Introduction
In this article I’m giving a brief overview of New Zealand, about its history, environment and geography. And why it’s a great place to travel to.
New Zealand
New Zealand is located in the southwestern pacific ocean and has two main islands and numerous of smaller islands.
The islands are 268.021 Square kilometers across and contain more than 4,7 million inhabitants.
Wellington is New Zealand’s capital while Auckland is the largest city with approximately 1,5 million citizens.
When Dutch explorer Abel Tasman sighted New Zealand he called it Staten Landt, in 1645 cartographers renamed it to Nova Zeelandia and was later anglicized to New Zealand.
Environment
The biota of New Zealand is one of the most unusual on Earth, due to its long isolation from other continents, plants and animal species were able to drastically change. This is the main cause of New Zealand having such a wide variety of unique animal species and fauna.
One very popular example is the kiwi a flightless bird species and a national icon.
Sadly after 1000 years of humans in New Zealand it has lost many native species.
With the coming of European settlers came rats, cats and other predators causing a lot of flightless bird species and other animals to go extinct.
Most of New Zealand has a maritime climate with maximum record temperatures ranging from 42.4°C Max and lowest being -21.6°C recorded in 1995 near Ophir.
New Zealand has a rough mountain surface with a shore line of about 15.000km and causing the country to have extensive marine resources.
The South island has 18 mountain peaks over 3000 meters and Mount Cook being the highest reaching 3754m. The North island has less mountains but counts multiple volcanos with a caldera being one of the world’s most active super volcano.
Travel
Thanks to its unique environment and rough terrain New Zealand is a popular travel spot.
With Queenstown being the action capital of the country. There’s a lot of outdoor activities and sports to do in the area visiting restaurants and one of the best night life in New Zealand.
Another popular activity is skydiving and is best over Lake Taupo. It provides the best backdrop as you fall to Earth from 4500 meters.
During the winter period the south island, especially the area around Queenstown, has snow covered mountains that offer some of the best skiing in the southern hemisphere.
The best way to travel across the country is to hire your own vehicle, shop around there are plenty of options across a range of budgets. On road trips allow plenty of time for delays and unexpected stops, you will find spots that are so beautiful that you’ll want to stay longer.
Ethnicity
74% of New Zealand residents stated ethnically as European, and 14.9% as Māori. Other major ethnic groups include Asian 11.8% and Pacific peoples 7.4%.
The population has become more varied in recent years in 1961, a report stated that the population of New Zealand was 92% European and 7% Māori and being Asian and Pacific the remaining 1%.
After the second world war a lot of Dutch immigrants had come to find a new and better place in New Zealand.
Most of them worked in agriculture and saw a lot of opportunities in becoming a farmer based in New Zealand, mostly because of the larger scale of the country.
And still today farmers are immigrating to New Zealand.
Culture
Early Māori adapted the tropically based east Polynesian culture in line with the challenges associated with a larger and more diverse environment, eventually developing their own distinctive culture.
The British and other European immigrants brought parts of their own culture to New Zealand and also influenced Māori culture mainly with the introduction of Christianity.
More recently American, Australian, Asian and other European cultures have exerted influence on New Zealand. Non-Māori Polynesian cultures are also apparent, with Pasifika, the world’s largest Polynesian festival, now an annual event in Auckland.
New Zealand music has been influenced by blues, jazz, country with many of these genres given a unique New Zealand interpretation.
Māori developed traditional songs from their ancient South-East Asian origins, and after centuries of isolation created a unique sound.
Flutes and trumpets were used as musical instruments or as signaling devices during the war
Opinion
While making this article I got interested in traveling to New Zealand because of its unique nature and environment.
But because of my freight of flight and the length of travel I’m probably going to stay with Italy. But who knows what the future will bring.