Sigurd

=New Zealand=

History:
The first settlers in New Zealand were Eastern Polynesians, in series of migrations, probably for about 700 to 2000 years ago. Over the following centuries they became the Maori. The population was divided into Iwi, which was tribes, and hapû, which were smaller tribes. Eventually some of the Maori population migrated to the Chatham Islands, were they developed their own distinct culture. The first Europeans that came to New Zealand, in 1642, were Dutch. The Maori killed them all, so when no one returned the Europeans didn’t return until James Cook, in 1768-71, journeyed to New Zealand. The Europeans and North Americans traded mostly weapons and metal tools for timber, food, water and artifacts with the Maoris. And sometimes they even traded for sex. The different new items the Maoris now had totally changed their culture to the worse. The weapons changed their warfare, and the alcohol and the drugs changed their lives. In the beginning of the 19th century Christian missionaries came to New Zealand, which converted most of the Maoris.

Government:
New Zealand has a democratic parliament, with Queen Elizabeth II as head of state. The queen is represented by the Governor-General, which is chosen by the queen and Prime Minister. The New Zealand parliament has only one chamber, the House of Representatives, which usually seats 120 Members of Parliament. New Zealand is the only country in the world in which all the highest offices in the land have been occupied, in the same time, by women. New Zealand believes strongly in environmental protection, human rights and free trade, especially in agriculture. They have made many free trade agreements, most important with China.

Environment:
The state of New Zealand concludes to main islands, the north island and the south island, and some smaller islands. Most of the population lives on the to main islands, mostly the north island. New Zealand is known for a special geography. The south island is the biggest. Here you can find the Southern Alps, with the highest peak Mount Cook, or Aoraki in Maori tongue, reaching 3754 meters high. There are also high mountains on the north island, the highest Mount Ruapehu, stretching 2797 meters, is an active cone volcano. Because of the beautiful nature and varied landscape New Zealand has been made a very popular spot for shooting movies, such as the Lord of the Rings trilogy and other known movies. The animal life in New Zealand is very special. You can find animals you can’t find anywhere else in the world. Some animals are platypus, the kiwi bird and different dragons.



Sport:
New Zealand is known to be good in mostly any sport there is in the world. Rugby is the unofficial national sport. They also play soccer, cricket, bowls, netball, motorsport, golf, swimming and tennis. New Zealand is also well known for their talents in extreme sports and adventure tourism. Queenstown was the place for the world’s first commercial bungee jumping site in 1988. It is also very popular with mountaineering. Tenzing Norgay, a New Zealander, was the first person to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

Links:
Wikipedia New Zealand Wildlife