The most interesting facts about New Zealand. New Zealand - interesting facts. Kiwi is a bird in New Zealand, not a fruit.

If you have always been attracted and interested, interesting facts about this country will delight you with their diversity - the article contains the most incredible and funny stories from the life of the island state.

Aborigines and settlers: from the first tribes to the present day

Probably the most interesting facts about New Zealand concern the peculiarities of the settlement of this territory and its modern life.

According to researchers, the islands of the current state were the last to be inhabited by people - the aborigines from the Maori tribe set foot on the shores only approximately between 1200 and 1300 AD.

Interestingly, it was discovered for the whole world back in 1642 by the Dutchman Abel Tasman, but for more than 100 years no European set foot on these lands - the first to “conquer” the islands were members of the team of James Cook, a navigator from Great Britain. This happened in 1769, after which the lands officially came into the possession of the British Crown.

Nowadays the country is “ruled” by a monarch - Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain, but laws are considered and adopted at parliamentary sessions. The Queen ratifies them.

By the way, all this “miraculously” affected state symbols countries. In particular, it is one of the three countries that have two anthems - “God Save the Queen” and “God Defend New Zealand”. Canada and Denmark also boast two anthems.

Authorities, well-being and the “women’s” issue

The following facts about New Zealand will relate to women and government. Thus, it was in this country that in 1893, for the first time in the world, the voting rights of men and women were equalized, and in our time the state became the first on the planet where the three highest positions were occupied by representatives of the fair half of humanity.

Continuing the theme of authorities, we note that the country is officially recognized as the least corrupt on Earth. It shares first place in this indicator with Denmark.

The origins of modern New Zealanders are interestingly distributed:

about 70% have European roots;
about 16% are from Asia and the Polynesian islands;
and only about 14% are Aboriginal, that is, indigenous Maori.

I wonder what today average age The country's population is about 36 years old, which makes the state quite young, because the average life expectancy for women reaches 81 years, and for men - 76 years.

Economy

On the islands they pay Special attention agriculture and livestock farming. Especially sheep farming. So, it was calculated that for every New Zealander there are 9 sheep! Thanks to this, it ranks second in the world in wool production. And there are a lot of cars here - with a population of 4.5 million, there are about 2.5 million personal cars. Only about 2-3% use public transport. Including railway. By the way, permission to drive a car is issued upon reaching the age of 15.

Natural features

This section contains the most unusual and interesting things about New Zealand regarding natural attractions. Indeed, in this country, the preservation of the pristine beauty of nature and ecological cleanliness is treated with special attention.

This is confirmed by the simple fact that in fact a third of the country is nature reserves and protected areas. In addition, people here are categorically opposed to the use of nuclear energy - on this moment There is not a single nuclear power plant on the islands. To generate electricity, hydroelectric power plants and geothermal methods are used, that is, by attracting the energy of warm underground sources.

It is noteworthy that New Zealanders jokingly call themselves “kiwi,” but not in honor of the fruit we know, but in honor of the bird of the same name, which is one of the symbols of the islands. By the way, these birds cannot fly. But that same fruit is simply called “kiwi fruit”.

Note that no part of even the largest islands that make up the country is more than 130 kilometers from the ocean.

Did you know that the largest volcanic eruption in the last 70 thousand years was in New Zealand? True, it happened about 27 thousand years ago and now, instead of a crater, a lake has formed there, which received the name. The cleanest lake on the planet is also located here - the Blue Lake.

The proximity of the South Pole has led to the fact that this is where the largest number of penguin species live. Moreover, there are no snakes on the islands at all.

But next to them there are the smallest species of dolphins - these are Hector's dolphins. They don't live anywhere else in the world. By the way, New Zealand- the only place where the huge Powelliphanta snail lives. She is a carnivore.

Architectural features

The capital of the country is the second largest city in New Zealand, but its main feature is that it is the southernmost capital of the world. Wellington is a modern, developed and comfortable city that has everything for a comfortable life.

The first largest is - it is invariably included in the list of the safest and most comfortable cities for living on the entire planet.

The city - the most Scottish, since it was founded by the Celts - has. Stretching for 360 meters, it is officially recognized as the steepest on the planet, because its angle of inclination reaches 38 degrees!

Tourism Center

Considering all of the above, it should not be surprising that New Zealand is attractive to tourists. Thus, about 10% of the economy of this state comes from tourism.

Naturally, first of all, fans of “green” holidays come here, but after the filming of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy and the film saga “The Hobbit”, which were held here, fans of J. Tolkien’s fairy-tale stories, which were masterfully filmed by Peter Jackson, also go to the islands. By the way, these shootings brought $200 million to the country's budget. A separate position was even created in the Cabinet of Ministers in order to control everything related to films so that the state received maximum profit from them.

Summarizing

Now you know what New Zealand will delight you with; we have collected the most interesting things in this article. But believe me, there are many more attractions that you definitely need to see with your own eyes.

New Zealand is a remote country with beautiful nature. However, the knowledge of many tourists and immigrants about this country is limited to the fact that “The Lord of the Rings” was filmed in New Zealand. Meanwhile, this country really has a lot of interesting things. Here is a selection of interesting facts.

The Lord of the Rings was actually filmed in New Zealand, on the South Island. There is really beautiful nature there, because the island is sparsely populated. The North Island is much more urbanized.
Postal service in New Zealand works flawlessly. A parcel can be sent to the ends of the world in five minutes.
There are no children's homes in New Zealand. Childless families sometimes wait in line for adoption for years.
New Zealanders drink very little and there are very few smokers.
Doctors recommend all year round Use sunscreen to reduce your risk of skin cancer.
The process of re-registering a just purchased used car takes about five minutes.
In most natural parks, there are liquids at the entrance, which it is recommended to spray on the soles of your shoes so as not to introduce germs into the park.
The driving culture is very developed, everyone drives carefully, there are very few accidents. Aggressive behavior on the road is very rare.
The streets are almost everywhere clean. If you notice trash somewhere or a wall covered in graffiti, inform the municipal service, and in a couple of days everything will be clean.
Public transport is not very developed and is expensive. At the same time, people rarely walk outside the central streets, preferring to travel by car. If you don't live in Auckland, it's going to be difficult without a car.
Internet in the country is slow and expensive. Mobile communications are also very expensive.
New Zealanders do not like to rush; the country has a very measured and leisurely pace of life. Apparently, this is due to the high stability of the local economy and politics.
New Zealand is a small business-friendly country, which is easy to start and operate here. But expanding your business to a more established level is very expensive and difficult.
There is virtually no corruption in the country. Bribes are not accepted or offered.
Police in New Zealand do not carry firearms. The army in the country is generally purely nominal.
There are no mosquitoes in this country. It's a small thing, but nice.
There are no poisonous insects or reptiles, such as snakes, in New Zealand, nor are there any predators dangerous to humans.
Almost everywhere throughout the country it is prohibited to burn fires.
The world's largest online auction site, E-Bay, is largely unused in New Zealand. Its place was taken by the popular local project TradeMe.
Representatives of the indigenous local population are not afraid of the cold, despite the fact that New Zealand is a warm country, and often wear shorts and T-shirts at near-zero temperatures.
Women wear makeup very rarely, mostly only when they go to a club or party.
New Zealand is a calm and tolerant country with virtually no religious, ethnic or cultural conflicts.
Snow usually does not fall outside the mountains, but in winter there are sometimes frosts, especially at night. Sometimes frost will fall.
The streets are clean, so many people walk barefoot. Yes, yes, even in the city center.
New Zealand has three official languages - English, Maori, the indigenous people of the islands, and sign language.
Many young New Zealanders neglect higher education, because even without it you can live a pleasant life and earn good money, especially if a person was born and raised there, and did not come as an immigrant with empty pockets.
According to statistics, approximately one in ten New Zealanders lives in Australia. There are higher salaries and a more active pace of life.
Most New Zealanders don't like to travel very much. Some residents of the North Island may not even bother to visit the South Island in their entire lives. This may be a consequence of New Zealand's geographic isolation from all other countries except Australia.
New Zealand is among the top ten countries with the largest number of atheists, with one in three New Zealanders identifying as one.
The country ranks second in the world on the Peace Index. Iceland holds first place, Japan takes third.
Earthquakes are common in New Zealand. Tremors of up to magnitude 4 occur in the country approximately once a day.
There are about ten times more sheep than people in New Zealand.
Most popular look sport - rugby.
From New Zealand it is long and expensive to fly anywhere except Australia. An economy class ticket to Europe, the USA or Russia will cost about a couple of thousand dollars, and the flight will take about a day.
Two of the world's largest supervolcanoes are located here in New Zealand. If they awaken, the entire North Island will perish, and the entire planet could be deprived of sunlight for several years. In the entire observed history of human civilization, such eruptions have never occurred.
There are generally a lot of dormant volcanoes in New Zealand. There are about fifty of them near Auckland alone.
The coach of the national football team has a salary of approximately fifty thousand dollars a year, which is comparable to the salary of an ordinary accountant or office manager.
There are no nuclear power plants in New Zealand, and nuclear-powered ships are not allowed into New Zealand ports.
Located in Auckland, the Sky Tower skyscraper is the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere. Typically, when the question of its construction was raised, the majority of the population was initially against it.
New Zealand is annually recognized as one of the best countries in the world to live.

1. Capital of New Zealand

Auckland is New Zealand's largest city. It is home to more than 1/4 of the country's population. But oddly enough, Wellington is the official capital. Wellington has been the capital since the 1800s when the Houses of Parliament were moved to a more central location in the center of New Zealand!

2. The steepest street

Baldwin Street is located in the second largest city of the South Island of New Zealand - Dunedin. The length of the street is 359 meters. Baldwin Street is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the steepest residential street in the world. Along its length it rises to a height of almost 80 meters. The steepest section is 161.2 meters and has an elevation of 47.22 meters, corresponding to a slope of 19 degrees.

3. The first to give women the right to vote

In 1893, New Zealand became the first country to give women the right to vote. Kate Sheppard (featured on the New Zealand $10 note) led her own campaign for women's voting rights. Since then, New Zealand has become a leader in women's suffrage movements.

4. Official Wizard of Christchurch

In 1982, the New Zealand government appointed an official "Wizard of Christchurch". His duties include expelling evil spirits and raising the spirits of the population. This is such a tourist attraction of the city. Previously, the wizard could be found in the main square of Christchurch near the Cathedral. If you have not had time to meet the wizard in person, then visit the official website, which outlines his main ideas.

5. Tolkien's Middle-earth

This is the fictional universe of writer John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, where the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings fully unfold. More than 150 New Zealand natural locations were filmed by Peter Jackson for the film trilogy, and the village of Hobbiton is one of the country's main attractions.

6. Small but mighty

New Zealand and the UK are very similar in terms of land area. However, the UK has around 63 million people compared to New Zealand's 4.5 million.

7. Amazing Kiwi

Kiwi, that's what New Zealanders call themselves. During the warmer months in New Zealand, many Kiwis walk barefoot outside. You can see barefoot people anywhere, from supermarkets to cafes.

8. The cleanest water and a UNESCO World Heritage Site

Blue Lake in Nelson Lakes National Park has received the official seal of having the cleanest water in the world. The nature of New Zealand is amazing. Don't forget that the country has three UNESCO World Heritage Sites:

Tongariro National Park;
The southwest coast of the South Island (Te Wāhipounamu), which includes several national parks: Mount Cook, Fiordland, Mount Aspiring, Westland;
New Zealand subantarctic islands.

9. Longest title

Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimauis the longest Maori name for a hill located in the Hawke's Bay (North Island) region. This name is often shortened by local residents to Taumata (Maori Taumata) for ease of communication.

Exactly 371 years ago, the Dutch navigator Abel Tasman was the first European to discover New Zealand. In honor of this event, we invite you to learn some interesting facts about this country.

1. New Zealand consists of two main islands(North and South), as well as a number of small ones. New Zealand's largest landmass is the South Island, which is divided lengthwise by the Southern Alps. This Mountain chain has 18 peaks more than three thousand meters above sea level, and the highest of them is Mount Cook, or Aoraki (3754 meters).

View of the highest mountain peak of the Southern Alps - Aoraki. Photo by: David Briody. The North Island has fewer mountains, but has high volcanic activity. The highest point on this island is the active volcano Ruapehu at 2797 meters. On the same island is New Zealand's largest lake, Lake Taupo, located in the crater of the volcano of the same name.

Composite image of Ruapehu Volcano made from satellite imagery. Photo by NASA. 2. Discoverer Coupe. Before the Dutchman Abel Tasman arrived in New Zealand, it was settled by people from Eastern Polynesia - the Maori. According to popular legend, this happened after the Polynesian navigator Kupe sailed to the New Zealand islands on a light catamaran in the mid-10th century. At that time, the islands were uninhabited, so he became the first person to set foot on their shores. The existence of the discoverer Kupe is today disputed by some researchers, but archaeological finds confirm the history of Polynesian exploration. 3. Abel Tasman. When Abel Tasman reached New Zealand, the Maori met him rather unfriendly, as a result of which four members of his team and one indigenous person died. After this, Europeans left New Zealand and did not return until 1769, when British explorer James Cook sailed to the islands.

Abel Tasman (1603-1659). Author of the portrait: J. M. Donald. 4. Maori musket wars. After Cook, numerous whaling and trading ships began to visit New Zealand. Potatoes and firearms- muskets, which influenced Maori agriculture and warfare. Thus, in the early 1800s, musket wars began between various Maori tribal groups, resulting in the death of about 30-40 thousand people.

Maori as James Cook saw it. Painting by: Cook artist Sydney Parkinson. 5. Forests of New Zealand. Before the arrival of people, about 80% of the earth was covered with forest and only in the high mountainous and volcanic areas did not grow trees. After Europeans landed on the shores of New Zealand, there was massive cutting down of trees, and forest began to occupy only 23% of the territory.

Forest on the South Island. Photo by: Satoru Kikuchi. 6. Unique fauna. Thanks to geographic isolation that has persisted for 80 million years, the New Zealand Islands have created a unique animal world. The forests were home to many birds, in particular those that, due to the lack of predators, could not fly. These include, for example, kiwi, kakapo parrot and takahe.

Takahe. This bird is an endangered species. Photo by: Harald Selke. However, the arrival of humans on the islands of New Zealand and the associated changes in the habitat of these birds (for example, rats, ferrets and some other mammals were introduced) led to the extinction of many species, including such large birds as the moa and Haast's eagle.

Extinct Haast's eagle and moa. Author of the drawing: John Megahan. Overall, nearly half of the vertebrate species went extinct after humans arrived on the islands, including approximately 51 species of birds, three species of frogs, three species of lizards, one species freshwater fish and one species of bat. 7. New Zealand wheta. Among the unique animals living in New Zealand today are also the tuataria and the weta. By the way, some species of the latter are among the heaviest insects in the world.

Giant weta. 8. Indigenous language. These days, most of the New Zealand population speaks English language. But despite this, there are schools in the country where classes are taught in the Maori language, as well as two television channels, most of whose programs are in the Maori language. 9. Literacy in New Zealand. According to researchers, New Zealand's adult literacy rate is 99%, and more than half of the country's population under the age of 29 is enrolled in tertiary education. 10. Wananga. In New Zealand, along with traditional types of public higher education institutions, there is wānanga. In such an educational institution, learning takes place in the context of Maori culture.

At the University of Waikato, learning takes place within the context of Maori culture. 11. Maori carving. Today, traditional Maori carving is widely practiced on the New Zealand Islands. Most often, human figures are carved with three or five fingers and sometimes with a fancy head.

One of the British colonies, New Zealand is one of the most prosperous countries in the world. Not only here high level life, but also a warm climate, beautiful nature, and the terrain allows for summer and winter sports. We present interesting facts about New Zealand.

People

These lands were uninhabited for a long time. Settlers from Polynesia, who became known as Maori, arrived here about 800 years ago.

The islands were discovered by the Dutch navigator Abel Tasman, he named them “Staten Landt”. These territories were marked on maps as “New Zealand”, in honor of the Dutch province of Zeeland. This name was used in his works by the English navigator James Cook. The country was a colony with Australia, from which it separated in 1901, and became effectively independent from Great Britain in 1907. Having self-government, it is a British colony to this day, the Queen appoints a governor who has no actual power, the real power belongs to the Prime Minister, who is democratically elected.

The country is home to about 4.5 million people, about 70 percent are descendants of Europeans, about 30 percent are local Maori residents and immigrants from Asia.

Sign language is one of the official languages; it is used by about 24 thousand residents. There are two other official languages - English and Maori.

Children over 15 years old can drive the car.

Edmund Hillary, the first person to climb Everest, was a New Zealander.

Geography

New Zealand consists of 700 islands, of which only 60 are inhabited.

The mountains are called the Southern Alps, the height of 19 mountains exceeds three kilometers.

Almost all the lakes on the North Island are located in the craters of extinct volcanoes. The reservoirs on the South Island were formed as a result of melting glaciers.

New Zealand is a kingdom, the head of state is the British Queen, who appoints a governor general. In fact, the country is headed by the prime minister.

The state consists of several independent territories, which are part of New Zealand on a voluntary basis. The kingdom includes New Zealand itself, the Tokelau Islands, the Ross Territory, which is located in Antarctica, as well as the independent states of the Cook Islands and the island of Niue.

Ross Territory, which is located in Antarctica, is larger in area than New Zealand, which retains control over this Antarctic territory, but other states have the right to maintain their research bases in this part of Antarctica. Sovereignty over the Territory of Ross is not recognized by any state, since it was signed in 1959 international treaty on Antarctica, according to which no state can make claims to Antarctic territories (New Zealand itself signed this treaty). The New Zealand Scott Scientific Base operates in Ross Territory and has its own post office, which issues its own postage stamp.

Wellington is the southernmost capital city in the world.

The country experiences about 400 earthquakes per year.

There is an extinct volcano here, the most powerful eruption in the last 70 thousand years. Now in the crater of this volcano there is Lake Taupo.

In the city of Dunedin there is Baldwin Street, which is considered the steepest in the world - it descends at an angle of 38 degrees.

The skyscraper called "Sky Tower" (328 meters) in the city of Auckland is the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere.

The popular sports here are the same ones that are popular in the UK - golf, rugby, football, cricket. New Zealand athletes receive many awards at Olympic Games(one of the highest percentages Olympic awards in the world, if we compare the number of awards with the population of the country).

A third of the country is occupied by national parks. When entering the reserve, you may be required to treat your shoes with a special spray so as not to introduce bacteria that are not typical for the area where the excursion is being conducted.

Off the coast you can meet the smallest dolphin - Hector's dolphin.

The symbol of the country is the kiwi bird, which has a long beak, small wings, no tail, and the body is covered with feathers that look like wool. This bird is endemic, meaning it cannot be found anywhere else on Earth.

There are no snakes, large predators, poisonous insects or mosquitoes on the island.

There are many species of penguins on the islands; even Antarctica does not have so many species of these birds.

Apart from two species of bats, whales, dolphins and fur seals, there were no mammals on the island. Mammals came to these territories about one thousand years ago along with people.

There are no nuclear power plants in the country; electricity is produced mainly by hydroelectric and thermal power plants.

The kiwi fruit is a Chinese gooseberry. After it began to be grown in New Zealand, it was renamed after the kiwi bird.

New Zealand has very strong solar radiation, so people often use sunscreen. Horses are covered with special blankets to protect them from the sun's rays.

Any point in the country is no more than 128 kilometers from the sea.

On the islands until the 16th century lived the most big bird in the world - moa. Its height was 3.6 meters, weight reached 300 kilograms.

There are a lot of sheep in the country; in 2006, the number of these animals was about 40 million, 8 sheep per New Zealander.

The longest river is the Waikato, its length is 425 kilometers.

The highest mountain is Kuka, its height is 3754 meters.

Lord of the Rings

The Lord of the Rings was filmed in the country. There is a position of minister who deals with everything related to this film. This minister has a lot of work to do - tourists from many countries around the world come to see the filming site. There are many tourist places associated with the film, which was based on Tolkien’s work:

Hobbiton is where the Shire (Middle-earth) was filmed.
River Anduin was filmed on the Waiau River.
Itilen was filmed on the Mangavero River. Here Gollum was fishing.
Gates of Mordor ( ski resort Tukino) - here Frodo, Sam and Gollum look at Mordor, after which they begin to look for a workaround.
Timholt Road was filmed in the Putangirua Peaks.
Dimrill Valley was filmed near Mount Owen.
The Elven Valleys in Rivendell were filmed at Mount Olympus and the Lake of Boulders.
Ered Nimrais was filmed on Mount Gann, next to the Franz Josef Glacier. Here smoke signals burned on the peaks of the White Mountains, sending a signal from Gondor to Rohan.
Edoras was filmed on Mount Sunday. The capital of Rohan and the castle of King Theoden were located here.
Bruinen Creek was filmed in Skippers Canyon.
Isengard was filmed in Dan's pasture. Here Gandalf rode to Isengard through the valley of Nan Curunir.
Nen Hitoel was filmed on the territory of the North Lake of Mavora.

The Silverlode and Anduin Rivers were filmed at the suspension bridge over the Mararoa River at South Lake Mavora and at the North Lakes near St Paul's Valley.
The Forest of Fangorn was filmed at God Pine Meadow and is where Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli meet Gandalf.

These places are visited by tourists. It is interesting that Tolkien was a practicing Christian and Catholic. There is positivity and kindness in his writings. The works have slightly distorted cinema, making the films dark and a little scary.