New Zealand is an island country in the southwest of the Pacific Ocean. It belongs to a large island group called Polynesia. The country is situated on two main islands – The North Island and The South Island and a dozen of smaller islands.

The war historical museum

Sky-Tower

Lincoln’s University Christmas in New Zealand

Capital Wellington

Official languages English (98%)3Māori (4.2%)3

NZ Sign Language (0.6%)3

AreaWater

268,680 km² 2.1%

Population 4 268 000

Head of StateGovernor-General

Prime Minister

HM Queen Elizabeth IIAnand Satyanand

Helen Clark

The country was discovered by Europeans in 1642, but they didn’t start to settle in the islands until the beginning of the 18th century. The first people who settled in New Zealand were a brown – skinned people called Maoris. Maoris make up 12 % of the country’s population.