History
About 1000 years ago, Polynesian Maori's settled in New Zealand. Over a period of time, these colonisers of the south-west Pacific gradually emerged as a distinctive people - the Maoris. These first settlers of New Zealand, known as the 'tangata whenua' (the people of the land) brought with them a distinct Maori culture and lifestyle attuned to the ecology and environment of New Zealand. By the time the first Europeans arrived there was a population of 1,000,000, most of them living in the North Island.
The first European arrival was the Dutchman Abel Tasman in 1642, but it was not until the voyages of Captain James Cook in the vessel "Endeavour" in 1769 and 1779 that the islands were charted and explored by Europeans. Sealers and traders from Sydney, Australia and whalers from America, Britain and France founded trading posts ans missionaries from Britain were followed by settlers from South Wales during the slump in 1830.
More British settlers began to emigrate after New Zealand was declared a separate colony and British sovereignty was established in 1840, and Wellington was founded soon afterwards. New Zealand was granted internal self-government in 1852, and the later years of the century saw a rapid growth in investment, communications and agricultural production.
In 1893, New Zealand became the first country in the world to extend the vote to women. New Zealand became a Dominion in 1907, and its forces took part in both World Wars. The country is a member of the Commonwealth and also several other international organisations, including ANZUS, the Five Power Defence Agreement and the South Pacific Forum.
Today the total population numbers around 3.5 million - 2.6 million live on the North Island and the remainder on the South Island but are still somewhat eclipsed by the 60,000,000 sheep. The largest non-European group of people are the Maori, who make up around 15 percent of the population. As a result of intermarriage, there are few full-blooded Maoris; for census purpose, anyone with half or more Maori blood is counted as a Maori (9.6% of the population). Most live in the northern part of the North Island.
Maori culture, art and traditions are an important part of New Zealand’s heritage and culture. Because of this, English and Maori are both official languages, though the vast majority of people speak only English.
