Introducti on :: NEW ZEALAND Background: The Pol ynesian Maori r eac hed New Zeal and i n about A.D.

800. In 1840, their chi eftai ns ent ered i nto a compact with Britai n, t he Treaty of W aitangi, in whic h they c eded soverei gnt y t o Queen Vict oria whil e ret aining t erritori al rights. In that same year, the British began t he first organi zed c oloni al settlement. A series of land wars bet ween 1843 and 1872 ended wit h the def eat of the nati ve peopl es. The British col ony of New Zeal and bec ame an independent domini on i n 1907 and s upported the UK militaril y i n both worl d wars. New Zeal and's full participati on i n a number of de f ens e alli ances lapsed by t he 1980s. In r ecent years, the government has sought to address longstandi ng Maor i grievance Introducti on :: NEW ZEALAND Geogr aphy :: NEW ZEALAND Locati on: Oceani a, islands in t he South Pacific Ocean, s out heast of Australi a Geogr aphic coordi nat es: 41 00 S, 174 00 E Map r efer ences: Oceani a Ar ea: total: 267, 710 s q km countr y comparison t o the worl d: 76 land: 267, 710 sq km water: NA not e: includes Anti podes Islands, Auckland Islands, Bount y Islands, Campbell I sland, Chatham Islands, and Ker madec Islands Ar ea - comparati ve: about the size of Col orado Land boundari es: 0 km Coastline: 15, 134 km Maritime clai ms: territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusi ve economi c zone: 200 nm continent al shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of t he c onti nent al mar gin

Climat e: temper ate with sharp r egional c ontr asts Terrain: predominat ely mount ai nous with some lar ge c oast al plains Elevati on extr emes: lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m highest point: Aoraki-Mount Cook 3, 754 m Natur al resources: nat ural gas, iron ore, sand, coal, timber, hydropower, gol d, limestone Land use: arable l and: 5. 54% permanent crops: 6.92% other: 87. 54% (2005) Irrigated land: 6,190 sq km (2008) Total renewable wat er resour ces : 397 cu km (1995) Freshwat er withdrawal (domestic/i ndustrial/agricul tural) : total: 2. 11 c u km/yr (48%/ 9%/42%) per capita: 524 cu m/ yr (2000) Natur al hazar ds: eart hquakes ar e common, t hough usually not sever e; volc anic activity vol canism: signific ant volcanism on Nort h Island; Ruapehu (el ev. 2,797 m), which last er upted in 2007, has a histor y of l arge eruptions in t he past cent ury; Tar anaki has the potential t o produc e dangerous avalanches and lahars; ot her hist orically active volcanoes i nclude Okatai na, Raoul Island, Tongariro, and W hite Island Environment - current i ssues: def orest ation; soil erosion; nati ve fl ora and f auna har d-hit by i nvasi ve species Environment - inter nati onal agreement s : part y t o: Antarctic-Envir onmental Prot ocol, Ant arctic -Marine Livi ng Resources, Ant arctic Treaty, Biodi versity, Climat e Change, Cli mat e Change -Kyoto Prot ocol, Desertific ation, Endanger ed Speci es, Envir onmental Modificati on, Hazardous W astes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumpi ng, Ozone Layer Protection, Shi p Poll ution, Tr opical Ti mber 83, Tr opical Timber 94, W etlands, W haling signed, but not ratified: Antarctic Seals, Mari ne Lif e Conser vati on

Geogr aphy - note: almost 90% of t he populati on li ves in cities; W ellington is the s out hernmost national c apit al in the worl d

Nationalit y: noun: New Zeal ander(s) adj ecti ve: New Zeal and Ethni c gr oups: Eur opean 56. 8%, Asian 8%, Maori 7.4%, Pacific islander 4.6%, mi xed 9. 7%, other 13.5% (2006 Census) Languages: English ( official) 91.2%, Maori ( official) 3. 9%, Samoan 2. 1%, Fr ench 1. 3%, Hindi 1.1%, Yue 1.1%, Nort her n Chi nes e 1%, other 12. 9%, New Zeal and Sign Language ( official) not e: shar es sum to 114. 6% due t o multi pl e responses on census (2006 Census) Religi ons: Prot estant 38.6% ( Anglican 13. 8%, Pr esbyteri an, Congregati onal, and Ref ormed 10%, Christian (no denomination specified) 4. 6%, Methodist 3%, Pent ecost al 2%, Bapti st 1.4%, other Christian 3. 8%), Roman Cat holic 12. 6%, Maori Christian 1. 6%, Hi ndu 1. 6%, Buddhist 1.3%, ot her reli gi ons 2.2%, none 32.2%, ot her or unidentifi ed 9. 9% (2006 Census) Popul ation: 4,327,944 (Jul y 2012 est.) countr y comparison t o the worl d: 126 Age structur e: 0-14 years: 20. 4% (male 448, 106/f emale 426, 348) 15- 64 year s: 66.4% (mal e 1,426,595/f emale 1, 420,643) 65 year s and over: 13.3% (male 260, 454/f emale 308, 201) (2011 est.) Medi an age: total: 37 years male: 36.2 years femal e: 37. 8 years (2011 est.) Popul ation growth rat e: 0.863% (2012 est.) countr y comparison t o the worl d: 131 Birth rate: 13. 57 birt hs/1,000 popul ati on ( 2012 est.) countr y comparison t o the worl d: 147 Death rat e:

7.2 deat hs/1, 000 popul ati on (July 2012 est.) countr y comparison t o the worl d: 124 Net mi gration rat e: 2.26 mi grant(s)/1,000 population (2012 est.) countr y comparison t o the worl d: 36 Urbanization: urban popul ation: 86% of total populati on (2010) rate of urbanizati on: 0.9% annual r ate of change (2010-15 est.) Major cities - population: Auckland 1. 36 milli on; W ELLI NGTON (capit al) 391, 000 (2009) Sex ratio: at birth: 1. 05 male(s)/female under 15 year s: 1. 05 mal e(s)/female 15- 64 year s: 1 mal e(s)/femal e 65 year s and over: 0. 85 male(s)/femal e total populati on: 0.99 mal e(s)/femal e (2012 est.) Mater nal mortalit y rat e: 14 deat hs/100, 000 li ve birt hs (2008) countr y comparison t o the worl d: 135 Infant mortalit y rat e: total: 4. 72 deat hs/1, 000 li ve birt hs countr y comparison t o the worl d: 184 male: 5.29 deat hs/1,000 li ve births femal e: 4. 11 deat hs/1, 000 live births (2012 est.) Life expectancy at birth: total populati on: 80. 71 years countr y comparison t o the worl d: 25 male: 78.7 years femal e: 82. 81 years (2012 est.) Total fertilit y rat e: 2.07 chil dren bor n/woman ( 2012 est.) countr y comparison t o the worl d: 119 Health expendit ures: 9.7% of GDP ( 2009) countr y comparison t o the worl d: 31 Physi cians densit y:

2.384 physicians/1, 000 popul ation ( 2007) countr y comparison t o the worl d: 56 Hospit al bed densit y: 6.18 beds/1, 000 popul ati on (2002) countr y comparison t o the worl d: 23 Drinki ng wat er sour ce: improved: urban: 100% of populati on rural: 100% of popul ation total: 100% of popul ation ( 2008) HIV/ AI DS - adult preval ence r ate : 0.1% ( 2009 est.) countr y comparison t o the worl d: 144 HIV/ AI DS - peopl e living with HIV/ AIDS : 2,500 (2009 est.) countr y comparison t o the worl d: 132 HIV/ AI DS - deaths: fewer than 100 ( 2009 est.) countr y comparison t o the worl d: 125 Obesit y - adult pr eval ence rat e : 26. 5% ( 2007) countr y comparison t o the worl d: 10 Education expenditur es: 6.1% of GDP ( 2007) countr y comparison t o the worl d: 27 Literacy: definiti on: age 15 and over can read and write total populati on: 99% male: 99% femal e: 99% ( 2003 est.) School life expectancy ( primar y to t ertiar y educati on) : total: 19 years male: 19 years femal e: 20 years (2008) Unempl oyment, yout h ages 15-24: total: 16.6%

countr y comparison t o the worl d: 69 male: 16% femal e: 17. 2% (2009 Countr y name: conventional long f orm: none conventional short form: New Zeal and abbreviati on: NZ Gover nment t ype: parli ament ary democracy and a Commonwealt h realm Capital: name: W ellington geogr aphic coordi nat es: 41 18 S, 174 47 E time differ ence: UTC+12 (17 hours ahead of W ashington, DC duri ng Standar d Ti me) daylight savi ng time: +1hr, begins l ast Sunday in September; ends first Sunday in April not e: New Zealand is divi ded i nto t wo time zones - New Zealand standard time ( 12 hours in advanc e of UTC), and Chat ham Islands time ( 45 minut es in advance of New Zeal and standar d time) Admi nistr ative di visi ons : 16 r egi ons and 1 territ ory*; Auckland, Bay of Pl ent y, Canter bur y, Chat ham Islands*, Gisbor ne, Hawk e's Bay, Manawat u-W anganui, Marlborough, Nel son, Northl and, Ot ago, Southland, Tar anaki, Tasman, W aikato, W ellington, W est Coast Dependent areas: Cook Islands, Niue, Tokel au Independence: 26 Sept ember 1907 (from t he UK) National holi day: W aitangi Day ( Treaty of W aitangi established British soverei gnt y over New Zeal and), 6 February ( 1840); ANZAC Day (commemor at ed as the anni versar y of t he landi ng of troops of the Australi an and New Zealand Army Corps duri ng W orld W ar I at Gallipoli, Turkey), 25 April (1915) Constituti on: consists of a seri es of legal doc uments, includi ng c ertain acts of the UK and New Zealand parli aments, as well as The Constituti on Act 1986, which is the pri ncipal formal charter; adopted 1 J anuary 1987, effective 1 Januar y 1987 Legal syst em: common l aw syst em, based on English model, wit h speci al legislati on and l and courts for the Maori International l aw organiz ation participation :

accepts compulsor y ICJ jur isdiction with r eservati ons; accepts ICCt jurisdiction Suffrage: 18 years of age; uni versal Executive br anch: chi ef of st ate: Queen ELI ZABETH II (since 6 Febr uary 1952); repres ent ed by Governor Gener al Lt Gen Sir Jerr y MATEPARAE (since 31 August 2011) head of government: Prime Minist er John KEY (since 19 November 2008); Deputy Prime Minister Si mon W illiam ENGLISH (since 19 November 2008) cabinet: Exec utive Council appoint e d by the gover nor general on t he r ecommendation of t he prime minister (For more i nformati on visit the W orld Leaders website ) elections: t he monarc hy is her edit ary; governor gener al appoi nted by t he monarch; foll owi ng legisl ative el ections, the leader of t he majority party or the l eader of a majority c oaliti on usually appoint ed prime mi nister by the governor general; deputy prime minist er appoint ed by the governor gener al Legisl ative br anch: unic ameral House of Repr esent atives - commonl y call ed Parli ament ( usually 120 seats; 70 members elected by popul ar vote i n single - member constituencies incl udi ng 7 Maori constituenci es, 50 pr oporti onal seats chos en fr om par ty lists; serve t hree -year terms) elections: l ast held on 26 November 2011 ( next to be hel d not l ater t han November 2014) election result s: percent of vote by party - Nati onal Part y 48%, Labor Part y 27. 1%, Gr een Part y 10.6%, NZ First 6.8%, Maori 1.4%, ACT Party 1. 1%, Mana 1%, United Fut ure 0. 6%, other 3. 43%; seats by party - Nati onal Part y 6 0, Labor Party 34, Green Party 13, NZ First 8, Maori 3, ACT Part y 1, Mana 1, Unit ed Fut ur e 1 not e: results of 2011 el ecti on s aw the t otal number of seats decline to 121 Judici al br anch: Supreme Court; Court of Appeal; High Court; note - judges appoi nted by t he governor gener al Political parties and l eaders : ACT New Zealand [Rodney HIDE]; Gr een Part y [Russel NORMAN and Metiria TUREI]; Mana Part y [Hone HARAW IRA]; Maori Part y [Tariana TURI A and Dr. Pita SHARPLES] ; New Zeal and Nati onal Party [J ohn KEY]; New Zeal and First Party or NZ First [W inston PETERS]; New Zealand Labor Part y [Phil GOFF]; Jim Anderton 's Progressive Party [James (Jim) ANDERTON]; Unit ed Futur e New Zealand [Peter DUNNE] Political pr essure groups and leaders : W omen's Elector al Lobby or W EL other: aparthei d gr oups; civil rights groups; farmers groups; Maori; nuclear weapons groups; women's rights gr oups International organiz ation participation : ADB, ANZUS (US s uspended s ecurity obligations to NZ on 11 August 1986), APEC, ARF, ASEAN ( dial ogue part ner), Australi a Gr oup, BI S, C, CP, EAS, EBRD, FAO, FATF, IAEA, I BRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, I EA, IFAD, I FC, IFRCS, IHO, I LO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Int er pol, IOC , IOM,

IPU, ISO, I TSO, ITU, I TUC, MIGA, NSG, OECD, OPCW , Paris Club ( associat e), PCA, PIF, Spartec a, SPC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMISS, UNMIT, UNTSO, UPU, W CO, W FTU, W HO, W IPO, W MO, W TO Diplomati c representati on in the US : chi ef of mi ssi on: Ambassador Michael K. MOORE chancer y: 37 Obser vator y Circle NW , W ashingt on, DC 20008 telephone: [1] ( 202) 328-4800 FAX: [ 1] (202) 667- 5227 consulat e(s) general: New York, Santa Monica Diplomati c representati on from the US : chi ef of mi ssi on: Ambassador Davi d HUEBNER embassy: 29 Fitzher bert Terrace, Thorndon, W ellingt on mailing addr ess: P. O. Box 1190, W ellingt on; PSC 467, Box 1, APO AP 96531 - 1034 telephone: [64] (4) 462-6000 FAX: [ 64] ( 4) 499- 0490 consulat e(s) general: Auc kland Flag descripti on: blue wit h the flag of the UK in the upper hoist -side quadr ant with f our r ed fi ve-pointed stars edged i n white c ent ered i n the out er half of the flag; t he stars repr esent the Sout her n Cr oss constell ation National symbol(s) : Souther n Cross constellati on (f our, fi ve - poi nt ed stars ); kiwi (bird) National anthem: name: "God Defend New Zeal and" l yrics/musi c: Thomas BRACKEN [ English], Thomas Henry SMITH [Maori]/John Joseph W OODS not e: adopted 1940 as nati onal song, adopt ed 1977 as co -nati onal ant hem; New Zealand has two nati onal ant hems with equal status; as a commonwealth r eal m, in additi on t o "God Def end New Zeal and," "God Save t he Queen" serves a s a nati onal ant hem (see Unit ed Ki ngdom); "God Save t he Queen" nor mall y is played only when a member of t he royal f ami ly or t he governor-gener al is present; in all other cases, "God Def end New Zeal and" is pl ayed Gover nment - note: whil e not an official symbol , the Kiwi, a small nati ve fli ghtl ess bird, r epr esents New Zeal a