Where is New Zealand?

New Zealand

A country in the southwest Pacific Ocean. It covers an area of 267,500 square kilometers. The population is 3.54 million (1994). 86% are descendants of British immigrants and 9% are Maori. General English. Most residents believe in Christianity, Protestantism and Catholicism. The capital Wellington.

Geographically located between the equator and Antarctica, it consists of two big islands, the South Island and the North Island, and many small islands. It slightly runs northeast-southwest, with a length of 1 250 kilometers from north to south and a width of only over 300 kilometers from east to west. In the southeast of Australia, separated by tasman sea, the distance is more than1600km. The whole territory is mountainous and the plains are narrow, and the mountains and hills account for more than 75% of the national area. The river is short and fast, which is not conducive to navigation, but it is rich in hydraulic resources. There are many volcanoes and hot springs in the North Island, glaciers and lakes in the South Island mountainous area, and many peaks are over 3000 meters above sea level, among which Mount Cook is 3764 meters above sea level, which is the highest peak in China. The Cook Strait between the two islands is not only a sea bridge connecting the South and North Islands, but also a deep-water waterway connecting tasman sea and the South Pacific. Mainly belongs to temperate maritime climate.

Maori have settled here since14th century. 1642, Dutch navigator Tasman landed here. From 1769 to 1777, Captain Cook of England has been here five times. Since then, Britain has immigrated to New Zealand in large numbers. 1840, Britain forced Maori chiefs to sign the Treaty of Waitangi, which stipulated that New Zealand was a British colony. 1907 Britain was forced to agree to New Zealand's independence and become a Commonwealth dominion, but its politics, economy and diplomacy were still under British control. 1947 gained full autonomy and remained a member of the Commonwealth. From 1935, the Labour Party and the Kuomintang took turns to be in power. 1990 general election, KMT won, 1 1 formed government. 1993165438+10 general election, the Kuomintang came to power again.

Politics has no written constitution. Its constitution consists of a series of laws and amendments passed by the British Parliament and the New Zealand Parliament, as well as some decisions of the Privy Council. Parliament has only the House of Representatives, which is elected by universal suffrage for a term of three years. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II. The Governor is the representative of the Queen and is appointed by the Queen for a term of five years. Mrs. C. Tizard, leader of the South Island of New Zealand, took office in February 1990. The highest administrative body is the Executive Council, which consists of the Governor and members of the Cabinet. The Governor presides over it, and in the absence of the Governor, the Prime Minister or senior ministers presides over it. The exercise of power by the Governor must be guided by the recommendations of the Executive Committee. The cabinet holds real power and consists of the majority party in the parliament. 1997 12 J. shipley, Prime Minister and Minister of Security Intelligence.

The main political parties in New Zealand are: ① New Zealand Nationalist Party, which was formed by the merger of Unity Party and Reform Party in 1936. ② New Zealand Labor Party was founded in 19 16.

New Zealand is a developed country. The GDP of 1992 is 732.1300 million NZD.

Monetary unit New Zealand dollar; The exchange rate is 1.85 NZD = 1 USD (average 1993).

Forest resources are abundant, with a forest area of 7.29 million hectares, accounting for 26.8% of the country's land area, including about 2 million hectares of timber with economic value. There are abundant fishery resources, and the annual fishing potential of the 200-nautical-mile economic zone is about 500 thousand tons. Mineral resources mainly include coal, gold, iron ore and natural gas, as well as silver, manganese, tungsten, phosphate and oil, but the reserves are not large.

Developed animal husbandry is the economic base of New Zealand. The export of mutton and dairy products ranks first in the world, and wool ranks second; Coarse wool production accounts for 40% of the world's total output. Agriculture is highly mechanized. Agricultural products mainly include wheat, barley, oats and fruits. Food is not self-sufficient and needs to be imported from Australia. The industry mainly processes agriculture, forestry and animal husbandry products, mainly including dairy products, food, leather, blankets, paper making and wood processing. Steelmaking, oil refining, aluminum smelting, agricultural aircraft manufacturing and other enterprises have also been established. New Zealand's economy is heavily dependent on foreign trade. Australia, Japan, the United States and Europe * * * 12 countries are New Zealand's main trade targets. New Zealand attaches great importance to developing trade with Canada, East Asian countries and Middle Eastern countries, and at the same time, it is increasingly shifting its trade focus to the Asia-Pacific region. It mainly imports vehicles, mechanical and electrical equipment, crude oil and rubber, and mainly exports meat, wool, dairy products, forest products, fruits and fish. New Zealand has beautiful scenery and many tourist attractions, and tourism is one of the main sources of foreign exchange income in New Zealand.

The transportation is developed, there are many ports, and aviation, highways and railways extend in all directions. The total length of the railway is 4426 kilometers; The total length of the highway is 92,000 kilometers; There are 9 air routes and 40 ports.

Cultural education is deeply influenced by British traditional culture. The sculpture art and songs and dances of indigenous Maori occupy a certain position in New Zealand culture. Implement free universal education and compulsory education for teenagers aged 6 ~ 15.

The main newspapers are New Zealand Herald, Auckland Star, Evening Post and News. The New Zealand Press Association is a national news organization. Radio New Zealand was founded at 1925. New Zealand TV officially broadcast the program on 1962.

Foreign Relations The basic policy of New Zealand's diplomacy is to safeguard world peace, especially peace in the South Pacific, to safeguard New Zealand's sovereignty and security, and to promote economic and trade relations with other countries. Advocate total disarmament, ban nuclear weapons, reduce conflicts and strengthen international cooperation.

New Zealand and China established diplomatic relations on February 22nd, 1972. After the establishment of diplomatic relations, the friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries in various fields have developed smoothly. From 65438 to 0992, the bilateral trade volume between the two countries was 366 million US dollars.

New Zealand has traditional political, economic and cultural ties with Britain. 1990, the bilateral trade volume between New Zealand and Britain was132 billion US dollars. New Zealand has a close relationship with Australia. From 65438 to 0944, the two countries signed the Canberra Treaty, which laid the foundation for political consultation and economic cooperation. 1983 signed the Closer Economic Relations Agreement. 1June 1990, announced the establishment of the Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area. The bilateral trade volume from 65438 to 0992 was $3.8 billion.

Successive New Zealand governments have emphasized the importance of relations with the United States and the Australia-New Zealand-United States security treaty. The economic relations between the two countries have been relatively normal. The total bilateral trade between 65438 and 0990 is $2.8 billion.

New Zealand and Japan established diplomatic relations on 1952. Japan is one of New Zealand's main trade targets and an important source of foreign investment and tourism income.

New Zealand has close relations with Southeast Asian countries, especially ASEAN countries. New Zealand supports the idea of ASEAN countries to establish a peace, freedom, neutral zone and a nuclear-free zone in Southeast Asia. We maintain close ties with ASEAN on issues such as economic cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region. New Zealand actively participates in the annual dialogue meeting held by ASEAN. ASEAN countries are one of the main targets of New Zealand's foreign aid.

New Zealand has close traditional relations with the South Pacific island countries, established diplomatic relations with all independent South Pacific island countries and sent diplomatic envoys to most of them. New Zealand's bilateral aid to South Pacific island countries accounts for more than 70% of its total bilateral foreign aid every year.