New Zealand

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New Zealand

Une présentation interactive par N. Michiels, Athénée Royal d'Ath

Geography

New Zealand (Māori: Aotearoa) is a sovereign island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It is part of Australasia. New Zealand is about 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) east of Australia across the Tasman Sea. The country has two main landmasses—the North Island (Te Ika-a-Māui), and the South Island (Te Waipounamu)—and around 600 smaller islands. It has a total land area of 268,000 square kilometres (103,500 sq mi).

Basic facts

• The capital city of New Zealand is Wellington.
• Its currency is the New Zealand dollar.
• This island country is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, an organisation of 52 countries - most with a shared history as part of the former British Empire. This is why we can see the Union Jack (the British flag) on the New Zealand flag, and why Queen Elisabeth II is queen of New Zealand.
• They also drive on the left of the road.
• The country has three official languages: English, Maori, and the New Zealand sign language.

A brief history

During World War I, one hundred thousand NewZealanders (one tenth of the population) fought overseas under British orders.

Because of its remoteness, New Zealand was the last large habitable land to be settled by humans. Between about 1280 and 1350, Polynesians began to settle in the islands and developed a distinctive Māori culture

13th century

1762

James Cook, an English explorer, landed in New Zealand.

New Zealand became a colony within the British Empire, but Brits and Maoris had different interpretations of the treaty, and this led to wars in the 1860s.

1841

1947

New Zealand gained full statutory independence in 1947 and the British monarch remained the head of state

1893

New Zealand was the first country to grant women the right to vote

In 1840, representatives of the United Kingdom and Māori chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi, which declared British sovereignty over the islands.

1840

Dutch explorer Abel Tasman became the first European to sight New Zealand.He called the islands "Nieuw Zeelandt"

1642

1907

New Zealand became a dominion

Backpacking around NZ

Watch this video and make a list of all the activities Carlos did during his two-week trip.

Fun facts

Maori culture

Kiwis

Rugby and haka

Lord of the rings

This is a marae, Maraes are tribal meeting grounds, and they offer unique opportunities to discover more about their culture and history first-hand. Some of the activities you can witness at maraes include speeches and displays of traditional Māori singing and dancing, but you have to be invited in.

New Zealanders are colloquially known as Kiwis. This nickname comes from the kiwi, a small bird that can't fly and that only lives in NZ. Largely hunted, this species is endangered. It has become the national animal of New Zealand.

Made popular by the New Zealand All Blacks, the national rugby team, the Haka is a Māori war dance that was traditionally saved for the battlefield. The action-packed dance is a display of strength and pride, which includes powerful stomps of the feet, wide eyes and the well-known tongue poking.

New Zealand's stunning landscapes captivated movie fans around the world as the unbilled star of the hugely successful The Lord of the Rings film trilogy.

+ info

Time to play

Matching exercise (if it is too small, click on the icon top right to see it in full screen)

"If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world."

J.R.R. Tolkien

The end...

To see more about the country, visit the the official tourism website for New Zealand