New Zealand Location:
Physical. New Zealand is a group of islands located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of Australia. The country covers an area about the size of Colorado. The terrain is mostly mountainous with some large coastal plains. New Zealand has a temperate climate than can vary greatly from region to region. Natural resources include natural gas, iron ore, sand, coal, timber, hydropower, gold and limestone.
New Zealand Geography:
Geography
Area: 268,680 sq km
Capital: Wellington (445,400)
Environmental concerns: deforestation; soil erosion; native flora and fauna hard-hit by invasive species
Geographical features: predominately mountainous with some large coastal plains
Climate: temperate with sharp regional contrasts
New Zealand People:
People. Nearly 4.08 million people live in New Zealand. The official languages are English and Maori. New Zealand Europeans comprise 70% of the population with additional ethnic groups including: Maori (8%), Asian (6%), Pacific Islander (4%), and mixed (8%). Religions practiced include Anglican (15%), Presbyterian (12%), Roman Catholic (11%), Methodist (3%), Pentecostal (2%), Baptist (1%), and other Christian (9%).
4,076,000 (July 2006 est.) European (70%), Maori (8%), Asian (6%), Pacific islander (4%) other (0.5%), mixed (8%), unspecified (4%) other (3%), unspecified (17%), none (26%) (2001 census)
Annual growth rate: 0.99% (2006 est.)
Major languages are English (official), Maori (official)
Religions: Anglican (15%), Roman Catholic (12%), Presbyterian (11%), Methodist (3%), Pentecostal (2%), Baptist (1%), other Christian (9%) (2001 census)
New Zealand Government:
Government. New Zealand is a parliamentary democracy. Its capital city, Wellington, is located on the southern tip of North Island. The country is divided into 93 counties, 9 districts, and 3 town districts. New Zealand gained its independence from the United Kingdom on September 26, 1907. Its constitution is several legal documents, principally the Constitution Act of 1986. Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, the chief of state, is represented by an appointed governor general.
New Zealand is a parliamentary democracy. The chief of state is Queen Elizabeth (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor General Dame Silvia Cartwright (since 4 April 2001). The head of the government is Prime Minister Helen Clark (since 10 December 1999).
Universal suffrage 18 years of age
New Zealand Communication:
Communication and transportation
1,800,500 (2004) main telephone lines in use
3.2 million (2005) Internet users
92,662 km of roadways
3,898 km railroads
117 (2005) airports
2,053,000 motor vehicles (2004)
New Zealand Economy:
Economy. For the last 15 years the government has successfully enacted significant economic restructuring. It has transformed a dependent agrarian economy into a more industrialized and competitive free market economy. Economic growth has helped to increase real incomes, improve technology, and restrict inflation. Dependent on trade, New Zealand's continued growth will, in large part, depend on the economic performance of other countries. The gross domestic product (GDP) is comprised of: agriculture (5%), industry (28%) and services (68%). Exports are equal to about 22% of GDP.
Currency: New Zealand dollar
Per capita GDP: $25,200 (2005 est.)
GDP: $101.8 billion (2005 est.)
GDP growth rate: 2.2% (2005 est.)
Inflation rate: 3% (2005 est.)
Labor force: agriculture (10%), industry (25%) and services (65%) (1995)
New Zealand More Information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand
http://www.govt.nz | 
