New Zealand Geography, History and Culture
By Nicolas Bernillon.
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New
Zealand lies in the southern Pacific Ocean, 1600 km east of Australia. It
is made up of the North and South Islands and a number of smaller islands,
with a total area of 268,000 km². New Zealand is considered to be one of
the most isolated country in the world. It is the first country to see
each new day. New Zealand is an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean. New
Zealand is divided in several regions: Auckland, Bay of plenty,
Canterbury, Coromandel, East Cape, Manawatu, Marlborough, Nelson,
Northland, Otago. Quarter of New Zealand is protected wilderness and much
of the country is pollution free. |
History
New Zealand was first colonised by Polynesians (Maoris) around 950 AD
and about 1150 AD was re-discovered by Polynesians Toi and Whatonga. These
first settlers were called 'Moa Hunters' or Archaic Maori. The Maori name
for the country is Aotearoa which translates to 'the land of the long
white cloud'.
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The first European to discover New Zealand was Dutch explorer Abel
Tasman. He sailed around the islands without landing in 1642. The name New
Zealand, or Nieuw Zeeland, was given by Dutch geographers, named after the
Dutch maritime province of Zeeland. In 1769 Englishman James Cook
navigated both islands and landed in many places. He named many places
around New Zealand and had many dealings with Maori, most of them friendly.
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Frenchmen, Englishmen and Italians also visited the country. Following
the European publication of reports from all these people, the country was
seen ripe for whalers, sealers, flax and timber traders, to exploit and
plunder which they did. In this process questionable deals were done with
Maori for guns, liquor and tobacco. Hundreds of ships a year visited New
Zealand revealing to the Maori a rough side to the Europeans.
The British government was aware of the general lawlessness of New
Zealand and slowly a number of steps were taken to introduce British rule
of law, although many visiting ships continued their questionable trading
and exploitation. By 1839 there were about 1,000 Europeans living around
New Zealand and planned settlement from Britain began in 1840.
As Europeans increased in number, the amount of land they needed also
increased. Some misunderstandings and unclear deals were done resulting in
a series of battles, known as the 'Maori Land Wars'. Many immigrants felt
angry or tricked when they reached New Zealand and found that much of the
good land was owned by Maori tribes. The growing economy undertook a
'correction' in the early 1880's, but new innovations, such as frozen meat
exports, dairy goods, and the increasing mechanism of farming helped the
situation.
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Culture:
New Zealand’s
culture is rich and diverse due to the blending of Polynesian and European
cultures. The influence of Maori, Pacific Island, European and Asian
cultures makes New Zealand a colourful place which has many different type
of food. New Zealand is famous all over the world for things like rugby,
sheep and the kiwi bird. New Zealander’s love rugby, yachting, coffee,
arts an outdoors. Famous New Zealanders includes Sir Edmund Hillary and
Ernest Rutherford.
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References:
www.vnz.co.nz
http://www.newzealandsites.com/about-new-zealand/history.html
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