Introduction
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses (the North Island and the South Island) and numerous smaller islands. The indigenous Maori name for New Zealand is Aotearoa, commonly translated as land of the long white cloud. New Zealand is notable for its geographic isolation: it is situated about 2,000 kilometers (1,200 mi) southeast of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and its closest neighbours to the north are the Pa-cific islands of New Caledonia, Fiji and Tonga. …
