It covers an area of 260,000 square kilometers, which is a little smaller than China's Yunnan Province. The longest distance from north to south exceeds 1600 km.
About 85 million years ago, New Zealand broke away from the earth's supercontinent and floated in the South Pacific. (What is the continental drift point here?)
New Zealand is mainly composed of North Island and South Island, accounting for 99% of the total area, and the shortest distance between the two islands is 32 kilometers.
There are 150 small islands scattered in the South Pacific.
Wellington, the capital, is located at the southern tip of North Island. Wellington is the capital closest to the South Pole in the world.
New Zealand is also the country with the largest variety of penguins in the world.
There are more than 3,000 glaciers in South Island, leaving a large number of glacial lakes and fjords, as well as helicopter glaciers for tourists to burn money on foot. What is the glacier point here and the fjord point here?
Isolated from the outside world
New Zealand is far from most countries in the world.
It is about 1000 kilometers away from New Caledonia, Tonga and Fiji in the South Pacific Islands, and at least 1600 kilometers away from Australia, which hates each other.
After 80 million years of isolation, it has unique animals and plants.
About 65,438+0,500 native plants are not found in other parts of the world.
Before the arrival of mankind, the only mammal was a bat, and there were no snakes.
It is also because there are no fierce natural enemies, and many animals that can't survive in the cruel Eurasia II have survived here.
Wedge lizards, for example, died out in other places 1 100 million years ago.
Because there are no wild animals, the only natural enemy is the eagle.
New Zealand has evolved many birds that can't fly but can make holes, such as the national bird, a bird similar to kiwi.
In order to prevent the external animals and plants from causing disasters to the local biological community, the entry policy of New Zealand Customs is very strict, and the mud on the soles of hiking shoes should be washed clean when entering the country.
Maori
It is precisely because its geographical location is too suburban that New Zealand has become the last big island for human settlement.
/kloc-Around 0/300, immigrants from the West Asia Islands of Porini migrated from the South Pacific Islands in canoes and became the indigenous Maori of New Zealand.
Today, Maori account for 65,438+06% of New Zealand's total population.
Maori is a kind of Polynesian people, and some scholars think that Maori may come from Taiwan Province Province, China.
They also named this place Otyarova, which means land of long white clouds.
Maori like to touch their noses when they meet and say hello. They are brave. They are said to have eaten people.
I like to dance kaha. It is said that ancient tribes used clumsy dances to scare their opponents.
This way is healthy and environmentally friendly, so New Zealanders have to dance before sports competitions, and their opponents don't know what to do first.
Earth power
New Zealand is located at the junction of the Pacific plate and the Australian plate, where the most powerful force of the earth is dominant. (Here is the plate tectonic point)
Volcanic seismic activity is frequent, and many volcanoes are concentrated in the North Island.
Some volcanoes are still active, and tongariro national park is the site of Mount Doom in The Lord of the Rings.
There are various hiking events in the park, which are very difficult and require high physical equipment.
There are 400 earthquakes every year, among which earthquakes with magnitude above 6 on the Richter scale occur every year 1 time.
In Christchurch, you can see 185 empty chairs on the ruins to commemorate the earthquake victims.
There are also abundant geothermal resources here, and Waiotapu geothermal world is called the devil's bathhouse.
There is also a geyser that erupts regularly every day. The only drawback is that the smell of sulfur is so bad that dogs think the devil can't stand it.
The collision of the two plates also formed a deep-sea trench near Kaikula, attracting sperm whales who like to move in the deep sea.
New Zealand now has mature whale watching activities by boat, and the waves are particularly heavy. Dogs will get seasick and faint before they see whales until they lose their martial arts.
Legend of mountains and seas
Plate collision has made New Zealand a mountainous country, with mountains and hills accounting for more than three quarters of the land area.
Half of the South Island is occupied by southern alps. There are 19 peaks over 3000m above sea level, and the highest peak, Cook Peak, is 3764m high.
There is little arable land, accounting for only 5.6% of the total area.
The largest plain is the Canterbury Plain in the east of the South Island, which produces most of New Zealand's agricultural products.
But so far, New Zealand's food is not self-sufficient and needs to be imported from Australia.
At first, all the plants that Maori brought from the tropics were extinct, so they had to make a living by fishing and hunting.
They often catch a fear bird that is taller than humans. I didn't expect the Maori to have a strong taste and eat it directly.
Here come the Europeans.
1642 12 In February, Dutch explorers set off from Indonesia and arrived at the west coast of New Zealand, and named New Zealand after Eupatorium adenophorum in the Netherlands.
Four Dutch sailors were killed by Maori before they could go ashore to observe. The Dutch think the natives here are too cruel to stay long.
Also known as the landing site "Killer Bay", it is the Golden Bay on the west coast of the South Island of New Zealand today.
A hundred years later, an Englishman named Cook was very clever. He heard that Maori are not easy to mess with, so he didn't play hardball.
Got in touch with a chief and drew a map. The strait between North Island and South Island is also named Cook Strait.
1788, Britain incorporated New Zealand into the colony of New South Wales, Australia.
This fresh island is rich in wood, whales, flax and seal skin, which is the favorite of the rich in China and soon attracted many European businessmen.
Some of them are criminals sent to Australia from England. The first merchant ship that came to New Zealand was called Fantasy.
Europeans also brought Christianity. The earliest missionaries taught people to read and write and planted wheat and corn in order to make Maori believe in religion.
1840, there was a university in New Zealand-Otago University.
Today, 70% of New Zealand residents claim to be descendants of Europeans.
Most of their ancestors came from Britain, but some also came from Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and other European countries.
Waitangi statute
The arrival of Europeans has caused great damage to the life order of Maori.
The diseases they brought led to a large number of deaths of Maori. It is said that the last pure Maori died in 1933.
Europeans often bully people and cheat Maori land at very low prices.
However, in many conflicts, the British regular army was beaten by Maori guerrillas without temper.
Even if they failed, the Maori did not surrender and hid in the jungle to make trouble for the British. They have never really been conquered by Britain.
After a long struggle, Maori have gained national dignity and legal equality.
Today, Maori is also the official language that New Zealanders can use in court, and many whites are learning Maori.
1840, the British royal family and Maori signed the Treaty of Waitangi, which was regarded as the founding document of New Zealand.
New Zealand finally broke away from Australia and became a left-behind child of the British Empire in the South Pacific.
The establishment of the British legal system also confirmed the rights of Maori to own land and culture.
Today, the signature house of the Treaty of Waitangi has become a tourist attraction.
For a long time, New Zealand has been deeply influenced by British dad, and its government affairs, education and culture are all based on Britain.
The diet is also influenced by Britain, that is, there are many excellent ingredients, but the processing methods are complicated.
Chunmuchang
New Zealand's south and north islands have vast fertile grasslands, and with a mild and humid temperate maritime climate, pasture can grow all year round, which is very suitable for grazing. (What is the grassland here?)
From 65438 to 1950s, New Zealand introduced a beautiful sheep with excellent wool from Australia.
Soon, New Zealand's wool, dairy products and meat were exported to Britain, and New Zealand, like Australia, became the best pasture in the British Empire.
With the introduction of refrigerated ship technology, New Zealand has become a major exporter of meat and dairy products in the world.
At present, mechanical milking equipment and frozen meat all over the world are early inventions of New Zealand.
Today, half of New Zealand's land is pasture, which is the country with the largest livestock per capita in the world.
New Zealand dairy products have been selling well all over the world with high quality and low price, and the export volume can compete with the whole EU.
It is also the world's largest producer and exporter of velvet antler, accounting for 30% of the world's output.
Visitors can drive open tractors to visit farms in New Zealand, watch sheep shearing, and hold grassland-style competitions such as dog racing and horse racing.
Years of war
1907, Britain was forced to agree that New Zealand became a dominion, and New Zealand basically gained independence from then on.
In the turbulent war years around the world, this small South Pacific country had to live as a big boss.
I helped Britain fight in the First World War. The young and middle-aged troops who participated in the First World War accounted for 40%, with more than 56,000 casualties, and 17 residents suffered casualties.
During World War II, New Zealand hugged the thighs of the United States after watching the British father take care of himself.
1942 1944, there were about 65,438+10,000 American troops stationed in New Zealand.
The New Zealand Army actively sent its navy and air force to participate in a series of battles in the Pacific region.
Abundance and tranquility
Despite heavy casualties, during the war, New Zealand became the Pacific logistics base of British and American troops.
The supply of agricultural products is comprehensive, and it has successfully changed from an agricultural country to an industrial country, with the rapid development of machinery manufacturing, metal processing, chemical industry, petroleum industry and textile industry.
Today, the New Zealand government leads the world in honesty, with a per capita GDP of $36,000. It is a welfare state with developed economy.
China has surpassed Australia to become New Zealand's largest trading partner.
The scenery of New Zealand can be salty or sweet, with magnificent mountains and lakes and idyllic scenery. This is the most popular movie location in the world.
The The Lord of the Rings series, The Legend of Narnia, Wolverine and Mulan were all filmed in New Zealand.
It also attracts tourists from all over the world, not far from Wan Li.
At present, tourism revenue accounts for nearly 10% of New Zealand's gross domestic product, providing nearly 10% of jobs in the country.
from a distance
There have never been aborigines in this distant land, and people have come from afar.
Influenced by Maori, New Zealanders are generally tenacious, brave, simple and friendly, and there are top experts in all walks of life, which have a good reputation all over the world.
Maybe life is rich and quiet, and people like to find some excitement.
Everyone in New Zealand is an outdoor sports enthusiast. Hillary Clinton, a member of the British mountaineering team who climbed Mount Everest for the first time, is a New Zealand beekeeper. What's the significance of Mount Everest here?
Not enough for this New Zealander, he invented bungee jumping and developed various extreme sports such as skydiving.
The origin of bungee jumping is the Ka Vasco Var?o Bridge in Queenstown. The service is particularly meticulous, and there are three choices: hand diving, head diving and no diving.
It doesn't matter if you dare not jump. We can buy tickets to watch the fun.
Gypsy
Hundreds of millions of years of romantic mountains and seas, nearly a thousand years of you come and go.
On the loneliest island in the world, people share thrilling nature and leisurely life scenery.
I hope that in our lifetime, we can all walk into the hometown of Long Baiyun and continue the story of this wandering and loving island country ~