About New Zealand

Aotearoa – “Land Of The Long White Cloud"
New Zealand is situated in the South Pacific ocean, between latitude 34'S and 47'S. The country runs roughly north-south with mountain ranges down much of its length. Its two main islands (North and South) cover 266,200 sq km (103,735 sq miles), about the size of Japan or California and slightly larger than Great Britain.

Government

New Zealand is a sovereign state with a democratic parliamentary government based on the Westminster system. Its constitutional history dates back to the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, when the indigenous Maori people ceded sovereignty over New Zealand to the British Queen.

Parliament is elected using the mixed member proportional (MMP) system. The Government is formed after an election by the party or coalition which can command a majority of the votes in the House of Representatives. The leader of the winning party becomes Prime Minister.

Climate

The north of New Zealand is mainly sub-tropical while the south is temperate with around 10C temperature variation between winter and summer.  Central Otago in the lower South Island has temperature extremes similar to a continental climate.
The warmest months are December through to March, and the coldest, from June to August.  The average maximum temperatures range between 20-25C (68-77F) in summer and 10-15C (50-60F) in winter.

Flora and Fauna

Isolated by the sea from browsing and predatory animals for 60-80 million years, New Zealand's plant and animal life is unique.  Primeval forest trees and plants that have died out in larger lands continue to flourish here.  Flightless and ground-dwelling birds have evolved to fill niches that would have been taken by mammals elsewhere in the world. 
Among the most notable of New Zealand's unique indigenous species are the kiwi, the tuatara (the world's oldest reptile), the kakapo (the world's largest parrot) the kea, (the world's only mountain parrot) the weta (the world’s heaviest insect) and New Zealand's native giant tree, the kauri.

The arrival of the Maori and Europeans dramatically altered the landscape.  The Maori's chief impact arose through burning native vegetation to facilitate hunting the moa (a now extinct giant flightless bird).  The Europeans made their mark on the landscape by further conversion of forests and native flora to pasture land, and by the introduction of many foreign plants and animals.  The most destructive of these introduced species have been the rat, the possum and the rabbit.