• 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.

• 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.