Country: New Zealand is a country in
the South-West Pacific. Its name was actually given to it
by Dutch cartographers. Originally it was called Stateneiland,
due to the belief that it was connected with Stateneiland
or Isla de los Estados in South America. After it became clear
that this was not the case, the Dutch Cartographers named
it New Zealand after the Dutch province Zeeland. The original
inhabitants, the Maori, call this country 'Aotearoa ' which
means' land of the long white cloud ".
New Zealand consists of two large islands, North Island
and South Island, and a number of smaller islands. Its nearest
neighbour is Australia, about 2000 km to the North-West. The
population of New Zealand is 4,213,418 (2009). Approximately
70% of the population is of European origin, mainly from the
United Kingdom and Ireland, and also South Africa, the Netherlands
and Germany. Of the population 56% claim to be Christian,
mainly Anglicans and Catholics. 37% claim to have no religion.
