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Portal:New Zealand

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New Zealand
Aotearoa (Māori)
A map of the hemisphere centred on New Zealand, using an orthographic projection.
Location of New Zealand, including outlying islands, its territorial claim in the Antarctic, and Tokelau
ISO 3166 codeNZ

New Zealand (Māori: Aotearoa) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island (Te Ika-a-Māui) and the South Island (Te Waipounamu)—and over 600 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island country by area and lies east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and south of the islands of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga. The country's varied topography and sharp mountain peaks, including the Southern Alps, owe much to tectonic uplift and volcanic eruptions. New Zealand's capital city is Wellington, and its most populous city is Auckland.

A developed country, it was the first to introduce a minimum wage, and the first to give women the right to vote. It ranks very highly in international measures of quality of life, human rights, and it has one of the lowest levels of perceived corruption in the world. It retains visible levels of inequality, having structural disparities between its Māori and European populations. New Zealand underwent major economic changes during the 1980s, which transformed it from a protectionist to a liberalised free-trade economy. The service sector dominates the national economy, followed by the industrial sector, and agriculture; international tourism is also a significant source of revenue. New Zealand and Australia have a strong relationship and are considered to have a shared Trans-Tasman identity between the two countries, stemming from centuries of British colonisation. The country is part of multiple international organizations and forums. (Full article...)

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Hargest in 1935

Brigadier James Hargest, CBE, DSO & Two Bars, MC, ED (4 September 1891 – 12 August 1944) was an officer of the New Zealand Military Forces, serving in both the First and Second World Wars. He was a Member of New Zealand's Parliament from 1931 to 1944, representing firstly the Invercargill and then the Awarua electorates.

Born in Gore in 1891, Hargest was a farmer when he volunteered for the New Zealand Expeditionary Force following the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914. Commissioned as an officer, he served in the Gallipoli campaign in 1915 and was seriously wounded. Following his recovery from his wounds, he returned to active duty on the Western Front. He commanded an infantry battalion during the later stages of the war and received several awards for his leadership. After the war, he returned to New Zealand to resume farming. In 1931 Hargest entered the Parliament of New Zealand as the member for Invercargill. Initially an independent, he was one of the strongest supporters of the National Party that was formed in 1936, and held an executive role in the party hierarchy. From 1938, he represented the Awarua electorate and had been considered for the party leadership, but he was no longer available once he volunteered for active service. (Full article...)

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The following are images from various New Zealand-related articles on Wikipedia.

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Housetruck under construction
Housetruck under construction

...that housetruckers in New Zealand live in old trucks and school buses (pictured) that have been converted into mobile homes?

... that the name of Whangaroa Harbour comes from the Māori lament "Whaingaroa" or "what a long wait" of a woman whose warrior husband had left for a foray to the south?

... that a feature of the New Zealand forest is the presence of many plants, like kauri, taraire, mangeao, Three Kings vine and pukanui, from genera that otherwise only occur in the tropics and subtropics?

...that researchers believe the monotypic New Zealand genus Oreostylidium represents an extreme example of floral paedomorphosis and should be transferred back to the related Australian genus Stylidium?

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The Treaty of Waitangi (Māori: Tiriti o Waitangi) is a treaty signed on February 6, 1840 by representatives of the British Crown, and Māori chiefs from the North Island of New Zealand. Prepared hastily and without legal assistance, it was first signed on February 6, 1840 at Waitangi in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand by a representative of the British Crown, and Māori chiefs from the upper North Island. Over the following months, copies were signed by other chiefs around the country. From the British point of view, the Treaty justified making New Zealand a British colony; it also gave Māori the rights of British citizens and the right to ownership of their lands and other properties. However significant differences between the Māori and English language versions of the Treaty mean that there is no consensus as to what rights the Treaty gives to which groups. (Full article...)

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Looking out of one of the Cathedral Caves, in the Catlins, New Zealand.
Looking out of one of the Cathedral Caves, in the Catlins, New Zealand.

The Cathedral Caves is a large V shaped limestone sea cave located on Waipati Beach, 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) south of Papatowai, on the Catlins Coast in the southeast corner of New Zealand's South Island. The two main entrances join together within the cliff to form one big cave. One arm of the cave has a 30 metres (98 ft) high ceiling. Often blue penguins will emerge from the gloom at the far end of the cave. And occasionally a sealion might be around. (Full article...)

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