sovereignty to the British in exchange for promises of security. The new colony was placed under New South Wales but in 1841 established in its own right.

The economic development of New Zealand was boosted by the discovery of gold in South Island in the 1850s, and, more enduringly, by the development of refrigeration in the 1880s, which enabled it to export cheese, butter, and meat to Britain. Constitutionally it progressed at remarkable speed, despite the protracted Maori wars which continued until 1872. As early as 1846 responsible government was granted, though suspended by the governor, Sir George Grey. A federal constitution was granted in 1852, with the country divided into six provinces, and was followed in 1856 by full representative government. The capital was moved from Auckland to Wellington in 1867. Though it took part in the negotiations, New Zealand did not join the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901 and in 1907 became a self-governing dominion. New Zealand sent a high proportion of its men to fight in the First World War and was given Western Samoa, a former German colony, as a mandate under the League of Nations at the end of the war: it became an independent state in 1962.

The population of New Zealand rose undramatically at first. The Maori population in 1896 was put as low as 42,000 and extinction seemed a possibility: it increased throughout the 20th cent. and by the 1990s was more than 400,000. The total population of New Zealand in 1907 was still less than 1 million, grew slowly in the 1920s, partly as a result of high wartime casualties, and had risen to 1.7 million by 1945. After that it rose quickly, reaching more than 3 million by 1975, before flattening out. As in South Africa, sport has been a bond of the emerging nation—the All Blacks' attempts to terrify their opponents with the Maori haka, the prominence of Maoris in rugby teams, and the development of the Western Samoans as formidable opponents. The New Zealanders have, with some truth, been described as ‘genteel Aussies’.

J. A. Cannon

New Zealand , island country (2005 est. pop. 4,035,000), 104,454 sq mi (270,534 sq km), in the S Pacific Ocean, over 1,000 mi (1,600 km) SE of Australia. The capital is Wellington ; the largest city and leading port is Auckland .

Land and People

New Zealand comprises the North Island and the South Island (the two principal islands), Stewart Island , and the Chatham Islands . Small outlying islands belonging to New Zealand include the Auckland Islands, the Kermadec Islands, Campbell Island, the Antipodes, Three Kings Island, Bounty Island, the Snares Islands, and the Solander Islands. Dependencies are Tokelau and Ross Dependency. The Cook Islands and Niue , both internally self-governing, are in free association with New Zealand.

The North Island is known for its active volcanic mountains and its hot springs. The country's longest river (the Waikato) and largest lake (Taupo) are both on the North Island. On the South Island, the massive Southern Alps extend almost the length of the island, and in the southwest are beautiful fjords. The largest areas of virgin forest are in the southern and northern extremities of the South Island. Among the unusual animals native to New Zealand are the kiwi, certain species of parrot, the tuatara (survivor of a prehistoric order of reptiles), and various frogs and reptiles. New Zealand has no native land mammals other than bats. Large oyster beds are found in the Foveaux Strait between Stewart Island and the South Island. Extensive areas of New Zealand have been set aside as national parks, including the Fiordland, Mt. Aorangi-Cook, and Tongariro parks.

More than 85% of the population lives in urban areas. In addition to Wellington and Auckland, the principal cities are Christchurch , Dunedin , Hamilton , Palmerston North , Hutt City , and Invercargill . People of European background constitute almost 70% of the population. The Maori , New Zealand's indigenous inhabitants, now make up about 8% of the population, with most living on the North Island. Almost 5% of the population is of Asian descent, while Pacific Islanders make up over 4%. Both English and Maori are official languages. New Zealand has no established religion; the three largest faiths are Anglican, Roman Catholic, and Presbyterian.

Economy

Agriculture has traditionally been the mainstay of the economy, although it now employs only 10% of the population, while services and industry make up a much greater percentage of the gross domestic product. The agricultural sector has diversified from a reliance on sheep raising to such additional enterprises as dairying, forestry, and horticulture. Wheat, barley, potatoes, pulses, fruits, and vegetables are grown; wool, beef, lamb, mutton, and fish are additional agricultural products. The mining sector produces coal, gold, iron, and natural gas. There is extensive food processing and wood and paper products, textiles, machinery, and transportation equipment are manufactured. Banking, insurance, and tourism are also important. Beginning in the 1980s, New Zealand transformed its highly protected and regulated economy into one that was much more privatized, market oriented, and deregulated. The principal exports are dairy products, meat, wood and wood products, fish, and machinery. Imports include machinery and equipment, vehicles, aircraft, petroleum, electronics, textiles, and plastic. The main trading partners are Australia, the United States, Japan, and China.

Government

New Zealand is governed under The Consitution Act of 1986, adopted in 1987, as well as other legal documents. The monarch of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, represented by the governor-general, is the head of state. The government is headed by the prime minister, who is appointed by the governor-general following legislative elections. Members of the 120-seat unicameral parliament (the House of Representatives) are elected by popular vote for three-year terms using a system of mixed constituency and proportional representation. Administratively, the country is divided into 16 regions and one territory (the Chatham Islands). New Zealand is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations.

History

New Zealand has been inhabited since at least AD 1000 by Polynesian Maoris. The first European to visit was the Dutch navigator Abel Tasman , who stopped there during his voyage of 1642-43. New Zealand was charted by Capt. James Cook on his three voyages (1769-78). Between 1792 and 1840, sealing, whaling, and trading led to European settlement. In a series of intertribal wars between 1815 and 1840, tens of thousands of Maoris died.

In 1840 the first settlement was made at Wellington by a group sent by the New Zealand Company, founded by Edward Gibbon Wakefield. In that year the Treaty of Waitangi guaranteed to the Maoris the full possession of their land in exchange for their recognition of British sovereignty. But as European settlement increased, Maori opposition to land settlement resulted in continuing conflict from 1860 to 1872.

Originally part of New South Wales (Australia), New Zealand became a separate colony in 1840 and received a large measure of self-government after 1852. In 1907 it assumed complete self-government as the Dominion of New Zealand, but, preferring that Great Britain handle most of its foreign affairs, did not confirm the Statute of Westminster (1931) until 1947.

New Zealand has been a leader in progressive social legislation. It was the first country to grant (1893) women the right to vote. A comprehensive social security system was begun in 1898 with the enactment of an old age pension law.

During World War I and World War II, New Zealand fought on the side of the Allies, and it joined the UN forces in the Korean War. New Zealand also sent troops to aid U.S. forces in South Vietnam in the 1960s. In 1951, New Zealand joined in a mutual defense treaty with the United States and Australia. This pact was suspended in 1986 after David Lange 's Labor government refused to let U.S. ships with nuclear arms enter its ports. In 1997, Jenny Shipley of the National party, which had been in power since 1990, became New Zealand's first woman prime minister.

The Labor party, led by Helen Clark , and its center-left coalition defeated the National party in the 1999 elections and formed a minority government. Clark's coalition retained power, again as a minority government, after the 2002 elections. After the court of appeals ruled in 2004 that Maoris could pursue land claims to New Zealand's beaches and seabed, the government passed legislation that nationalized the contested areas in an effort to prevent Maoris from gaining an exclusive legal title to them. The law alienated the government's Maori supporters and prompted the establishment of a Maori political party.

Parliamentary elections in Sept., 2005, resulted in a narrow victory for Labor, which secured a plurality of the seats. Clark formed a government with the support of three smaller parties, including the anti-immigration New Zealand First party. Clark and Labor lost the Nov., 2008, parliamentary elections to John Key, a wealthy former currency trader, and the National party.

Bibliography

See K. B. Cumberland and J. W. Fox, New Zealand: A Regional View (1964); A. H. McLintock, ed., An Encyclopedia of New Zealand (3 vol., 1966); G. R. Hawke, The Making of New Zealand (1985); G. McLauchlan, ed., Encyclopedia of New Zealand (52 vol., 1986-87); K. Sinclair, A History of New Zealand (4th rev. ed. 1991); G. W. Rice, ed., Oxford History of New Zealand (2d ed. 1992).

New Zealand A country situated over 1900 km (1180 miles) south-east of Australia, comprising the North Island and the South Island together with many smaller islands in the south-west Pacific Ocean.

Physical

The two main islands, separated by the fairly narrow Cook Strait, together stretch north-east to south-west over a distance of some 1600 km (1000 miles).

Economy

New Zealand has a largely agricultural economy with major exports of meat, wool, and butter. The economy was affected by the loss of preferential treatment by the UK, once the chief trading partner, when the UK joined the EC in 1973. New Zealand imports most manufactured goods and suffers from a balance of payments deficit. In 1984 economic reforms reduced government control of the economy and cut welfare provision. A treaty for closer economic relations aiming at the gradual introduction of a free market has been signed with Australia.

History

First people by the Polynesian MAORI from about 800 AD, European contact began in 1642 with the exploration of the Dutch navigator Abel Tasman. Captain James Cook, in successive explorations from 1769, thoroughly charted the islands, and brought them within the British ambit. Commercial colonization began from New South Wales in Australia and from the New Zealand Association (later Company) (1837) of E. G. WAKEFIELD. Humanitarian pressures contributed to the decision formally to annexe the islands as the colony of New Zealand in 1840 on the basis that the rule of law was necessary to regulate Maori-settler relations (Treaty of WAITANGI). In 1846 the British government conferred a limited constitution (rescinded in 1848) on New Zealand, divided into the provinces of New Munster and New Ulster, and in 1852 granted the islands representative government. Responsible self-government came in 1856. Settlement of the South Island prospered, assisted by the GOLD RUSHES of the 1860s. In the North Island, following the rapid acquisition of Maori land by settlers and by the government, the population was drawn into the disastrous ANGLO-MAORI WARS, following which most Maori land was settled. Regulations of 1881 restricted the influx of Asians, who were resented as a threat to the ethnic purity of the New Zealand people. They were confirmed by the Immigration Restriction Act (1920), whose terms were gradually liberalized. The property qualification for voting was abolished and women were enfranchised in 1893. In 1931 New Zealand became an independent dominion, although it did not choose to ratify the Statute of WESTMINSTER formally until 1947. In 1891–1911 (under the Liberal-Labour Party) and 1935–47 (under Labour) New Zealand won a world reputation for state socialist experiment, providing comprehensive welfare and education services. New Zealand actively supported the Allies in both World Wars, enjoying political stability and a high standard of living. After World War II it concentrated its defence policy on the Pacific and Far East, participating in ANZUS (1951–86) and sending a military force to Vietnam. Following British accession to the European Community (1973), New Zealand strengthened its trading links with Australia and its Pacific neighbours. When the LABOUR PARTY returned to power in 1984 it adopted a non-nuclear policy leading to withdrawal from ANZUS. The National Party under Jim Bolger won the election of 1990 at a time of economic recession. It confirmed Labour's non-nuclear stance, but introduced stringent social welfare cuts, ending free state education and introducing health charges for all. The National Party was re-elected in 1993 and 1996 but lost its majority and Bolger formed coalition governments. Maori activists continued to demand compensation for land seized illegally by European settlers and the government agreed to pay compensation to the Waikato tribe in 1994 and to the Tainui tribal federation in 1995; in 1996 large tracts of South Island were granted to the Ngai Tahu tribe.