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Portal:New Zealand

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New Zealand
Aotearoa (Māori)
A map of the hemisphere centred on New Zealand, using an orthographic projection.
Location of New Zealand, including outlying islands, its territorial claim in the Antarctic, and Tokelau
ISO 3166 codeNZ

New Zealand (Māori: Aotearoa) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island (Te Ika-a-Māui) and the South Island (Te Waipounamu)—and over 600 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island country by area and lies east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and south of the islands of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga. The country's varied topography and sharp mountain peaks, including the Southern Alps, owe much to tectonic uplift and volcanic eruptions. New Zealand's capital city is Wellington, and its most populous city is Auckland.

A developed country, it was the first to introduce a minimum wage, and the first to give women the right to vote. It ranks very highly in international measures of quality of life, human rights, and it has one of the lowest levels of perceived corruption in the world. It retains visible levels of inequality, having structural disparities between its Māori and European populations. New Zealand underwent major economic changes during the 1980s, which transformed it from a protectionist to a liberalised free-trade economy. The service sector dominates the national economy, followed by the industrial sector, and agriculture; international tourism is also a significant source of revenue. New Zealand and Australia have a strong relationship and are considered to have a shared Trans-Tasman identity between the two countries, stemming from centuries of British colonisation. The country is part of multiple international organizations and forums. (Full article...)

This is a Good article, an article that meets a core set of high editorial standards.

Semi-final at the 1971 European Rowing Championships; New Zealand is ahead of the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia

The 1972 New Zealand eight was a team of Olympic gold medallists in rowing from New Zealand, having previously won the 1971 European Rowing Championships. At the time, the eight was regarded as the blue ribbon class of rowing, and the sport still had amateur-status in New Zealand, unlike many other nations competing in rowing. After a disappointing Olympic performance at the 1968 Summer Olympics by the New Zealand eight, national selectors Rusty Robertson, Don Rowlands, and Fred Strachan were tasked with assembling a new crew. Robertson was also the team's coach. The next time a New Zealand eight competed was at the 1970 World Rowing Championships, where they came third. The team was once again significantly changed for the next rowing season, with the 1971 edition of the European Rowing Championships and other international regattas beforehand seen as the ultimate test for the 1972 Summer Olympics. The team put up an impressive performance, beat the highly favoured East German eight, and became European champion; at the time the win was regarded as holding world championship status. No further changes were made to the team, not even their seating position, for the 1972 season. Despite a shoe-string budget, financial constraints, and all rowers working part-time, the 1971 success was repeated and the team won Olympic gold in Munich. The president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Avery Brundage, was a zealous advocate of amateurism; he was so impressed by the New Zealand performance that he insisted on handing out the gold medals himself. During the medal ceremony, much to almost everybody's surprise, "God Defend New Zealand" was played instead of the national anthem, "God Save the Queen". It was the impetus for a campaign to make "God Defend New Zealand" the New Zealand anthem, and in 1977 it was gazetted as having equal status to the traditional anthem.

The team won some significant awards and recognition for its successes. The rules of the "Sportsman of the Year Award" had to be changed so that a team could win the supreme award; this was awarded after their European championship win. Brundage also awarded the Taher Pacha Trophy to the team for distinction in amateur sport in 1971. After the Olympic success, the team was again awarded "Sportsman of the Year"; the first time a back-to-back award had been handed out. Rowlands, their manager, was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1973 New Year Honours. Over time, coach Robertson, manager Rowlands, and then the team as a whole were inducted into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame. (Full article...)

General images

The following are images from various New Zealand-related articles on Wikipedia.

More Did you know? - show different entries

...that the Wanganui Branch railway folded due to competition from trams in New Zealand?

...that all 250 of the endangered Black Robin of the Chatham Islands are descended from one female known as "Old Blue"?

...that Minnie Dean is the only woman ever to have been executed in New Zealand?

...that Whare Ra was an esoteric society based in Havelock North with links to the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn?


Selected article - show another


A The Warehouse store
A The Warehouse store
The Warehouse, (NZX: WHS) founded by Stephen Tindall in 1982, is the largest department store retailer operating in New Zealand. The Warehouse is largely a discount store similar to Wal-Mart in the United States, however The Warehouse sells far more generic brand merchandise than other discount or department stores. The company also formerly had operations in Australia, which were sold to Australian Discount Retail. For the fiscal year ending October 2005, The Warehouse reported a net income of NZ$71.9 million on NZ$2.224 billion of sales revenue (3.6% profit margin).

As of 2005, the company had 253 stores throughout New Zealand and Australia along with more than 6 distribution centres in total. On November 24, 2005, The Warehouse announced that was selling its Australian operation for AU$98 million (NZ$99 million).

Colloquial names for the company's stores include "The Big Red Shed", "WareWhare" (pronounced wah-ray fah-reh, whare is Maori word for house), Warehu and "The Wuds". (Full article...)

Selected picture - show another

Stormy sunset over Waimakariri River basin, New Zealand
Stormy sunset over Waimakariri River basin, New Zealand

The Waimakariri River is one of the largest rivers in Canterbury, on the eastern coast of New Zealand's South Island. It flows for 151 kilometres (94 mi) in a generally southeastward direction from the Southern Alps across the Canterbury Plains to the Pacific Ocean. (Full article...)

Did you know (auto-generated) - load new batch

  • ... that Mihi Edwards did not use her own name as a young woman because of discrimination against Māori people in New Zealand?
  • ... that New Zealand footballer Milly Clegg was called "an absolute unicorn" after appearing at three FIFA World Cups in under twelve months?
  • ... that people were scammed on New Zealand television by the host of You've Been Scammed?
  • ... that the phrase "togs, togs, undies" was popularised in New Zealand by an advertisement for Trumpet ice cream cones?
  • ... that Phomen Singh, an early Indian migrant to New Zealand, sold sweets and chutneys out of a suitcase?
  • ... that West Auckland is home to the largest stratovolcano in the geologic history of New Zealand?
  • ... that when he was in the Royal New Zealand Air Force, future politician Tim Costley starred in a YouTube video that joked about having sex with sheep?
  • ... that fridges filled with "frozen duck" sent to Britain actually contained illegal coins?

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