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The New Zealand Portal

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New Zealand (Māori: Aotearoa [aɔˈtɛaɾɔa]) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island (Te Ika-a-Māui) and the South Island (Te Waipounamu)—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island country by area and lies east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and south of the islands of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga. The country's varied topography and sharp mountain peaks, including the Southern Alps, owe much to tectonic uplift and volcanic eruptions. New Zealand's capital city is Wellington, and its most populous city is Auckland.

A developed country, it was the first to introduce a minimum wage, and the first to give women the right to vote. It ranks very highly in international measures of quality of life, human rights, and it has low levels of perceived corruption. It retains visible levels of inequality, having structural disparities between its Māori and European populations. New Zealand underwent major economic changes during the 1980s, which transformed it from a protectionist to a liberalised free-trade economy. The service sector dominates the national economy, followed by the industrial sector, and agriculture; international tourism is also a significant source of revenue. New Zealand is a member of the United Nations, Commonwealth of Nations, ANZUS, UKUSA, OECD, ASEAN Plus Six, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, the Pacific Community and the Pacific Islands Forum. It enjoys particularly close relations with the United States and is one of its major non-NATO allies; the United Kingdom; Samoa, Fiji, and Tonga; and with Australia, with a shared "Trans-Tasman" identity between the two countries stemming from centuries of British colonisation. (Full article...)

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Joanne Gair (born c. 1958), nicknamed Kiwi Jo (alternatively Kiwi Joe), is a New Zealand-born and -raised make-up artist and body painter whose body paintings have been featured in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue from 1999 to 2017. She is considered the world's leading trompe-l'œil body painter and make-up artist, and she became famous with a Vanity Fair Demi's Birthday Suit cover of Demi Moore in a body painting in 1992. Her Disappearing Model was featured on the highest-rated episode of Ripley's Believe It or Not. She is the daughter of George Gair.

In addition to achieving pop culture prominence and respect in the fashion and art worlds starting with her body painting of Demi Moore, she is a make-up artist in the rock and roll world who has helped several of her music clients win fashion and style awards. She is also considered a fashion and art trendsetter, and for a long time she was associated with Madonna. In 2001, she had her first retrospective and in 2005, she published her first book on body painting. At the peak of her pop culture fame after the Vanity Fair cover, she was seriously considered for an Absolut Vodka Absolute Gair ad campaign. She has done magazine editorial work, and in 2005, she became a photographer of her own body paintings in both books and magazines. (Full article...)

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General images

The following are images from various New Zealand-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1An aerial view of the Auckland urban area, showing its location on the Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 2Hinepare of Ngāti Kahungunu, is wearing a traditional korowai cloak adorned with a black fringe border. The two huia feathers in her hair, indicate a chiefly lineage. She also wears a pounamu hei-tiki and earring, as well as a shark tooth (mako) earring. The moko-kauae (chin-tattoo) is often based on one's role in the iwi. (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 3Māori whānau (extended family) from Rotorua in the 1880s. Many aspects of Western life and culture, including European clothing and architecture, became incorporated into Māori society during the 19th century. (from History of New Zealand)
Image 4The Mission House at Kerikeri is New Zealand's oldest surviving building, having been completed in 1822 (from History of New Zealand)
Image 5Rural landscape close to Mt Ruapehu (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 6HMS North Star destroying Pomare's Pā during the Northern/Flagstaff War, 1845, Painting by John Williams. (from History of New Zealand)
Image 7Residents of Dunedin celebrate the news of the Armistice of 11 November 1918. (from History of New Zealand)
Image 8A meeting of European and Māori inhabitants of Hawke's Bay Province. Engraving, 1863.
Image 9Lorde as part of the 2014 Lollapalooza lineup (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 10Poet Selina Tusitala Marsh, 2019 (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 11Zealandia rejecting Australian Constitution in 1900 (from History of New Zealand)
Image 12Water pollution sign on the Waimakariri River (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 13Putting down a hāngī (earth oven) (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 14Scottish Highland family migrating to New Zealand, 1844, by William Allsworth. Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington. (from History of New Zealand)
Image 15Percentages of people reporting affiliation with Christianity at the 2001, 2006 and 2013 censuses; there has been a steady decrease over twelve years. (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 16Topography of Zealandia, the submerged continent, and the two tectonic plates (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 17A modern wharenui (meeting house of a marae) exhibited at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 18Children's and young adult author Margaret Mahy, July 2011 (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 19Fiordland is dominated by steep, glacier-carved valleys. (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 20Prime Ministers John Key and Helen Clark (from History of New Zealand)
Image 21Roger Douglas, the architect of New Zealand's 1980s neo-liberal reform programme (from History of New Zealand)
Image 22The 1935 Labour Cabinet. Michael Joseph Savage is seated in the front row, centre. (from History of New Zealand)
Image 23Men of the Māori Battalion, New Zealand Expeditionary Force, after disembarking at Gourock in Scotland in June 1940 (from History of New Zealand)
Image 24Kapa haka is performed at a School Strike for Climate in Christchurch 2019. (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 25Michael Joseph Savage, Labour Prime Minister 1935–1940. This portrait was hung on the walls of many supporters. (from History of New Zealand)
Image 26Elizabeth II and Muldoon's Cabinet, taken during the Queen's 1981 visit to New Zealand (from History of New Zealand)
Image 27New Zealand Division in 1916 (from History of New Zealand)
Image 28Scorching Bay, Wellington, in summer (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 29European settlers developed an identity that was influenced by their rustic lifestyle. In this scene from 1909, men at their camp site display a catch of rabbits and fish. (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 30Knox Church, a Presbyterian church, in Dunedin. The city was founded by Scottish Presbyterian settlers. (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 31The Waikato River flowing out of Lake Taupō (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 32Central Plateau in winter (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 33Tekoteko from the gable of a wharenui, Te Arawa (20th century) (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 34New Zealand is antipodal to points of the North Atlantic, the Iberian Peninsula and Morocco.
Image 35Strong winds in the Cook Strait produce high waves which erode the shore, as shown in this image (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 36A beach barbecue – an established part of New Zealand culture (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 37Art deco in Napier (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 38The kiwi has become a New Zealand icon. (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 39An annotated relief map (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 40A 1943 poster produced during the war. The poster reads: "When war broke out ... industries were unprepared for munitions production. To-day New Zealand is not only manufacturing many kinds of munitions for her own defence but is making a valuable contribution to the defence of the other areas in the Pacific..." (from History of New Zealand)
Image 41Aoraki / Mount Cook, as seen from Hooker Valley (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 42The Forty-Fours viewed from the north; the leftmost islet is the easternmost point of New Zealand. (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 43The Māori are most likely descended from people who emigrated from Taiwan to Melanesia and then travelled east through to the Society Islands. After a pause of 70 to 265 years, a new wave of exploration led to the discovery and settlement of New Zealand.
Image 44George V with his prime ministers at the 1926 Imperial Conference. Standing (left to right): Monroe (Newfoundland), Coates (New Zealand), Bruce (Australia),Hertzog (Union of South Africa),Cosgrave (Irish Free State). Seated: Baldwin (UK), King George V, King (Canada). (from History of New Zealand)
Image 45Pavlova, a popular New Zealand dessert, garnished with cream and strawberries. (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 46Richard Seddon, Liberal Prime Minister from 1893 to his death in 1906 (from History of New Zealand)
Image 47Vigil in Wellington for the victims of the Christchurch mosques attacks (from History of New Zealand)
Image 48The first Government House in Auckland, as painted by Edward Ashworth in 1842 or 1843. Auckland was the second capital of New Zealand. (from History of New Zealand)
Image 49The Original All Blacks during the "haka", 1905 (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 50A Māori ancestor (tekoteko) depicted in a wood carving at the Tamatekapua Meeting House in Ohinemutu (c. 1880) (from Culture of New Zealand)
Image 51One of the few extant copies of the Treaty of Waitangi (from History of New Zealand)
Image 52Tribute to the Suffragettes memorial in Christchurch adjacent to Our City. The figures shown from left to right are Amey Daldy, Kate Sheppard, Ada Wells and Harriet Morison (from History of New Zealand)
Image 53The scalloped bays indenting Lake Taupō's northern and western coasts are typical of large volcanic caldera margins. The caldera they surround was formed during the huge Oruanui eruption. (from Geography of New Zealand)
Image 54"First Scottish Colony for New Zealand" – 1839 poster advertising emigration from Scotland to New Zealand. Collection of Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow, Scotland. (from History of New Zealand)
Image 55Cook Island dancers at Auckland's Pasifika Festival, 2010 (from Culture of New Zealand)

More Did you know? - show different entries

...that Rev William Cotton (pictured), vicar of Frodsham, Cheshire, introduced the skills of beekeeping to New Zealand in the 1840s?

...that the New Zealand Journal of Forestry was first published in 1925 with a title in Māori?

...Selection

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Split Enz were a successful New Zealand band during the late 1970s and early 1980s. It was founded in 1973 by Tim Finn and Phil Judd, and had a variety of other members during its existence. Their musical style was eclectic and original, incorporating influences from art rock, vaudeville, swing, punk, rock, new wave and pop. Split Enz had ten albums (including seven studio albums) reach the top ten of the Official New Zealand Music Chart. From 1980 to 1982, the band had four number-one albums in New Zealand and three in Australia. The only number-one single for Split Enz was "I Got You" (1980), which topped the charts in both New Zealand and Australia. (Full article...)

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Mt. Sugarloaf by Lake Heron, South Island, New Zealand

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... that New Zealand opera singer Helen Medlyn's first performing role was as one of the Three Kings?
... that if James Stuart-Wortley had not falsified his age for the 1853 general election, Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke would now be New Zealand's youngest-ever member of parliament?
... that the New Zealand tree tarahinau has evolved to develop thinner leaves as it matures, probably as a result of the high winds of the Chatham Islands?
... that Lynda Simmons co-founded Architecture + Women NZ with Sarah Treadwell, Julie Wilson and Megan Rule to push for equity in New Zealand architecture?
... that in November 2022 the Supreme Court of New Zealand ruled that the voting age of 18 was unjustified age discrimination in Make It 16 Incorporated v Attorney-General?
... that New Zealand composer Maewa Kaihau sold her rights to the song "Now is the Hour" for £10, a decade before it became a hit in the United Kingdom and United States?
... that in 1981, New Zealand prime minister Robert Muldoon controversially published a list of "subversives", including many members of the Workers' Communist League?
... that technical standard NZS 3604 is used to design and construct about 93 per cent of New Zealand's light timber-framed buildings?