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Background Note: New Zealand
PROFILE
OFFICIAL NAME:
New Zealand
Geography
Area: 270,500 sq. km.; about the size of Colorado.
Cities (December 2006): Capital--Wellington (450,600). Other
cities--Auckland (1,237,239), Christchurch (338,748), Hamilton
(130,000).
Terrain: Highly varied, from snowcapped mountains to lowland
plains.
Climate: Temperate to subtropical.
People
Nationality: Noun--New Zealander(s). Adjective--New
Zealand.
Population (2006): 4,181,175.
Annual growth rate (December 2006): 1.1%.
Ethnic groups: European 67.6%, Maori 14.6%, other Polynesian
6.5%, Asian 9.2%.
Religions: Anglican 15.2%, Roman Catholic 12.6%, Presbyterian
10.8%.
Languages: English, Maori, New Zealand Sign Language.
Education: Years compulsory--ages 6-16. Attendance--100%.
Literacy--99%.
Health: Infant mortality rate (December
2006)--5.1/1,000. Life expectancy (December
2006)--males 76.3 yrs., females 82.3 yrs.
Work force (December 2006, 1.16 million): Services and
government--59%; manufacturing and construction--32%;
agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and mining--8.9%.
Government
Type: Parliamentary.
Constitution: No formal, written constitution.
Independence: Declared a dominion in 1907.
Branches: Executive--Queen Elizabeth II (chief of state,
represented by a governor general), prime minister (head of
government), cabinet. Legislative--unicameral House of
Representatives, commonly called parliament. Judicial--four-level
system: District Courts, High Courts, the Court of Appeal, and
the Supreme Court, which in 2004 replaced the Judicial Committee
of the Privy Council in London as New Zealand's highest court of
appeal. There also are specialized courts, such as employment
court, family courts, youth courts, and the Maori Land Court.
Administrative subdivisions: 12 regions with directly elected
councils and 74 districts (15 of which are designated as cities)
with elected councils. There also are a number of community
boards and special-purpose bodies with partially elected,
partially appointed memberships.
Political parties: Labour, National, Progressive Coalition
Party, New Zealand Green Party, New Zealand First, ACT, United
Future, Maori Party and several smaller parties not represented
in Parliament. There is one current independent Member of
Parliament.
Suffrage: Universal at 18.
Economy
GDP (December 2006): U.S. $93.1 billion.
Real annual GDP growth rate (December 2006): 1.5%.
Per capita income (2004): U.S. $23,910.
Natural resources: Timber, natural gas, iron sand, coal.
Agriculture (6.7% of GDP): Products--dairy products,
meat, forestry products.
Industry (goods-producing industries 21.5% of GDP, service
industries 67.5% of GDP): Types--finance, insurance,
and business services; manufacturing; personal and community
services; transport and communication; wholesale trade;
construction; government administration and defense; fishing,
forestry, and mining; electricity, gas, and water.
Trade (December 2006): Exports--U.S. $6.37 billion:
dairy products, meat, forest/wood/paper products, machinery and
equipment, fruit, fish. Major markets--Australia, U.S.,
Japan, China. Imports--U.S. $7.3 billion: motor
vehicles, crude oil, refined oil, aircraft. Major suppliers--Australia,
U.S., Japan, China.
PEOPLE
Most of the 4 million New Zealanders are of British origin.
About 15% claim descent from the indigenous Maori population,
which is of Polynesian origin. Nearly 76% of the people,
including a large majority of Maori, live on the North Island.
In addition, 265,974 Pacific peoples live in New Zealand. During
the late 1870s, natural increase permanently replaced
immigration as the chief contributor to population growth and
accounted for more than 75% of population growth in the 20th
century. Nearly 85% of New Zealand's population lives in urban
areas (with almost one-third in Auckland alone), where the
service and manufacturing industries are growing rapidly. New
Zealanders colloquially refer to themselves as "Kiwis," after
the country's native bird. |