NEW ZEALAND Geography: New Zealand consists of two large islands (North Island and South Island) separated by Cook Strait and several small islands. Its area is 268,675 sq km. Each of the two main islands is mainly hilly and mountainous. There is very little flat land. The North Island is famous for its hot springs and geysers. The thermal activity of the volcanic area is most spectacular in the Rotorua district. It is full of thermal lakes, exploding geysers and hot mud pools. The most active volcano is on White Island just off the northern coast. In the centre of North Island is the gigantic lake Taupo the area of which is 606 sq km. It is actually the crater of what may have been the biggest volcanic erruption ever. The highest mountain in New Zealand is Mount Cook (3,764). There are many other mountains of more than 3,000m ,which provide excellent opportunities for skiing and moutaineering. The largest rivers are the Wanganui and the Waikato. New Zealand lies just to the west of the international dateline so it is one of the first countries to see the sun at the beginning of each new day. Climate: New Zealand has a very pleasant, healthy climate with lots of sunshine and good rainfall, with warm summers and mild winters. Population and towns: Although New Zealand is larger than Great Britain, its population is relatively small (3,600,000) About 85 per cent are of British origin and about 10% are Maoris (Polynesian people). All big towns lie on the coast - Auckland (the largest), Wellington (the capital), Christchurch, Dunedin,... The system of government: The official head of the state is still Queen Elizabeth II represented by the Governor General. History: The first people to settle in New Zealand were Polynesian tribes- the Maoris-about 1,000 years ago.It took a long time for Europeans to discover New Zealnd. The first European to see NZ was the Dutch navigator Abel Tasman, in 1642. More than 100 years later NZ was rediscovered by Captain James Cook, who circumnavigated NZ and found out that it was a group of islands. The wildlife: In the wildlife of NZ you can find many creatures which are not found anywhere else in the world. The most peculiar is perhaps a roundish, flightless bird known as the kiwi. It is NZ´s national bird as well as its symbol. NZ´s rugby league team takes the bird´s name and also New Zealanders themselves are sometimes known as kiwis. The kiwi survived because there are no animals native to the country, so the bird´s nests were safe. The kiwi is now in great danger of becoming extinct because many animals were brought to the islands by humans. Two of these species have become the most numerous inhabitants of the country - sheep ( which outnumber humans by more than 20 to 1) and a small marsupial with a long tail known as a possum. Wellington is the capital city. It is built in a major earthquake zone. The last earthquake was a long time ago, but another destructive quake could strike the city anytime. As a result, today most of the city centre consists of concrete and steel tower blocks („earthquake-proof“ buildings) that house banks and government offices. The city is built on the steep hillsides that descend right to the sea and make it a difficult place to build a city. Wellington must be one of the few capital cities that does not have an international airport: there simply isn´t room to build a runway long enough to land a large jet. Passengers arriving from overseas have to land first at Auckland, 700 km to the north, change to a smaller plane, and then hope it will be able to stop before falling off the end of the runway.