Quill's Quiz - 1100 Question US Mega Geography Quiz
Print this map of New Zealand US States and Capitals Map Quiz
Free Maps, Map Puzzles and Educational Software: Owl and Mouse Educational Software
Print this map of New Zealand US States and Capitals Map Quiz
Free Maps, Map Puzzles and Educational Software: Owl and Mouse Educational Software
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island nation in the southwestern Pacific. There are two main islands, North and South Island, to the east of Australia, plus a number of smaller islands. New Zealand is mountainous, with 18 peaks over 3,000 meters, and volcanoes on North Island. Its largest lake, Lake Taupo, is nestled is a caldera.
Polynesian peoples arrived in New Zealand in about 800 CE. The first European to see New Zealand was a Dutchman, Abel Tasman in 1642. In the 1800's, the British began to settle it.
The animals, plants and fungi of New Zealand are those that have evolved from species on the larger land mass from which New Zealand separated, or those that managed to reach New Zealand by flying, swimming or being carried by ocean currents (in addition to those brought by man). New Zealand had no placental mammals except bats before humans. However, it has a rich variety of marine mammals.