• Economy
Today, New Zealand enjoys a rather stable domestic economy with
a positive outlook for the country underpinned by government plans
to reduce its foreign currency debts.
• General
New Zealand experiences four seasons with moderate rainfall throughout
the year. Being an island, it enjoys a very smooth temperate weather
with only about 10 degrees difference between winter and summer.
• Geography
New Zealand is a long and narrow mountainous country,
approximately the size of Japan and California that lies below the
Australian continent, running from north to south.
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• Government
New Zealand is an independent state that practices a centralised
democracy system with a 120-member House of Representatives elected
by universal adult suffrage (under a system of 'mixed member' proportional
representation) for three years.
• History
Over 1,000 years ago, voyagers from East Polynesia called the land
of New Zealand 'Aotearoa', land of the long white cloud. The ancestors
of today's Maori had once lived in 'iwi' (tribes) based on kin networks
and adapted well to the environment.
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