As most of you will now know, I am living in New Zealand (the place of my birth). Before leaving the UK I decided that I would write a list specifically about my home land. It has taken a while to get to it – but here it is! Hopefully some of the other New Zealand readers will be able to contribute additional facts.
1. While it is no longer the case, New Zealand was once governed as a part of the territory of New South Wales (later a part of Australia). When Australia federated in 1901, New Zealand was offered a place as one of their states. New Zealand refused and is its own country with no ties (other than economic and commonwealth) to Australia.
2. A kiwi is not a fruit – it is New Zealand’s native flightless bird (pictured above) and a slang term for a New Zealander. Kiwis call the fruit “kiwifruit” – they are also known as Chinese Gooseberries.
3. New Zealand was the first major nation to have universal suffrage. In 1893 it became legal for all male and female citizens of New Zealand to vote.
4. New Zealand was first discovered by Europeans in 1642 when Dutch sailor Abel Tasman arrived. He left New Zealand after several of his crew were killed by Maoris, and it was not until 1769 that English Captain James Cook arrived and mapped the land.
5. Queen Elizabeth II is officially Queen of New Zealand. She is represented in New Zealand by a Governor General, who ratifies all laws put before him or her by the elected parliament of New Zealand.
6. New Zealand is one of only three countries that have two official (and of equal standing) national Anthems. The first is God Save the Queen (the English National Anthem) and the other is God Defend New Zealand. The other two countries with two anthems are Denmark and Canada which both have a Royal Anthem and a State anthem.
7. Another native bird of New Zealand (the Moa) was one of the largest birds in history – standing up to 3.6m (12 foot) tall and weighing 300kg. Unfortunately they were hunted to extinction by the Maoris by the end of the 1500s.
8. When the Europeans arrived in New Zealand, it was already inhabited by the Maori people – Eastern polynesian settlers who arrived some time between 800 and 1300. Oral tradition says that they came from a place named Hawaiki; its location is unknown. The very strong linguistic connection to Cook Island Maori might suggest that they originated from that region of the Pacific.
9. Another group of settlers (who most likely came from the same group as the original Maoris) settled on the Chatham Islands. They were called the Morioris and they were pacifists. In 1835, groups of Maoris moved to the Chatham islands and wiped out nearly all of the Morioris – leaving only 100 by 1862. The last full-blooded Moriori (Tommy Solomon) died in 1933. [Image above: Tamati Waka Nene, a Maori Chief]
10. New Zealand was the first country to have its three top positions of power held simultaneously by women: The Prime Minister (Helen Clark), the Governor General (Dame Silvia Cartwright), and the Chief Justice (Sian Elias).
11. New Zealand has a strong hold on the international trade in sheep meat. There are presently around 9 sheep to every 1 human in New Zealand (the population of New Zealand is 4 million).
12. Wellington, the Capital City of New Zealand (and home to me!) is the southernmost capital city in the world. [Image: Wellington City]
13. New Zealand was forced out of the ANZUS (Australia, New Zealand, United States) alliance in the 1980s when it outlawed nuclear arms and power. To this day, there are no nuclear power stations in New Zealand, and a change of law would be required before one could be built. New Zealand retains its military ties with the United Kingdom.
14. New Zealand has one of the most liberal media arenas in the world. Distinctly left wing versus right wing press is not as obvious there as in other nations.
15. New Zealand is a plastic nation – almost all personal financial transactions are made with a card – credit or otherwise. Most shops offer EFTPOS (similar to the UK Chip and Pin which appeared two years later) and cash is seen less and less. It is possible that New Zealand was the first nation to offer this system of payment (if someone can verify that I would appreciate it). The majority of taxis now allow you to pay without cash through this system.
16. New Zealand is a fairly liberal nation with homosexual marriage (Civil Union) being legal and prostitution, soliciting, and brothel keeping being legal. The driving age is 15, the consensual sex age is 16, and the drinking age is 18 (though minors accompanied by adults are allowed alcohol in restaurants).
17. Lake Taupo (one of New Zealand’s most popular tourist destinations) was the source of the largest known eruption in the world in the last 70 thousand years. It had a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 8. It released over 530 cubit kilometers of magma. [Image: Lake Taupo]
18. New Zealand was the last major landmass to be populated (with the exception of the polar regions).
19. New Zealander and Nobel Prize Winner, Ernest Rutherford is known as the father of nuclear physics for his orbital theory of the atom.
20. Sir Edmund Hillary – the first man to reach the peak of Mount Everest was a New Zealander (born in Auckland) and his face is on the New Zealand $5 bill.
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"2. A kiwi is not a fruit."—A kiwi IS a fruit, it is also a bird.
A Kiwi is NOT a fruit… the proper name is Kiwifruit. Not Kiwi.
Kiwi is slang, kiwifruit is the proper term.
Dear Kiwis: Please don't crucify me for what I'm about to say.
If "New Zealand is the world of Middle Earth in the Lord of the Rings trilogy of films" isn't a cool fact, then I don't know what is!
Woohoo I wanna go to the real Middle Earth someday!
the hobbit is being filmed in nz and their going to make all props for hobbiton long lasting so you could visit hobbiton
Damn, i wish i live in NZ when i was younger…i could have been driving at 15, *****ing at 16, and drunk at 18!
You are cross and repulsive, only a moron would make comments like that.
First day on the internet?
For your sanity, I won’t reccomend the YouTube comments section then.
Also, I believe the word you were searching for is “crass”, cross would suggest he’s angry at something.
age for driving is 16 now
:’(
Lol yea I agree,hope this person doesn’t visit 4chan
Lol yea I agree,hope this person doesn’t visit 4chan
Jamie, fantastic list!! Well done. I read last week that Abel Tasman managed to discover Tasmania and New Zealand but somehow completely missed Australia. I also spent some time in college studying native Maori melodies, and they have a strikingly similar pentatonic structure to the nursery rhymes and folk music of Western music. I love taking Maori melodies and setting them to bizarre Western harmony – it's a cool effect.
Plus, one of my favorite things about New Zealand is that I have always heard that they like Americans (yay!).
It depends. I, for instance, have a major prejudice against Americans, but it’s rather unreasonable. Other people are much nicer than I am, but the majority is just like other countries. Some do, some don’t.
No we dont dislike Americans. That’s different to liking them!
new zealand sounds amazing. I would have mentioned something in there about LOtR…I think that was a pretty big deal and showed the rest of the world a lot of NZ's natural beauty.
#16 is my personal favorite. Maybe legalize pot and you have the most liberal country there is
There’s a political party dedicated to legalising Hemp. It’s called the Aotearoa Legalise ***** Party (ALCP).
Hmm censored out part of it. It’s pot anyway.
I had the opportunity to visit New Zealand, specifically Christchurch, as part of Operation: Deepfreeze while in the U.S. Navy deploying to Antarctica in the mid-eighties. Beautiful country and from a sailor's POV, beautifully avaliable women. Is the female-to-male ratio still 3:1?
And if one has no luck with the women, at least there is a 9:1 sheep ratio!
It never was 3:1. But there are a few more females than males around here.
New Zealand is also famous for spawning celebrities that we Australians steal from them (and in some cases, eg Sam Neill and Russel Crowe, attempt to give back)
Also, and this could be wrong, I heard somewhere that New Zealand has zero native mammal species (the possible exception being a species of bat that may or may not exist, and probably flew in anyway), compared to Australia which has more native species than almost any other country, being one of the 12 "megadiverse" countries that account for 75% of the world's biodiversity. Considering their proximity, New Zealand's lack of native mammals is startling.
interesting comment from a fellow Aussie. Maybe, just maybe the maoris ate them all before Europeans/UK people arrived.
it has two species of bat, as the only native mamels
we have a lot of native birds though like the kia (hope i spelt it right), kiwi(course), and kakapo:D beautiful birds
@ Rodeograndma: Where is the origional Zealand?
Denmark
yes, Full marks!!!
Enter your comment here.
Do the women dig overweight dudes over there, like in Tonga? If so, you truly have an Island Paradise!
lol logar
chershey (#51) haha that is excellent.
I also forgot to mention on the list the weta – our unique insect which is among the largest and heaviest insects in the world:
http://www.geocities.co.jp/NatureLand-Sky/8651/ph… http://www.geocities.com/dingotush/weta.gif
I was bitten by one once – it hurt but they are not poisonous and don't usually bite people.
YOU LIVE IN NZ?!?!?!?! OMG :O
cool so do i
logar: the tongan women here probably do
Not sure about the kiwi women 
Belfrahn: I think that working holiday visas are relatively easy to obtain here – though that may change with the change of government that is likely later this year.
you suck
The Maori chief in that picture is exactly how I picture Queegueg from “Moby Dick,” and looks a lot like the way the character was depicted in the John Huston film from the 50s. Interesting.
Bet you’ve been waiting a long time to make this list. hehe
That man was my grandfather
I tried to get into Berkeley by telling them I was full blooded Moriori, but the didn’t buy it. No wonder…
LMAO, that was so funny
*they
So you’re telling me that my third favorite fruit is actually not a fruit but a cute little bird?
Oh the horror….
Great list! I want to visit now…And meet Bret and Jemaine.
All the pictures of New Zealand I see are beautiful, I hope I have to opportunity to travel there one day! and yay for flight of the conchords!!
About number 3. , I don’t know if I would call New Zealand a ”major nation”, perhaps a lower mid-size nation. It is not all that relevant to the rest of the world, specially at that time.
Cool list, cool country. Alas, New Zealand is a place I’ll only visit in my imagination. How about a follow up of prominent Kiwi’s, be sure to include Lucy Lawless.
BTW Do they drive on the left side of the road in NZ?
Yes we do
Jfrater, you’re such a show-ff. Boast, boast, boast, Kiwiland is so great… But I’m English, so that makes you my *****, so HA!
ah have you actuly been to kiwi land!!!cuz if you have i think you should definitly
change ur mind.whats there to do in the uk anyway its smelly and cold and at least people bost about it unlike they do about the uk!!!!!
OOOPS! I just realized now where I read that fact about Abel Tasman hehehehe…..
Top three cool things about Nebraska:
1. It’s flat
2. We grow corn
3. We chew Skoal
(*sniff*)
Mate you are missing the point. Stay in Nebraska and be happy,
very interesting list.
Joss:
Brit? Like, Britney?
Nice list. I think I knew about three of those before reading this list.
Whatever happened to the movement to change the New Zealand Flag from the Union Jack to something more local? Is it officially dead now?
bucslim, your state sounds so similar to mine…just replace your #3 with “we party in fields”
Totally neat-o list Jamie, or wait, is that word reserved for forum use only?
Lots of cool info, a lot I didn’t know, and those pics just give me even more reaons to visit sometime.
New Zealand sounds awesome! (goes to pack suitcase)
Great List!!
I was a bit surprised at no mention of sailing as national hobby.
NZ is an island and surounded with ocreans/water and, therefore, its natural that sailing is a national sport. Same thing applies to Aussie but what would aliens know about?
I know a few people who have been to NZ. Not one of them wanted to come back to America. I will probably never be able to. Lack of funds.
One of the cutest guys I ever knew was from NZ. We called him Joey. His real name was Chris. I’ll never forget the night he kissed me.
My best friend moved to NZ for “a semester abroad” a couple of years back… she’s not coming back any time soon!
Big ups to your gangsta-folk bands.
Very educational list. I always like when things are put into fun fact form. I would have paid more attention in school if they taught only in fun facts.
Kapow and Joss…..he could be did
Double post for like… the 18th time today:
Warrr 13, I was amazed when I heard about Abel Tasman, I think he managed to travel between the very top point of Australia and the Southernmost tip of Papua New Guinea, without noticing either, the nautical equivalent of threading a needle by throwing the string at it.
And Chris 7, the kiwi is the bird, kiwifruit is the fruit, and it was only renamed that fairly recently. If you say just ‘kiwi’ and refer to the fruit, you are incorrect.
absolutely correct / but please let's not split hairs…..
Great list! Lots of interesting tidbits I wasn’t aware of.
A very liberal and progressive society. Definitely beat us to women’s suffrage.
The age for *****ual consent here in Canada is 14. As long as neither party is in a position of authority over the other.
Even under 14 is often not illegal, if there is a less than 2 year age difference, and again, neither party is is a position of authority or trust over the other. Common sense, there is no criminal penalty for youthful experimentation.
We too use cash rarely. We have debit cards (East coast had them in the early 1980′s), cash cards, major credit cards, and store cards.
I knew there were many parallels between Australia and Canada, I did not know that NZ has just about as many similarities.
After backpacking around the world, there is no better country made for young backpackers. It is a beautiful country with rad people. HIGHLY recommend travel there.
ps: Jamie we had this discussion last night. Canada has only one national anthem now. It was ratified after we adopted our own charter of rights and freedoms. Traditionally yes, we always did have 2. And we have many monarchists/traditionalists who would have it that way still. Anywho here is the quote.
“National and royal anthems. ‘O Canada’ and ‘God Save the Queen’/'Dieu sauve la Reine’ were approved by Parliament in 1967 as Canada’s national and royal anthems. Legislation to this effect was passed only in 1980, however, and applied only to ‘O Canada.’” So by law we only have one, but by tradition 2.
Bucslim #17 Omaha was rated the 3rd best city to Live, Work, Play by Kiplinger. I drove through Nebraska. Couldn’t find a vacancy anywhere in Grand Island. All hotel/motels full. Finally got a room in Lexington. Nice town. Nice people. Where are you from? I went to school in Iowa. You’re not kidding. Lots of corn in the region.
New Zealand is important. Without it, lamb (during Xmas when I’m in Australia instead of the States,) would be expensive! I think New Zealand has other good things going for it, but having an Aussie SO has clouded my vision…
This list just makes me homesick
Hurray for #16!! I sure wish that we-in-the-US weren’t so da’gum uptight about everything. Our prisons would probably be a lot emptier, insurance rates lower, and they wouldn’t have to play all our country songs backwards for them to have meaning…
Vera – I reserve the right to not disclose my location. I don’t want Randall or Kiwiboi showing up at my door begging for favors again. Two court orders and a rabid chinchilla could keep those guys away from me.
Anyhoo, I jest. I love Nebraska. Clean air, no congestion, nice folks minimal crime, and corn fed girls.
A couple I used to work with retired to New Zealand a few months ago, and all I ever hear back is how lovely everything is.
I’m incredibly tempted to go there myself and see if I can migrate.
Where is the origional Zealand?
the name zealand comes from a place in holland i belive
The original Zealand is a place in Holland. It was named by the Dutch Explorers
Isnt the Zealand in Holland actually Zeeland though? but your right it did come from Zeeland in Holland
New Zealand sounds like a great place to visit. But how could I ever leave California, I would miss the wanna bes, illegals and all that smog
The original Zealand is located off the shores of England. It is the world’s smallest country, also named Sealand, and has been housed by offspring of the Man in the Iron Mask since the early 1300s. They, too, have 2 national anthems; one for people and one for the stray dog that happened to swim to the island one day.
NZ — certainly the South Island — is the most consistently beautiful country I’ve ever seen. Its remoteness has allowed it to remain unspoilt.
I had the vague impression before I went that places like Christchurch would remind me of England in the 50s, so I was surprised to find that the cities are so cosmopolitan.
BTW, the kiwifruit isn’t indigenous to NZ. As its original name suggests, it came from China. I’m pretty sure that calling it the kiwifruit was a (v successful) marketing ploy…
Yes, you are absolutely right and its a marketing ploy – but who cares?
Where is the original Zealand?
rodeo – the origin of “New Zealand” is Dutch, not Danish.
besides sheep herding and movie making and tourism, what are the other top industries in NZ?
Oh, there seems to be some confusion with the original Zealand. Here’s what I just learned:
New Zealand (originally “Nova Zeelandia”)is named after the Dutch (as in Netherlands) province of Zeeland, also known as Zealand.
The Danish (as in Denmark) island of Zealand (also known as Sealand) is unrelated.
And now we are all a little bit wiser!
How to make kiwi: http://www.jhn.se/images/kiwi.jpg
Some other cool things about NZ…
1. Watties Tomatoe Sauce
2. NZ Fish and Chips
3. Peanut Slabs
4. Chocolate Fish,
and of course the people!
oh.. you make me miss home, thats the one thing canada doesnt have.. great fish and chips aw..
Catriona, LIKE! I totally agree with you
that’s it, i’m moving to new zealand. sounds like a very well grounded, pretty lax kind of country. no nuclear weapons, very woman liberated, drinking age is 18… i think they have the right idea, lol!
except for letting 15 year olds drive. i’d be driving a bicycle every day with 8 layers of pads on, HAHA!
Im 15 and i drive its only really wen we’re allowd to drive on our own (which is when we are 15 1/2- 16 years tht we can be more dangerous but they are raising it up to 16 now
This is awesome/coincidental/funny because I am moving to NZ in September. Specifically Auckland.
New Zealand sounds fantastic! I am from Spain, how are immigrations regulations there? Your city looks beautiful!!
Chris: No – American’s call them kiwis wrongly
A Kiwi is a bird or a person!
warrrreagl (#13): we do – or at least the majority do like Americans
Yogi (#14): yes – Kiwis drive on the same side of the road as the British and Japanese.
SoCalJeff: the change the flag movement ended without a change – it was driven mostly by one wealthy kiwi. If NZ becomes a republic – which will no doubt happen eventually – there will probably be a flag change.
carpe_noctem: you are right – NZ has no native mammals. And another interesting fact (considering our close proximity to Aussie) is that we only have one poisonous creature (the katipo) which is not deadly to humans anyway – and Australia is full of deadly creatures!
about the mammal's we have 2 breeds of bat they are our only native land mammals and many native sea mammals like dolphins and seals etc.
its about half half on the liking americans idea
and we now have red back spiders thanks to the boats from ozzie.. cheers mates