TyBabi93

New Zealand Reflection Tyler I learned that New Zealand is a country that is located in the Oceania. New Zealand is identified as one of the world's most stable and well-governed nations. New Zealand has a high level of civic participation, with 79% voter turnout during the most recent elections, compared to an OECD average of 72%. Furthermore, 67% of New Zealanders say they trust their political institutions, far higher than the OECD average of 56%. New Zealand is situated some 1,500 kilometres (900 mi) east of Australiaacross the Tasman Sea and roughly 1,000 kilometres (600 mi) south of the Pacific island areas of New Caledonia, [|Fiji] , and TongaBecause of its remoteness, it was one of the last lands to be settled by humans. During its long isolation, New Zealand developed a distinctive [|biodiversity] of animal, fungal and plant life.Somewhere between 1250 and 1300 CE, [|Polynesia] ns settled in the islands that were to become New Zealand, and developed a distinctive [|Māori culture] .In 1642, [|Abel Tasman], a Dutch explorer, became the first European to sight New Zealand. [|[11]] In 1840, representatives of the British Crown and Māori Chiefs signed the [|Treaty of Waitangi], making New Zealand a [|British colony]. Today, the majority of [|New Zealand's population] of 4.5 million is of [|European descent] ; the indigenous Māori are the largest minority, followed by Asians and Pacific Islanders. Reflecting this, [|New Zealand's culture] is mainly derived from Māori and early British settlers, with recent broadening arising from increased [|immigration]. Capital Wellington, on the North Island, is home to Te Papa Tongarewa, the expansive national museum. Wellington’s dramatic Mt. Victoria and the South Island’s Fiordland and Southern Lakes stood in for mythical Middle Earth in Peter Jackson’s "Lord of the Rings" films. For dishes that have a distinctly New Zealand style, there's lamb, ** pork ** and cervena (venison), salmon, crayfish (lobster), Bluff oysters, whitebait, paua (abalone), mussels, scallops, pipis and tuatua (both are types of New Zealand ** shellfish ** ), ** kumara ** ( ** sweet potato ** ), kiwifruit, tamarillo and ** p **** avlova **, the nation.