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| An overview of New Zealand |
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| Author : minedu document
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| Created : 11 Dec 2001
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| Last Revision : 02 Feb 2002
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New Zealand is made up of two main islands, the North Island and South Island, plus other, smaller islands. It's roughly the same size as Great Britain, but with a population of only 3.5 million there are plenty of wide open spaces.
There are four main metropolitan areas, the biggest being Auckland, with a population of about one million. Following that comes the capital city, Wellington, with about 327,000, Christchurch with 313,000, Hamilton with 126,000 and Dunedin with 111,000.
New Zealand is best known around the world for its stunning scenery. The North Island is characterised by great beaches, farmland, lakes and geothermal activity, while the Southern Alps in the South Island provide a backdrop of snowy mountains, glaciers and fjords. Queenstown in the South Island is the best known centre for adventure sports such as bungy jumping, white water rafting, climbing and jet boating.
The population is made up of roughly 80 percent European, 10 percent New Zealand Maori, and 4 percent Pacific Island, with other ethnic groups such as Chinese and Indian also represented. English is the main language, although Maori is also recognised as an official language.
The climate varies considerably throughout the country. Summer, which stretches from about November through to March, sees temperatures in the North averaging around 25o C (77o Farenheit). The mountains in the South Island tend to make the weather more extreme there, but on the whole, New Zealand gets around 2,000 hours of sunshine each year.
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