New Zealand consists of two many islands, the North Island and the South Island. The North Island contains most of the still active volcanoes in the world. The coastline of the North Island is characterised by sandy bays while on the South Island it is high and steep New Zealand is mainly a pastoral and dairying land. It is a Parliamentarian Democracy. The head of State is the British monarch who is represented by a Governor General.
The Parliament Buildings in Wellington
The landscape and climate allow people to try every sport, while thousands of people still love the traditional sport of rugby. The national rugby team, the All Blacks, has the best winning record of any national team in the world. The All Blacks performance is the haka (a traditional Maori war dance). New Zealand is one of the leading nations in world yachting.
Over 1000 years ago the Maoris arrived in New Zealand after an epic sea voyage. They named it Aotearoa, which means “land of the long white cloud.” History The Maoris are the former people of New Zealand; when the Europeans arrived, this led to a conflict over the land. Finally the fighting stopped when the Maori Chiefs signed the “Treaty of Waitangi” with Governor Hobson. Now 15% of the 4 million people who live in New Zealand are Maori. Celebrations The celebrations for “Waitangi Day” usually begin on the previous day, February 5th. The day usually starts with some Maori dances, which remind people of the Maori traditions. The most famous traditions are the haka and the hongi. The hongi symbolises peace and the haka war. In other parts of New Zealand, there are parades, sport events, art festivals, music and traditional waka ama (Maori canoe races). They also send a giant waka (big canoe) into the sea and sing Maori songs.