New Zealand is an island country located in the South Pacific consisting of two main islands and smaller surrounding islands. It has a population of about 3.6 million people, most of whom live in cities. New Zealand has a democratic parliamentary government and is a constitutional monarchy under Queen Elizabeth II. Notable aspects of New Zealand's geography include its volcanic North Island and cooler, rainy South Island with the Southern Alps mountain range. The country has unique wildlife due to its long isolation, including flightless birds like the kiwi. Agriculture, especially farming sheep and dairy cows, forms an important part of New Zealand's economy.
2. Official Name : New Zealand / Aotearoa Area: 280 thousand square kilometres Capital: Wellington Population: about 3,6 mln , 86% lives in cities Important Ethnic Groups: European 73%, Maori 12%, Polinesians 4%, other 11% Official Languages: English, Maori Important Religions: Anglicanism 22%, Presbyterianism 16%, Roman Catholicism 15%, other 26%, None 21%
3. GOVERNMENT New Zealand is a democratic country with its own parliament. However, it is part of the British Commonwealth, and therefore the official head of state is Elizabeth II, the queen of England, Scotland and Wales. New Zealand was the first country in the world to give the vote to women in 1893, to have old age pensions and the eight-hour working day.
5. New Zealand, in the South Pacific, consists of two large islands plus other smaller islands. North Island has a warm climate and there is quite a lots of volcanic activity. South Island is cooler and has a higher rainfall, in the South Island there are the Southern Alps with Mount Cook ( 3754 m) the highest mountain in New Zealand .
10. New Zealand was cut off from the rest of the land on Earth for 80 million years and has some inique animals and plants. The tuatara is a reptile that has survived from the era of the dinosaurs. The weta is the largest and heaviest insect in the world and the kiwi (the symbol of New Zealand) is a large bird which cannot fly .
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14. ECONOMY New Zealand has some industry but agriculture is more important – there are 55 million sheep, 8 million cows and 1 million goats.