New Zealand has a
rich and fascinating history, reflecting both her Maori and European heritage. Amazing Maori
historic sites and taonga (treasures), some dating back almost a thousand years, are a contrast to many beautiful
colonial buildings. A walk around any New Zealand city today shows what a culturally diverse and fascinating
country it has become.
Though a Dutchman was the first European to sight the land, it was the
British who colonised New Zealand, leaving an indelible mark on the country
and its people.
Over a thousand years ago, Maori became the first people to migrate to New Zealand. Since then, people have come
from around the world to settle here. Bravely voyaging across the Pacific from their ancestral homeland hundreds of
years ago, Maori made New Zealand their home, becoming the tangata whenua - people of the land.
Then, in 1642, the coastline of South Island was sighted by the Dutch East India Company explorer Abel Tasman. There
were brief encounters with the Maori as his crew tried to come ashore, but the Captain never set foot on land.
News of these beautiful and fertile islands began to spread across the globe. The initial 18th century settlers were
mostly farmers and whalers from Australia, and many brave souls that journeyed all the way from Britain.
As the Dutch began to lose their supremacy at sea, New Zealand was subsequently claimed by Britain. An 1840 treaty
between Maori and the British Crown is New Zealand's founding document. Today, the Treaty of Waitangi has a major
impact on all New Zealanders. New Zealand proudly became a self-governing (independent) Dominion in 1907.
Comprised of two major islands (North and South), Stewart Island, Chatham Island and numerous smaller specs of land,
New Zealand is a very mountainous country with some large coastal plains.
In this rugged home of fjords, glaciers, rain forests, geysers, unspoiled beaches and more, it's obvious why
tourism is the largest growth industry.
