(Gin, 2020)
Introduction
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New Zealand is located in Oceania to the southeast of Australia. New Zealand includes many islands such as the Antipodes Islands, Auckland Islands, Bounty Islands, Campbell Island, Chatham Islands, and Kermadec Islands. However, the North Island and the South Island are the two main islands. The South Island is the largest of the two, and the twelth largest in the world, while the North Island is the fourteenth largest. Their total area of 268,838 square kilometers is comparative to the size of Colorado. More than three quarters of the population, including the indigenous people, live on the North Island in primarily urban areas.
Government
The government of New Zealand is a parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy. They gained independence on 26 September 1907 from Great Britain. Their legal system is the common law system based on the English model.
GeographyThe islands have very active volcanoes, especially on the North Island. This is due to New Zealand sitting on the Western portion of the Ring of Fire, where 90 percent of the world’s earthquakes and 75 percent of the world’s volcanoes occur. Most recently Ruapehu erupted in 2007 and has had many other large eruptions in the past century. Taranaki also has the potential to erupt, while others including Okataina, Raoul Island, tongariro, and White Island have historically erupted. |
PopulationA total of 4,925,477 New Zealanders populate the islands. Their ethnic groups include 64.1 percent European, 16.5 percent Maori, 4.9 percent Chinese, 4.7 percent Indian, 3.9 percent Samoan, and populations including Tongan, Cook Island Maori, English, Filipino and other all at under 2 percent. The most common religion at 37.3 percent is Christian. 86.7 percent of New Zealanders live in urban populations, primarily on the North Island. |
LanguagesThe de facto official language is English, which is spoken by 95.4 percent of the population. The second official language is Maori and is spoken by 4 percent of the population. Other languages spoken on the island include Samoan (2.2 percent), Northern Chinese (2 percent), Hindi (1.5 percent), French (1.2 percent), Yue (1.1 percent), New Zealand Sign Language (0.5 percent) and other. |
Tourism
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New Zealand's lush wildlife and diverse landscape has made it one of the most well known tourism spots in the world. Outside of exploring and hiking around the islands while spotting exotic wildlife that can not be seen anywhere else in the world, New Zealand has created adventurous experiences for thrill seekers all around the world. These activities can include sky diving, bungee jumping, white water rafting, zip lining, and Zorbing (rolling down a hill in an inflated plastic ball). These unique experiences are always compounded with beautiful views, making it all the better.
Lord of the Rings Tourism
Another main facet of New Zealand tourism is for Lord of the Rings fans to come and visit the spots where the movie trilogy was filmed. The trilogy was was from 2001-2003, and over 150 locations were used all around New Zealand for the characters to go on their adventures around Middle Earth. Fans have the opportunity to visit the places where the films were shot, and experience some of the sets as well. Ian McKellan, the actor who played Gandalf, said it best: "How can New Zealand not bewitch anyone who visits."
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Jessica Patton