New Zealand history

history of New Zealand

website of New Zealand history

a collection of information on the history of New Zealand including explorers and the

early settlers who. New Zealand Maori's

were the first settlers. History was

made with the signing of the Treaty Of

Waitangi in the Bay Of  Islands in

New Zealand on February 6th 1840..

History Of New Zealand:

The Maori were New Zealand's first settlers. They made an epic journey from legendary Hawaiiki, probably in Polynesia, to the north of New Zealand, about 800 years ago. The great explorer Kupe, who legend says, first discovered New Zealand, named the new land Aotearoa - Land of the Long White Cloud. The rest is history, so they say in New Zealand.

The first documented European to discover New Zealand was Dutch navigator Abel Tasman who came here in 1642 in search of the fabled great southern continent. Over a century and a quarter later, Captain James Cook claimed it for Britain in 1769 and produced the first map of New Zealand.

The Treaty of Waitangi is New Zealand's founding history document and established the country as a nation. It was signed in 1840 between leading Maori chiefs, and representatives of the British Crown. The location, at Waitangi in the Bay of Islands, is now one of the country's most historic sites. The signing of the treaty began on 6 February 1840, and is now New Zealand's national day known as 'Waitangi Day' and etched in New Zealand History.

New Zealand's first settlers, the Maori, named the kiwi bird for the sound of its chirp - kiwi, kiwi, kiwi! This flightless bird, about the size of a domestic hen, has an extremely long beak and plumage more like hair than feathers. New Zealanders have adopted this nocturnal, flightless and endearing creature as their national emblem.

Referring to New Zealanders as Kiwis probably dates back to the First World War, when New Zealand soldiers acquired this nickname.

New Zealand is a modern country with a well-developed economy and a government structure based on the British parliamentary system. New Zealand has long been a sovereign nation in its own right, with only tenuous ties to Britain through New Zealand's membership of the British Commonwealth.

New Zealand is an independent nation and a member of the British Commonwealth. It has a diverse multi-cultural population of around 3.8 million people. The majority of New Zealanders are of British descent, and the largest minority is New Zealand's indigenous Maori, who make up around 14 percent of the population. New Zealand History.