🇳🇿 New Zealand

The Polynesian ancestors of the Maori arrived in New Zealand in about AD 800, making it one of the last major landmasses settled by humans.

Several waves of Polynesian settlers arrived in the islands between about 1280 and 1350, according to most recent scholarship, replacing older accounts of a single great fleet from Hawaiki. No human remains, artefacts or structures can be reliably dated earlier than the Kaharoa eruption of about 1314, while mitochondrial DNA suggests first settlement between 1250 and 1300. This settlement established the distinctive Māori culture that underpins New Zealand's identity.

The Dutch explorer sighted and recorded the islands in 1642, and in a hostile encounter with Ngāti Tūmatakōkiri four of his crew were killed and at least one Māori hit by canister shot. Europeans did not revisit for well over a century, but Tasman's charting brought New Zealand into European geographic knowledge.

In 1643 Hendrik Brouwer proved that the South American land was only a small island, prompting Dutch mapmakers to rename Tasman's discovery Nova Zeelandia after the province of Zeeland. The Latin name is the direct origin of the country's modern name.

The British explorer landed and charted nearly all of New Zealand's coast in 1769, and his voyages of the 1700s carried significant botanical and zoological objectives. His maps opened the islands to numerous European and North American whaling, sealing and trading ships, which exchanged food, metal tools and weapons for timber, Māori food, artefacts and water.

From the early 19th century missionaries established themselves in New Zealand and over time converted the majority of Māori. In the same century the Māori population fell to around 40% of its pre-contact level, chiefly through introduced diseases.

The introduction of the potato and the musket transformed Māori agriculture and warfare, with food surpluses enabling longer sustained campaigns. The resulting intertribal conflict comprised more than 600 battles between 1801 and 1840 and killed an estimated 30,000–40,000 Māori, reshaping tribal geography before colonisation.

From 1830 cartographers distinguished the two main landmasses as North and South Island, a usage that had become the accepted norm by 1907. The names were never formally gazetted, a gap the New Zealand Geographic Board discovered in 2009 and closed in 2013 when names and alternative names were formalised.

Busby was charged by Governor Bourke in Sydney with protecting settlers and traders of good standing, preventing outrages against Māori, and apprehending escaped convicts. The appointment was Britain's first formal official presence in the islands, a precursor to annexation.

Following Charles de Thierry's announcement of impending French settlement, the loose confederation of chiefs sent He Wakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni to the British king asking for protection; it was translated into English in 1834 as the Declaration of the Independence of New Zealand. Its legal ambiguity later helped prompt the Colonial Office to seek a formal treaty.

Māori who had earlier migrated to the Chatham Islands developed the distinct Moriori culture there. An invasion by Māori iwi in 1835 resulted in massacre and the near-annihilation of the Moriori people.

Captain William Hobson, sent by the Colonial Office amid growing unrest and the New Zealand Company's land-buying survey, negotiated the treaty first signed at Waitangi in the Bay of Islands on 6 February 1840; it was later circulated for further signatures around the country. It remains New Zealand's founding constitutional document and the basis of later grievance settlements, though differences between the English and Māori texts continue to shape debate over its interpretation.

Responding to the New Zealand Company's attempt to establish an independent settlement in Wellington, Hobson proclaimed sovereignty on 21 May 1840 while copies of the Treaty were still circulating for Māori signature. The declaration triggered a sharp increase in immigration, particularly from the United Kingdom.

Administered from Sydney until then, New Zealand was constituted as the Colony of New Zealand on 3 May 1841. Separation gave the territory its own colonial administration and the institutional basis for later self-government.

Fighting broke out in 1843 with the Wairau Affray over land and disagreements over sovereignty, beginning the New Zealand Wars, fought mainly in the North Island and drawing thousands of imperial troops and the Royal Navy. The wars ended in 1872 with the defeat of the Māori and large-scale government confiscation of Māori land.

A representative constitution was granted in 1852 and the first Parliament sat in 1854, including an upper house, the Legislative Council. The framework created the parliamentary institutions that still govern the country.

Legislation passed in London created six provinces in 1853, and further legislation soon after subdivided three of them, leaving nine provinces by 1862, each with a degree of autonomy. This decentralised structure shaped colonial administration for two decades.

From 1856 the colonial government took responsibility for all domestic affairs except native policy, which was transferred in the mid-1860s. Responsible government made New Zealand's ministries accountable to its own Parliament.

Amid concerns that the South Island might form a separate colony, Domett moved a resolution to transfer the capital from Auckland to a locality near Cook Strait, and Wellington was selected for its central position. Parliament officially sat there for the first time in 1865, helping hold the colony together.

The Act required all schools to teach in English; although no official policy banned Māori speech, many children were physically punished for using it. The measure contributed to the long decline of the Māori language.

Financial pressures and the desire to consolidate railways, education and land sales led to the abolition of the nine provinces in 1876. From then on local areas were administered by councils operating under legislation set by central government.

The ship sailed from Port Chalmers in February 1882 carrying frozen sheep and lamb carcasses, arriving in London in May in good condition. The voyage launched New Zealand's frozen meat export trade, which underpinned the colonial economy for decades.

Concerned about foreign influence in the region, the Wellington government persuaded a reluctant Secretary of State for Colonies to annex the volcanic islands, and the Admiral on the Australian Station was instructed to hoist the British flag. Lying about 1,000 km northeast of Auckland, they set the northern border at 29 degrees South and, after the 1982 UNCLOS, added significantly to New Zealand's exclusive economic zone.

Led for most of its tenure by Richard Seddon, the Liberal Government passed many important social and economic measures. Its ascendancy marked the beginning of organised party politics in New Zealand.

The Electoral Act 1893, signed into law on 19 September 1893, followed a petition campaign led by Kate Sheppard and the Women's Christian Temperance Union. Women voted for the first time in the general election that November.

In 1894 the government introduced compulsory arbitration between employers and unions and guaranteed a minimum wage, the latter a world first. These measures established a distinctive interventionist labour framework.

A royal proclamation on 26 September 1907 elevated New Zealand from a colony to Dominion status, reflecting its growing self-government. Full independence in foreign affairs and legislation followed gradually over subsequent decades.

As a dominion, New Zealand fought alongside Britain in both world wars, including the costly Gallipoli landing of 25 April 1915 commemorated as ANZAC Day.

The landing on 25 April 1915 began an eight-month campaign that failed to secure the peninsula and cost about 2,700 New Zealand lives. The anniversary is commemorated annually as Anzac Day, New Zealand's principal day of remembrance.

Public radio broadcasting began in 1922, creating the country's first national broadcast medium. A state-owned television service followed in 1960, and deregulation in the 1980s produced a rapid increase in radio and television stations.

The 1923 and 1926 Imperial Conferences decided that New Zealand could negotiate its own political treaties, and the first commercial treaty was ratified with Japan in 1928. At the 1926 conference Dominion prime ministers also declared that Britain should grant them equal sovereignty.

The Great Depression led to the election of New Zealand's first Labour Government, which established a comprehensive welfare state and a protectionist economy. Elections since the 1930s have been dominated by the National and Labour parties.

On 3 September 1939 New Zealand declared war, with Savage proclaiming, "Where she goes, we go; where she stands, we stand". New Zealand had already fought in the First World War, and the Second brought increasing prosperity in its aftermath.

Parliament passed the Statute of Westminster Adoption Act on 25 November 1947, ending the United Kingdom's residual power to legislate for New Zealand without its consent; New Zealand was the last Dominion to adopt the 1931 statute, and the monarch remained head of state. Remaining British legislative powers were removed by the Constitution Act 1986 and final appeals to British courts were abolished in 2003.

The Legislative Council, part of the legislature since the colonial era, was abolished in 1950. New Zealand has since had a unicameral Parliament.

High British and American demand for agricultural products lifted New Zealand incomes above those of Australia and Western Europe during the 1950s and 1960s. Wool alone still made up over a third of export revenues as late as the 1960s.

Legislation announced on 12 May 2026 would amend climate law to prevent emitters being sued for damages, applying to pending cases including iwi leader Mike Smith's 2024 claim against dairy company Fonterra and five other major emitters.

Governor Anna Breman used her casting vote to break a deadlocked Monetary Policy Committee on 27 May 2026, keeping the rate unchanged.

Willis's third budget, delivered on 28 May 2026, allocated NZ$2.3 billion in capital and NZ$1.2 billion in operational funding to defence and intelligence, including new military drone systems, while scrapping free final-year university fees. She said debt servicing now cost the government NZ$9 billion a year in interest.

The law, passed under urgency on 29 May 2026, allows the Ministry of Social Development to use AI systems to help assess and decide people's welfare benefit entitlements.

Foreign minister Winston Peters and Cook Islands prime minister Mark Brown signed the declaration on 2 April 2026, requiring New Zealand be told of future Cook Islands foreign agreements. Peters confirmed the resumption of about NZ$29.8 million in annual aid, suspended since mid-2025 after the Cook Islands signed a partnership deal with China without consulting Wellington.

The agreement was signed on 28 April 2026 after opposition Labour confirmed it would support ratification, giving the government the numbers in parliament. Coalition partner New Zealand First had opposed the deal over concerns about its immigration provisions.

The officers, including Commander Yvonne Gray, face charges over their roles in the October 2024 sinking of survey ship HMNZS Manawanui off Samoa. The court martial was confirmed on 2 March 2026.

Two Royal New Zealand Air Force aircraft and emergency response teams were sent on 5 March 2026 to help evacuate New Zealand nationals during the Iran war.

The settlement, passed on 29 January 2026, includes NZ$19 million in financial redress, the return of 64 culturally significant sites and posthumous pardons for two Ngāti Hāua leaders.

Brown defeated councillor Kerrin Leoni in polling that closed on 11 October 2025, when New Zealanders also elected 66 mayors and hundreds of local and regional councillors nationwide.

Statistics New Zealand recorded a net migration gain of 14,200 in 2025, down 9,600 from the previous year and the smallest annual increase since 2013 outside the border-closed year of 2021. The sharp reversal followed the record inflow of 2023.

In the year ended October 2023 net migration reached an all-time high, following the reopening of borders closed during the COVID-19 outbreak. The 2023 census counted 4,993,923 residents, 6.3% more than in 2018, with 28.8% born overseas.

The agreement, in force from July 2023, eliminated tariffs on several goods traded between the two. The European Union was already New Zealand's third-largest trading partner at NZ$22.9 billion as at June 2018.

On 1 July 2022 the government consolidated the DHBs into one body, which became New Zealand's largest employer with a workforce of 80,000, an operating budget of about NZ$20 billion and assets of some NZ$24 billion. Life expectancy had improved from 78.6 years in 2000 to 82.2 years in 2021.

Brenton Tarrant, an Australian-born white supremacist, opened fire at the Al Noor Mosque and the Linwood Islamic Centre on 15 March 2019, livestreaming the attack. He was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole, the first such sentence in New Zealand history.

Established in 2016, the agency handles space policy, regulation and sector development. It formalised state support for an emerging space industry.

Since 2012 New Zealand has participated in NATO's Partnership Interoperability Initiative. The arrangement broadened its defence relationships beyond the Pacific.

A large-scale rollout of gigabit-capable fibre to the premises began in 2009, targeting availability to 87% of the population by 2022. As of 2017 the International Telecommunication Union ranked New Zealand 13th in the development of information and communications infrastructure.

Signed on 7 April 2008, it was the first free trade agreement China had concluded with a developed country. China has since become New Zealand's largest trading partner, worth NZ$27.8 billion as at June 2018.

The 2008 financial crisis shrank GDP for five consecutive quarters and pushed unemployment back to 7% by late 2009. Recovery eventually brought unemployment to a record low of 3.2% in December 2021.

Almost all general elections between 1853 and 1993 used first-past-the-post; from the 1996 election a form of proportional representation was adopted. Parliament now has 120 seats, including seven Māori electorates, with a 5% or one-electorate threshold for party-list representation.

New Zealand's railways were sold in 1993 as part of the wider liberalisation programme, then returned to state ownership in stages between 2004 and 2008. The network comprises 4,128 kilometres of lines.

CRIs were created in 1992 out of existing government-owned research organisations, restructuring publicly funded science. Gross research and development expenditure reached 1.37% of GDP in 2018, up from 1.23% in 2015.

The 1989 reform created regional councils and territorial authorities, consolidating the 249 municipalities that existed in 1975 into 67 territorial authorities and 11 regional councils. It remains the basis of subnational administration.

The 1987 declaration was central to the revitalisation of te reo Māori, now spoken by 4.0% of the population. New Zealand Sign Language became an official language in 2006.

The New Zealand Post Office held a telecommunications monopoly until 1987, when Telecom New Zealand was formed as a state-owned enterprise and then privatised in 1990. Chorus was split from Telecom in 2011 and still owns most of the infrastructure.

The 1987 law banned nuclear weapons and nuclear-powered vessels from New Zealand territory, formalising a policy that strained relations with the United States and led to New Zealand's exclusion from ANZUS military cooperation. It remains a defining feature of New Zealand's foreign policy.

Agents of French foreign intelligence sank the Greenpeace vessel on 10 July 1985 to stop it protesting French nuclear testing in the Pacific, killing photographer Fernando Pereira. Two agents were convicted of manslaughter, straining relations between New Zealand and France.

From 1984 governments rapidly transformed New Zealand from a protectionist, highly regulated economy into a liberalised free-trade one, including phasing out agricultural subsidies over three years in the mid-1980s. Unemployment peaked just above 10% in 1991 and 1992 after the 1987 share market crash before falling to 3.7% by 2007.

Established support from 1978 followed a significant increase in New Zealand film production during the 1970s. Many subsequent films attained world audiences and international acknowledgement.

The 1975 act created a standing commission of inquiry into alleged Crown breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi. Its jurisdiction was extended in 1985 to cover grievances dating back to 1840, underpinning decades of subsequent treaty settlements.

Britain's 1973 accession sharply reduced New Zealand's principal export market, and the 1973 oil and 1979 energy crises compounded the shock into a severe economic depression. Living standards fell behind Australia and Western Europe, and by 1982 New Zealand had the lowest per-capita income of all developed nations surveyed by the World Bank.

The 1970 scheme allows up to 1,100 Samoan nationals to become permanent residents each year, complemented by the 2002 Pacific Access Category for up to 750 other Pacific Islanders. Rising Pacific migration since the 1960s created the Pasifika New Zealander pan-ethnic group, the country's fourth-largest ethnic grouping.

Post-war prosperity drew Māori from traditional rural life into the cities in search of work, while from the early 20th century until the late 1960s Māori culture had been suppressed by assimilation policies. A Māori protest movement emerged criticising Eurocentrism and demanding recognition of Māori culture and the Treaty of Waitangi.

The 1951 treaty bound New Zealand into a Pacific security arrangement with Australia and the United States. It became the framework of the country's Cold War defence alignment.