Travel to New Zealand:
New Zealand tourist information with details about travel to and around the country. Where
to stay and what to see is made easier with insider tips and hand-selected New Zealand
links, by dedicated editors and visitors to TravelNotes.org - The Online Guide to Travel.
The capital of New Zealand is Wellington.
Buy
a Map of New Zealand.
The flag of New Zealand is blue with the flag of the UK in the
upper hoist-side quadrant with four red, five-pointed stars edged in white centered in the
outer half of the flag; representing the Southern Cross constellation.
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 organised 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 defence alliances lapsed by the 1980s.
In recent years, the government has sought to address longstanding
Maori grievances.
Administrative Divisions
1 territory:
Chatham Islands
16 regions:
Auckland; Bay of Plenty; Canterbury; Gisborne; Hawke's Bay;
Manawatu-Wanganui; Marlborough; Nelson; Northland; Otago; Southland; Taranaki; Tasman;
Waikato; Wellington; West Coast.
Dependent Areas
Cook Islands, Niue and Tokelau.
Independence
26th September, 1907 (from UK).
National Holiday
Waitangi Day - 6th February.
The Treaty of Waitangi established British sovereignty over New Zealand
in 1840.
ANZAC Day - 25th April.
Commemorated as the anniversary of the 1915 landing of troops of the
Australian and New Zealand Army Corps; during World War I at Gallipoli, Turkey.
|
