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- An island nation
- 1,600 kilometres (990 miles) long
- 400 kilometres (250 miles) wide
- 15,000 km (9,300 miles) of coastline
- It’s 10,032 kilometres (6,793 miles) from Auckland to Black Rock City.
- New Zealand is also known as Aotearoa (Eh-Oh-Tay Ah-Row-Ah) in the language spoken by our indigenous population, the Maori
- The Maori word, Aotearoa, translates as the Land of the Long White Cloud
- Watch a lyrical lesson on the proper pronunciation of commonly mispronounced Maori words here.
- 4.75 million people live in New Zealand
- Two thirds of the population live in the North Island:
- Auckland: 1.5 million
- Wellington: 410,000
- Christchurch: 390,000
- Hunterville: 500.
- The Kiwi is our national bird, as well as being the colloquial name for New Zealanders:
- Flightless
- Nocturnal
- Endangered.
- In 2007, the Kiwiburn population was 140
- In 2017, the Kiwiburn population reached 1,635 participants
- Of New Zealand participants: 36% from Wellington; 35% from Auckland
- There is some inter-city rivalry.