New Zealand

Background of New Zealand

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. 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.

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: 267,710 sq km

country comparison to the world: 76

land: 267,710 sq km

water: NA

note: includes Antipodes Islands, Auckland Islands, Bounty Islands, Campbell Island, Chatham Islands, and Kermadec Islands

• Area - comparative:

Area comparison map:

Land boundaries: 0 km

• Coastline:

15,134 km

Maritime claims:

territorial sea: 12 nm

contiguous zone: 24 nm

exclusive economic zone: 200 nm

continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin

• Climate: temperate with sharp regional contrasts
• Terrain: predominately mountainous with some large coastal plains
• Elevation extremes:

lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m

highest point: Aoraki-Mount Cook 3,754 m

• Natural resources: natural gas, iron ore, sand, coal, timber, hydropower, gold, limestone

• Land use:

arable land: 1.76%

permanent crops: 0.27%

other: 97.98% (2011)

• Irrigated land:

6,193 sq km (2007)

• Total renewable water resources:

327 cu km (2011)

• Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):

total: 4.75 cu km/yr (23%/5%/72%)

per capita: 1,200 cu m/yr (2010)

• Natural hazards: earthquakes are common, though usually not severe; volcanic activity
• volcanism: significant volcanism on North Island; Ruapehu (elev. 2,797 m), which last erupted in 2007, has a history of large eruptions in the past century; Taranaki has the potential to produce dangerous avalanches and lahars; other historically active volcanoes include Okataina, Raoul Island, Tongariro, and White Island

• Environment - current issues: deforestation; soil erosion; native flora and fauna hard-hit by invasive species

• Environment - international agreements:

party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling

signed, but not ratified: Antarctic Seals, Marine Life Conservation

Geography - note: almost 90% of the population lives in cities; Wellington is the southernmost national capital in the world

People of New Zealand

• Nationality:

noun: New Zealander(s)

adjective: New Zealand

• Ethnic groups:

European 71.2%, Maori 14.1%, Asian 11.3%, Pacific peoples 7.6%, Middle Eastern, Latin American, African 1.1%, other 1.6%, not stated or unidentified 5.4%

note: based on the 2013 census of the usually resident population; percentages add up to more than 100% because respondents were able to identify more than one ethnic group (2013 est.)

• Languages: English (de facto official) 89.8%, Maori (de jure official) 3.5%, Samoan 2%, Hindi 1.6%, French 1.2%, Northern Chinese 1.2%, Yue 1%, Other or not stated 20.5%, New Zealand Sign Language (de jure official)

note: shares sum to 120.8% due to multiple responses on census (2013 est.)

• Religions: Christian 44.3% (Catholic 11.6%, Anglican 10.8%, Presbyterian and Congregational 7.8%, Methodist, 2.4%, Pentecostal 1.8%, other 9.9%), Hindu 2.1%, Buddhist 1.4%, Maori Christian 1.3%, Islam 1.1%, other religion 1.4% (includes Judaism, Spiritualism and New Age religions, Baha'i, Asian religions other than Buddhism), no religion 38.5%, not stated or unidentified 8.2%, objected to answering 4.1%

note: based on the 2013 census of the usually resident population; percentages add up to more than 100% because people were able to identify more than one religion (2013 est.)

• Population: 4,401,916 (July 2014 est.)

country comparison to the world: 127

• Age structure:

0-14 years: 20% (male 450,985/female 429,184)

15-24 years: 13.9% (male 313,711/female 298,427)

25-54 years: 40.4% (male 890,678/female 888,565)

55-64 years: 11.4% (male 245,084/female 255,879)

65 years and over: 14% (male 290,429/female 338,974) (2014 est.)

• population pyramid:

Dependency ratios:

total dependency ratio: 52.5 %

youth dependency ratio

30.7 %

elderly dependency ratio: 21.8 %

potential support ratio: 4.6 (2014 est.)

• Median age:

total: 37.6 years

male: 36.7 years

female: 38.4 years (2014 est.)

• Population growth rate:

0.83% (2014 est.)

country comparison to the world: 132

• Birth rate:

13.4 births/1,000 population (2014 est.)

country comparison to the world: 151

• Death rate: 7.3 deaths/1,000 population (2014 est.)

country comparison to the world: 123

• Net migration rate:

2.23 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2014 est.)l

country comparison to the world: 45

• Urbanization:

urban population: 86.2% of total population (2011)

rate of urbanization: 1.09% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)

• Major urban areas - population:

Auckland 1.452 million; WELLINGTON (capital) 410,000 (2011)

• Sex ratio:

at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female

0-14 years: 1.05 male(s)/female

15-24 years: 1.05 male(s)/female

25-54 years: 1 male(s)/female

55-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.85 male(s)/female

total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2014 est.)

• Mother's mean age at first birth: 27.8

note: median age at first birth (2009 est.)

• Maternal mortality rate: 15 deaths/100,000 live births (2010)

country comparison to the world: 144

Infant mortality rate:

total: 4.59 deaths/1,000 live births

• country comparison to the world: 184

male: 5.14 deaths/1,000 live births

female: 4.01 deaths/1,000 live births (2014 est.)

• Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 80.93 years

• country comparison to the world: 26

male: 78.88 years

female: 83.08 years (2014 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.05 children born/woman (2014 est.)

• country comparison to the world: 119

Health expenditures: 10.1% of GDP (2011)

country comparison to the world: 24

• Physicians density: 2.74 physicians/1,000 population (2010)

Hospital bed density: 2.3 beds/1,000 population (2011)

• Drinking water source:

improved:

urban: 100% of population

rural: 100% of population

total: 100% of population

unimproved:

urban: 0% of population

rural: 0% of population

total: 0% of population (2012 est.)

• HIV/AIDS -

adult prevalence rate: 0.1% (2009 est.)

country comparison to the world: 163

• HIV/AIDS -

people living with HIV/AIDS:

2,500 (2009 est.)

country comparison to the world: 137

• HIV/AIDS -

deaths: fewer than 100 (2009 est.)

country comparison to the world: 138

• Obesity -

adult prevalence rate:

28.3% (2008)

• country comparison to the world: 34

• Education expenditures:

7.4% of GDP (2012)

country comparison to the world: 16

• Literacy:

definition: age 15 and over can read and write

total population: 99%

male: 99%

female: 99% (2003 est.)

• School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):

total: 19 years

male: 19 years

female: 20 years (2011)

Unemployment, youth ages 15-24:

total: 17.7%

• country comparison to the world: 69

male: 17.3%

female: 18.1% (2012)

Disclaimer

This is not the official site of this country. Most of the information in this site were taken from the U.S. Department of State, The Central Intelligence Agency, The United Nations, [1],[2], [3], [4], [5],[6], [7], [8], [9], [10], [11], [12], [13], [14],[15], [16], [17], [18], [19], [20], [21], [22], [23], [24],[25], [26], [27], [28], [29], [30],[31], [32], [33], [34], and the [35].

Other sources of information will be mentioned as they are posted.