English: New Zealandmaori: Aotearoa

area• New Zealand is an island situated in the Oceania-South Pacific

Ocean and Tasmanian Sea.• Located some 1600 km southeast of Australia and about 10 000

km on the west coast of the United States, New Zealand is1600 km long and its total land area is 270 534 km ², which is similar to that of Japan or the British Isles. The country is composed of two main islands: North Island (115,000 km²) and South Island (151,000 km²), formerly the “Smoking Island” and the “Isle of Jade”. New Zealand also has a number of other small islands in the southwest Pacific. Its nearest neighbors are in the north :New Caledonia, Fiji and Tonga, and Western Australia.

• New Zealand also has external territories that have gained some political autonomy: the island Niue, Tokelau Island and the Cook Islands, and a few islands or atolls (Stewart, Auckland, Bounty, Chatham, Antipodes, Kermadec, Snares and Campbell) and one territory in Antarctica.

The New Zealand in the Word

New Zealand

• The economy of New Zealand, is a prosperous & developed country, based primarily on the service sector including tourism, although the primary sector through agriculture and the mining sector plays a larger role than in other developed countries.

• The country is the 52th largest economy.• The economy is up sharply since 2000, with the

appearance of several very important industries. The unemployment rate is very low (3.4% in 2005 against 11.5% in 1991).

Economy

• The climate of New Zealand is generally temperate, oceanic over most of the country.

• The climatic conditions vary greatly by region, very wet in the region of the West Coast of the South Island to semi-arid in the Mackenzie Basin from Canterbury to its subtropical moist Northland.

climatic zone

• The population is mostly of European origin, while Maori make up the largest minority. Non-Maori peoples of Polynesian origin, and Asians, are also significant minorities, especially in urban areas.

• According to the 2006 census, Christianity is the most prevalent religion in New Zealand, accounting for or 55.6% of the population, and 34.7% non Christian. Among the non-Christian religions the most common are Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam.

population

Population

Natality Mortality life expectancy1.79 Child /

woman7,53 ‰ 78,96 years old

3,5 millions