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New Zealand lies in the
south-west Pacific Ocean, 1,600 km east of Australia. It is made up of the
North and South Islands and a number of smaller islands, with a total land
area of 268,000 sq km.Surrounded by the South Pacific Ocean on the east
and the Tasman Sea on the west, New Zealand is about 1,770 km from
top to bottom--similar in size to the British Isles or Japan.
The Polynesian Maori reached New Zealand in about A.D. 800. In 1840, their
chieftains entered into a compact with Britain, the Treaty of Waitangi, in
which they ceded sovereignty to Queen Victoria while retaining territorial
rights. In that same year, the British began the first organized colonial
settlement. A series of land wars between 1843 and 1872 ended with the
defeat of the native peoples. The British colony of New Zealand became an
independent dominion in 1907 and supported the UK militarily in both World
Wars. New Zealand's full participation in a number of defense alliances
lapsed by the 1980s. In recent years, the government has sought to address
longstanding Maori grievances.
Australia, 2,092 km northwest, is New
Zealand's closest neighbor, and because of this relative proximity the two
countries are often mistakenly believed to be one. But beware! To
innocently suggest this to "Kiwis" (as New Zealanders like to call
themselves) is to risk running afoul of their good natures. New Zealand is
an independent self-governing nation.
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