An isolated land mass 2000km south east of Australia, made up of two main islands and a number of smaller islands. New Zealand’s land mass is slightly greater than the whole of the UK, but its population is less than that of Scotland alone, making it one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world.
The country was first inhabited by Eastern Polynesians in around AD 800, these settlers develpoed in to a culture known as Māori and are currently New Zealand’s largest ethnic minority. The first European to reach New Zealand was Dutch explorer Abel Janzsoon Tasman in 1642. The country’s anglicised name comes from Nova Zeelandia, coined by Dutch cartographers after the province Zeeland in the Netherlands.
After learning of increasing interest in the territory by the French, the British government claimed sovereignty over New Zealand, negotiating the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840. In which the details of European settlement and the acquisition of land from Māori remain controversial.
Today the culture is derived mainly from British roots, and Māori, Australian, American and Asian cultures also have a large influence.
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