Traveling to New Zealand with friends and encountering a particularly embarrassing thing.
I almost got into a big fight because we had different philosophies from New Zealanders! In the end, no one can convince anyone.
Can you believe it? Just such an inconspicuous small country, New Zealand, there is actually a Five Eyes alliance with it?
What kind of country is New Zealand? What is life like in New Zealand?
Today I will talk to you about New Zealand and those things that you only know when you go to New Zealand.
Basic country profiles
New Zealand is a country and Australia are neighbors, although they are neighbors across the sea.
The capital of New Zealand is Wellington, which consists of two large islands, the South Island and the North Island, and the adjacent Stewart Island, surrounded by a few small islands.
Between the north and south islands is the Cook Strait.
Not far from the north of New Zealand are several island nations, Calilledonia, Tonga, Fiji.
New Zealand is a country with a very suitable climate, a temperate maritime climate, although the area is not large, only 270,000 square kilometers, which is about the size of the British mainland, but the total length of New Zealand's coastline is 15,000 kilometers.
The most incredible thing is that New Zealand's territorial sea area is 4 million square kilometers!
New Zealand's indigenous people are Māori, but today only 17% of the total Māori population is descended from European immigrants.
New Zealand's total population is currently about 124,000.
Since many people of European descent came to New Zealand, the official language of New Zealand is currently English and Māori.
More than half of New Zealanders are Christian,
New Zealand became one of the Five Eyes because New Zealand is also a Commonwealth country, historically a British colony, and during the colonization, a large number of British and European immigrants came to this land.
So New Zealand's population structure is mostly of European descent, so everyone can understand why the United States and Britain brought New Zealand brothers to play together, right?
These countries are descendants of the Anzasans! After all, they are all the same ancestor: the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand are all one family.
02. New Zealand's economy
New Zealand's economic level belongs to the first echelon of the world, a proper developed country.
The GDP in 2021 is S$350 billion, which is multiplied by 4 if you calculate it in RMB.
GDP per capita is S$70,000, which is more than $40,000 per capita, and by the way, we only have $12,500 in 2021.
There are many hills throughout New Zealand, and the plains are relatively small.
New Zealand's forest area is vast, with 10.1 million hectares, or 38% of the country's land area.
Of course, not all of them are natural, of which 8 million hectares are New Zealand's natural woodland and 2.1 million hectares are planted forest.
With such abundant forest resources, the products that can be brought to New Zealand include the manufacture of logs, wood pulp and paper, and wood flooring.
But New Zealand has a really good climate! It is very suitable for the development of agriculture and animal husbandry.
New Zealand's agricultural and animal husbandry products export is huge, we often say New Zealand milk powder, New Zealand beef, mutton, etc. are New Zealand regular export agricultural and animal husbandry products.
Among them, the export volume of mutton and dairy products ranks first in the world, and the export volume of wool ranks third in the world.
Although New Zealand is an agricultural country, it has transformed into an industrial country by relying on strong agriculture and animal husbandry, which is indeed very powerful.
03. and Britain's past
Originally a Maori land, New Zealand was first discovered by Europeans in 1642 by the Dutch navigator Abel. YANG Song. Tasman.
However, when he tried to land on the island, he was viciously beaten back by the Maori people.
The discovery gave New Zealand a new name, and the navigator mapped out the west coast he wanted to land.
This story reached the ears of the British Captain Cook, who by 1769 and 1777 Captain Cook had arrived in New Zealand five times.
These five visits, not driven away by the natives like Abel, but brought a lot of British immigrants to New Zealand.
So the first white people in New Zealand were actually British immigrants.
In 1840, the British forced the Maori patriarchs to sign the Treaty of Waitangi, and New Zealand accepted that it would become a British colony, after which more British immigrants came to New Zealand.
With the continuous influx of immigrants, New Zealand's population also increased from 100,000 Māori Aboriginal people to 200,000 in the 80s of the 19th century.
New arrivals began building railroads and roads on the new land, as well as farm farms.
These farms became the backbone of New Zealand's economy.
It can be said that there are indeed many coincidences in New Zealand's economic development.
After the formation of the New Zealand Parliament in 1856, New Zealand was a British colony until 1947. New Zealand became an independent sovereign nation in 1947.
From the flag of New Zealand, you can also see that the country has not got rid of the shadow of Britain.
The flag has the flag of the United Kingdom in the upper left corner, while there are 4 five-pointed stars on the right, those 4 five-pointed stars are the Southern Cross, indicating that New Zealand is a country in the southern hemisphere, and now those 4 stars are also used to represent New Zealand.
One plant that is particularly popular in New Zealand is New Zealand's national flower, the silver fern.
It is a fern that legend has it that the original Maori hunters and warriors needed to find their way home at night by leaning on the back of the glittering leaves of the silver fern.
This plant has a unique function: as long as the leaves of the silver fern are turned over, it will reflect the brilliance of the stars and moon, and New Zealanders believe that the tenacious vitality of the silver fern also symbolizes the tenacious spirit of the country of New Zealand.
It can also reflect the tenacious national spirit of the New Zealand people.
So in many places in New Zealand, such as the lapel on the chest, and in the labels of some New Zealand products and services, you may find the pattern of the silver fern.
Windy City Wellington is actually the best port?
Wellington is the capital of New Zealand, located at the southern tip of New Zealand's North Island and the southernmost capital city in the world.
Wellington and Sydney in Australia, as well as Melbourne, became cultural centres in the Southern Hemisphere of Oceania.
Wellington is also New Zealand's cultural and educational centre, as well as a transportation hub, and New Zealand's best port.
Deep-water harbours can be used as a safe haven for ships, and Wellington is different!
Wellington is close to the bay and is relatively high, and it is often hit by sea winds.
It's windy for most of the year and has the highest average wind speed in the world, so Wellington also has another name called Windy City.
When it comes to New Zealand cities, we have to mention the famous Auckland.
Auckland is the largest city in New Zealand's North Island and an important industrial base in New Zealand, and is New Zealand's largest port.
At that time, Auckland was also New Zealand's naval base, the largest city and transportation hub of the country's industrial trade.
More importantly, Auckland is the gateway to New Zealand's foreign trade, and many important roads, railways, and aviation hubs are Auckland International Airport in connection with the world.
46% of New Zealand's domestic imports and 25% of exports are distributed in Auckland.
Something I only found out when I went to New Zealand
- In 1893, New Zealand became the first country to grant women the right to vote.
- Since Britain has historically been a British colony, the British influence on New Zealand culture is very large, and Britain has always been called "home" by New Zealanders.
- New Zealand's national bird is a flightless bird that sounds like Kee-wee, so it is also called kiwi by New Zealanders. Although this bird is only the size of a hen, its leg strength is amazing, and it can kick its companions up to 1.5 meters away! At present, this bird is a vulnerable bird species and belongs to the first class protected animal
- When I arrived in New Zealand, I learned that New Zealanders also like jade, and this jade, known as green stone, is also the national stone of New Zealand. Generally New Zealanders use this green jade as a talisman.
- Although we say that New Zealand is a predominantly agricultural country, New Zealand is very urbanized. Nearly 60% of New Zealand's population lives in cities, with the largest population concentration in Auckland with 1.57 million, which is almost 1/3 of the country's population, followed by Wellington with 500,000 and Canterbury with 590,000.
- At present, there are about 15% of Asians in New Zealand, of which 260,000 are Chinese, which is also the fastest growing minority in New Zealand, mainly because New Zealand is an immigration country and the immigration policy is relatively friendly. Now the mainland is one of New Zealand's main source countries of immigration, and most of these Chinese also live in New Zealand's three major cities.
- We only know that New Zealand's livestock industry is developed, but we did not expect that such a small country as New Zealand, the country has more than 12,000 pastures! The total pasture area is over 11 million hectares, and 80% of the pasture is concentrated in New Zealand's North Island!
- We are so familiar with New Zealand products because we are New Zealand's number one dairy export market. Many dairy products such as milk powder, butter, cheese and cream can be found in the country.
- Tourism in New Zealand is also currently a pillar of industry, while New Zealand's visitors mainly come from Australia, China, the United States and the United Kingdom. However, due to the impact of the epidemic in recent years, the number of foreign tourists has decreased by 80% compared with the number of foreign tourists in 2019 and 2020.
- New Zealanders are very welcoming and will help if they need help, but New Zealanders are not particularly time-conscious and often arrive late. However, because most of them live in cities, they will generally complain about the congestion of urban traffic if they are late.
- It is also because New Zealanders do not have a strong sense of time, so if you want to go to the bank or go to the doctor, you need to make an appointment in advance, otherwise nothing can be done.
- It is not entirely true to say that New Zealanders do not have a strong sense of time, leaving work at 5 o'clock, New Zealanders are very punctual, but the start time of work is not necessarily! Overall, New Zealanders work slowly! The boss is more tired than the employee.
- New Zealanders are reluctant to work overtime on weekends. Monday to Friday to work, weekend time is to accompany the family, on weekends, they are generally a family to play rugby, or take children to the outdoors, participate in a lot of outdoor activities, or go to the beach together for vacation, in short, the pace of life will be slower.
- Like mainstream Western countries, New Zealanders don't like to be asked about their salary, and don't comment on New Zealand friends they meet about whether they've gained weight recently. You can talk about weekend getaways, food and other topics, do not involve personal privacy.
- Unlike other Western countries, New Zealand has no tipping system for eating and drinking. Many people are really fed up with British and American tipping services.
- Although there is no tip in New Zealand, it does not mean that labor in New Zealand is cheap. We usually have some items in China that we think that if they are broken, they will be repaired, right? It's a pity to throw it! But New Zealanders may throw it away if it is broken, because the labor is too expensive, and the cost of buying a new one is not as high as the repair cost. That's why I almost got into a fight with my New Zealand friend!
- New Zealand's transport buses will not report stops, if you see the bus you want to take, you can wave your hand to signal the bus driver to stop, and you need to ring the doorbell at the back door when you get off the bus.
- Of course, there are also problems with crossing the street in New Zealand. Chinese rarely cross the road, but some native New Zealanders and Indians do, and if they want to cross the road, they need to cross the road behind the lights, and drivers on both sides will give way.
- We like to call friends or send WeChat text messages in China, but New Zealanders are used to sending emails for everything, sending emails to save the bottom and leave a piece of evidence. It's really a bit uncomfortable with that.
- And in New Zealand, after 9 o'clock at night, everyone should go to bed, there is definitely not as much nightlife in the country!
Write at the end
What kind of country is New Zealand? Do you have the answer? Welcome to leave your opinion in the comment area.
What are some of the things that surprised you in New Zealand? Anyway, I really can't do things and throw them away, if it were me, I would be forced to learn to repair a lot of things, right?
After drinking so much New Zealand milk, I finally finished writing New Zealand science articles!
In the new year, continue to take you to see more scenery and humanistic knowledge of other countries! Come on!