new_zealand

=New Zealand=

__Fast facts__
Population: 4 115 771 people Size: 268 680 Capital City: Wellington Language: The first language is English and Maori is also spoken. Currency: The New Zealand dollar $ Head of Country: (sovereign) Oueen Elizabeth ll (Governor-General) Anand Satynad (Prime Minster) Helen Clark

__Location__
New Zealand is located in Oceania, in the Pacific Ocean, It is southeast of Australia. Its geographic co-ordinates are 41 00 South and 174 00 East. New Zealand's total land mass is 268 021 sq km.

__[|Geographical Features]__
New Zealand is made up of two main islands - the South Island and the North Island, which are separated by Cook Strait. The whole country is the same size of Colorado.

__Climate__
The climate is temperate with a sharp regional contrast. New Zealand has four seasons, Winter, Autumn, Spring and Summer. New Zealand has a large temperature range. The weather can change unexpectedly. It also snows during the winter time.

__Economy__
Over the past 20 years the government of New Zealand has transformed New Zealand from an agranian economy depending a lot on the British, to a country which mainly depends on itself. It has many export partners like Australia, United States and China and its import partners are Australia, China and Japan

__Government__
New Zealand is a parliamentary democracy and is part of the Commonwealth. New Zealand is one of the few countries in the world which has the highest offices, occupied by a women. Its was also the first country to give women the vote.

__History__
New Zealand is one of the worlds more recently settled country by the Europeans. In 1642 the first European explorers sailed into New Zealand waters. The first encouter between the Maoir and the Europeans were violent, leading to a bloodshed battle. After that it was another one hurdreds years until Captain James Cook, a British explorer, landed in the shores of New Zealand, which was in 1769.