Facts About New Zealand
Background: The British colony of New Zealand became an independent dominion in 1907 and supported the UK militarily in both World Wars. New Zealand withdrew from a number of defense alliances during the 1970s and 1980s. In recent years the government has sought to address longstanding native Maori grievances.
Government type: parliamentary democracy
Capital:Wellington
Currency: 1 New Zealand dollar (NZ$) = 100 cents
Geography of New Zealand
Location: Oceania, islands in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of Australia
Geographic coordinates: 41 00 S, 174 00 E
Map references: Oceania
Area:
total: 268,680 sq km
land: 268,670 sq km
water: 10 sq km
note: includes Antipodes Islands, Auckland Islands, Bounty Islands, Campbell Island, Chatham Islands, and Kermadec Islands
Land boundaries: 0 km
Coastline: 15,134 km
Maritime claims:
continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: temperate with sharp regional contrasts
Terrain: predominately mountainous with some large coastal plains
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mount Cook 3,764 m
Natural resources: natural gas, iron ore, sand, coal, timber, hydropower, gold, limestone
Land use:
arable land: 9%
permanent crops: 5%
permanent pastures: 50%
forests and woodland: 28%
other: 8% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 2,850 sq km (1993 est.)
Natural hazards: earthquakes are common, though usually not severe; volcanic activity
Environment – current issues: deforestation; soil erosion; native flora and fauna hard-hit by species introduced from outside
Environment – international agreements:
party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Antarctic Seals, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Marine Life Conservation
Geography – note: about 80% of the population lives in cities; Wellington is the southernmost national capital in the world.
People of New Zealand
Most of the 3.8 million New Zealanders are of British origin. About 15% claim descent from the indigenous Maori population, which is of Polynesian origin. Nearly 75% of the people, including a large majority of Maori, live on the North Island. In addition, 167,000 Pacific Islanders also live in New Zealand. During the late 1870s, natural increase permanently replaced immigration as the chief contributor to population growth and has accounted for more than 75% of population growth in the 20th century. Nearly 85% of New Zealand’s population lives in urban areas (with almost one-third in Auckland alone), where the service and manufacturing industries are growing rapidly. New Zealanders colloquially refer to themselves as “Kiwis,” after the country’ native bird.
Population: 4,035,461 (July 2005 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 22.36%
15-64 years: 66.11%
65 years and over: 11.53%
Population growth rate: 1.14%
Birth rate: 14.28 births/1,000 population
Death rate: 7.56 deaths/1,000 population
Net migration rate: 4.71 migrant(s)/1,000 population
Infant mortality rate: 6.28 deaths/1,000 live births
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 77.99 years
male: 75.01 years
female: 81.1 years
Total fertility rate: 1.8 children born/woman
Nationality:
noun: New Zealander(s)
adjective: New Zealand
Ethnic groups: New Zealand European 74.5%, Maori 9.7%, other European 4.6%, Pacific Islander 3.8%, Asian and others 7.4%
Religions: Anglican 24%, Presbyterian 18%, Roman Catholic 15%, Methodist 5%, Baptist 2%, other Protestant 3%, unspecified or none 33% (1986)
Languages: English (official), Maori
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99% (1980 est.)
History Of New Zealand
Archaeological evidence indicates that New Zealand was populated by fishing and hunting people of East Polynesian ancestry perhaps 1,000 years before Europeans arrived. Known to some scholars as the Moa-hunters, they may have merged with later waves of Polynesians who, according to Maori tradition, arrived between 952 and 1150. Some of the Maoris called their new homeland “Aotearoa,” usually translated as “land of the long white cloud.”
In 1642, Abel Tasman, a Dutch navigator, made the first recorded European sighting of New Zealand and sketched sections of the two main islands’ west coasts. English Captain James Cook thoroughly explored the coastline during three South Pacific voyages beginning in 1769. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, lumbering, seal hunting, and whaling attracted a few European settlers to New Zealand. In 1840, the United Kingdom established British sovereignty through the Treaty of Waitangi signed that year with Maori chiefs.
In the same year, selected groups from the United Kingdom began the colonization process. Expanding European settlement led to conflict with Maori, most notably in the Maori land wars of the 1860s. British and colonial forces eventually overcame determined Maori resistance. During this period, many Maori died from disease and warfare, much of it intertribal.
Constitutional government began to develop in the 1850s. In 1867, the Maori won the right to a certain number of reserved seats in parliament. During this period, the livestock industry began to expand, and the foundations of New Zealand’s modern economy took shape. By the end of the 19th century, improved transportation facilities made possible a great overseas trade in wool, meat, and dairy products.
By the 1890s, parliamentary government along democratic lines was well-established, and New Zealand’s social institutions assumed their present form. Women received the right to vote in national elections in 1893. The turn of the century brought sweeping social reforms that built the foundation for New Zealand’s version of the welfare state.
The Maori gradually recovered from population decline and, through interaction and intermarriage with settlers and missionaries, adopted much of European culture. In recent decades, Maori have become increasingly urbanized and have become more politically active and culturally assertive.
New Zealand was declared a dominion by a royal proclamation in 1907. It achieved full internal and external autonomy by the Statute of Westminster Adoption Act in 1947, although this merely formalized a situation that had existed for many years.
New Zealand Economy
New Zealand’s economy has traditionally been based on a foundation of exports from its very efficient agricultural system. Leading agricultural exports include meat, dairy products, forest products, fruit and vegetables, fish, and wool. New Zealand was a direct beneficiary of many of the reforms achieved under the Uruguay Round of trade negotiations, with agriculture in general and the dairy sector in particular enjoying many new trade opportunities. The country has substantial hydroelectric power and sizable reserves of natural gas. Leading manufacturing sectors are food processing, metal fabrication, and wood and paper products.
Since 1984, government subsidies including for agriculture have been eliminated; import regulations have been liberalized; exchange rates have been freely floated; controls on interest rates, wages, and prices have been removed; and marginal rates of taxation reduced. Tight monetary policy and major efforts to reduce the government budget deficit brought the inflation rate down from an annual rate of more than 18% in 1987. The restructuring and sale of government-owned enterprises in the 1990s reduced government’s role in the economy and permitted the retirement of some public debt.
Economic growth, which had slowed in 1997 and 1998 due to the negative effects of the Asian financial crisis and two successive years of drought, rebounded in 1999. A low New Zealand dollar, favorable weather, and high commodity prices have boosted exports, and the economy is estimated to have grown by 2.5% in 2000. Growth is likely to slow in 2001 given the economic slowdown in important export markets. The return of substantial economic growth led the unemployment rate to drop from 7.8% in 1999 to 5.2% in mid-2001, the lowest rate in 13 years.
The large current account deficit, which stood at more than 8% of GDP in 2000, has been a constant source of concern for New Zealand policymakers. The rebound in the export sector is expected to help narrow the deficit to lower levels.
New Zealand’s economy has been helped by strong economic relations with Australia. Australia and New Zealand are partners in “Closer Economic Relations” (CER), which allows for free trade in goods and most services. Since 1990, CER has created a single market of more than 22 million people, and this has provided new opportunities for New Zealand exporters. Australia is now the destination of 19% of New Zealand’s exports, compared to 14% in 1983. Both sides also have agreed to consider extending CER to product standardization and taxation policy. New Zealand initialed a free trade agreement with Singapore in September 2000 and is seeking other bilateral/regional trade agreements in the Pacific area.
Investment opportunities exist in chemicals, food preparation, finance, tourism, and forest products, as well as in franchising. The best sales prospects are for medical equipment, information technology, and general consumer goods. On the agricultural side, the best prospects are for fresh fruit, snack foods, specialized grocery items such as organic foods, and soybean meal.
New Zealand welcomes and encourages foreign investment without discrimination. The Overseas Investment Commission (OIC) must give consent to foreign investments that would control 25% of more of businesses or property worth more than NZ$50 million. Restrictions and approval requirements also apply to certain investments in land and in the commercial fishing industry. OIC consent is based on a national interest determination, but no performance requirements are attached to foreign direct investment after consent is given. Full remittance of profits and capital is permitted through normal banking channels.
GDP: purchasing power parity – $67.6 billion (2000 est.)
GDP – real growth rate: 3.1% (1999 est.), 3.6% (2000 est.)
GDP – per capita: purchasing power parity – $17,700 (2000 est.)
GDP – composition by sector:
agriculture: 8%
industry: 23%
services: 69% (1999)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 0.3%
highest 10%: 29.8% (1991 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 1.3% (1999 est.), 2.4% (2000 est.)
Labor force: 1.88 million (2000)
Labor force – by occupation: services 65%, industry 25%, agriculture 10% (1995)
Unemployment rate: 7% (1999 est.), 6.3% (2000 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $19.2 billion
expenditures: $19.2 billion (1999 est.)
Industries: food processing, wood and paper products, textiles, machinery, transportation equipment, banking and insurance, tourism, mining
Industrial production growth rate: 6.2% (2000)
Electricity – production: 37.952 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity – production by source:
fossil fuel: 30.49%
hydro: 61.42%
nuclear: 0%
other: 8.09% (1999)
Electricity – consumption: 35.295 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity – exports: 0 kWh (1999)
Electricity – imports: 0 kWh (1999)
Agriculture – products: wheat, barley, potatoes, pulses, fruits, vegetables; wool, beef, dairy products; fish
Exports: $12.2 billion (f.o.b., 1998 est.), $14.6 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)
Exports – commodities: dairy products, meat, fish, wool, forestry products, manufactures
Exports – partners: Australia 22%, US 14%, Japan 13%, UK 7% (1999)
Imports: $11.2 billion (f.o.b., 1998 est.), $14.3 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)
Imports – commodities: machinery and equipment, vehicles and aircraft, petroleum, consumer goods, plastics
Imports – partners: Australia 24%, US 17%, Japan 12%, UK 4% (1999)
Debt – external: $53 billion (1998), $30.8 billion (2000 est.)
Economic aid – donor: ODA, $123 million (1995)
Currency: New Zealand dollar (NZD)
Map Of New Zealand
