Nuova Zelanda.

Untitled ZEW ZEALAND AREA: 268,105 square km POPULATION: Over 3 million CAPITAL CITY: Wellington (North Island) LANGUAGE: English and Maori GOVERNMENT: Parliament democracy HEAD OF STATE: Queen Elizabeth II SYMBOL: Kiwi ETHNIC GROUPS: Europeans 88%, Maori 9%, Asians and other Polynesians 3% RELIGION: Protestant, Roman Catholic CURRENCY: New Zealand dollar (1 dollar = 100 cents) HIGHEST MOUNTAIN: Mount Cook (3,764 m) in the Southern Alps (South Island) LONGEST RIVER: Waikato (425 km) (North Island) LARGEST CITIES: Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch LARGEST LAKE: Lake Taupo (606 square km) (North Island) MAIN OCCUPATION: Agriculture, industry MAIN EXPORTS: Meat, wool, butter, cheese. There are around 20 sheep and three cows per person in New Zealand MAIN IMPORTS: Machinery, textiles, vehicles, iron, steel. SPORTS: Rugby: the All Blacks are famous throughout the world PHYSICAL FEATURES New Zealand lies in the Pacific Ocean, south-east of Australia. The capital is Wellington (North Islands). It is made up of two main long and narrow islands, the North Islands and the South Islands. New Zealand is considered a mountainous country because mountain ranges run much of its length. There are high mountains with glaciers, and big active volcanoes. In the region around the town of Rotorua, on the North Islands, hot water bubbles out of the ground and geysers up to 70 m high can be seen. Although the South Island is the largest, it has fewer inhabitants and is partly unexplored on the west coast where the Southern Alps reach nearly to the sea. The rest of the islands consist of farmland for grazing sheep and cattle, and a few ports and coastal cities. Most people live on the North Island, which has a warm, tropical climate. In the South Island the climate is temperate. When it is summer there, it is winter in Europe and North America. Over the past 15 years, productions of the other crops, especially fruit, has increased. The best known product is the kiwi-fruit, but other fruits such as oranges and lemons are also grown. New Zealand has a population of 3 million, mostly of British descent. The largest minority are the Maori People (13% op the population), who are of Polynesian origin. The Maori were the first people to reach the country. New Zealand is a sovereign, independent state and a member of the Commonwealth. The Government is modelled on the British parliamentary system. The Head of State is the Queen of Britain, represented by Governor-General. HISTORY The first people to reach New Zealand about 1,000 years ago were the Maoris, who travelled in canoes across the pacific Ocean from the distant island of Polynesia to a land they called Aotearoa, Land of the Long White Cloud. In 1642, the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman landed in the country and named the islands New Zealand, after a province in the Netherlands. In 1769, Captain James Cook circumnavigated the country and claimed it for Britain. In 1852, Britain granted New Zealand self-government with the