New Zealand Fun Facts
- The Maori name for New Zealand is ‘Aotearoa’. It means “The Land of the Long White Cloud”.
- New Zealand is the very first country to greet each new day! Gisborne is the first major city in the world to see the sunrise. It is 496.3kilometres away from the International Date Line.
- The largest city in New Zealand is Auckland.
- Wellington, the Capital City of New Zealand, is the southernmost capital city in the world.
- Auckland City Sky Tower is the tallest freestanding structure in the Southern Hemisphere at 328 metres.
- Three quarter of New Zealand’s population live on the North Island, and one quarter of the population live in Auckland.
- New Zealand has 6,000 kilometres of coastline and the furthest inland is only 120km from the coast.
- Lake Taupo was a crater caused by the largest known eruption in the world 26,500 years ago. It is approximately the size of Singapore Island and Caribbean Island of Saint Lucia.
- Dunedin is home to New Zealand’s oldest university, first newspaper and first botanic gardens.
- 30 percent of the country is protected forests and/or parks.
- You drive on the left side of the road in New Zealand, and always give way to cars on your right.
- The world’s first commercial bungee jump was a 43 metre leap off the Kawarau Bridge in Queenstown in 1988. FYI my son Jason did this bungee jump – see Videos.
- New Zealanders love their cars! 2.5 million cars for 4 million people (including children) makes New Zealand’s car ownership rate one of the highest in the world.
- Although it is only the size of California, New Zealand’s population is just over 4 million, making it one of the world’s least populated countries.
- In 1893, New Zealand became the first country to give women the right to vote.
- Sir Edmund Hillary, the first person to climb Mount Everest in 1953, was a New Zealander.
- Baron Ernest Rutherford, the first person in the world to split the atom in 1919, was also a New Zealander.
- While Rugby remains the most popular spectator sport in New Zealand, golf is the most popular participation sport, with more golf courses in New Zealand per capita of population, than any other country in the world.
- Auckland also has the largest number of boats per capita than any other city in the world.
- New Zealand won the first ever Rugby World Cup, held in 1987.
- New Zealand has won more Olympic gold medals per capita, than any other country.
- If you love surfing and other watersports; nowhere in New Zealand is more than 120 km from the coast.
- Dairy farmers produce a whopping 100 kg of butter and 65 kg of cheese each year, for each person who lives in New Zealand!
- Notable New Zealand filmmakers include ‘The Piano’ director Jane Campion and Peter Jackson, who made King Kong and the ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy.
- The most popular New Zealand films include ‘Once were Warriors’, ‘The Whale Rider’, ‘The Piano’ and the ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy.
- There are NO snakes in New Zealand.
- There are NO preditors in New Zealand.
- There are NO nuclear power stations in New Zealand.
New Zealand is also home to several record breaking and interesting animals.
- Oldest: Tuatara is the only living relative to the dinosaur, therefore the world's oldest reptile.Tuatara is endemic to New Zealand and looks like a very large lizard.
- Heaviest: The New Zealand Weta is the world's heaviest insect and a bit scary looking too.
- Biggest: New Zealand is home to the world's biggest earthworms.
- Smallest: Fairy or Little (Blue) Penguin (Eudyptula minor). The Maori name is Kororâ
- Smallest: Hector's Dolphin, found only in New Zealand is the world's smallest dolphin and one of the world's rarest. The Hector’s Dolphin grows to a maximum length of 1.5 metres and is found nowhere else in the world but in New Zealand waters.
- Largest: The Kakapo, a native to New Zealand is the world's largest flightless parrot.
- Rarest: The yellow-eyed penguin, native to New Zealand, is the rarest and strangest penguin in the world. It can dive to an astounding depth of 400 feet, likes to feed 20 miles from shore, and prefers to nest in the forest rather than on the beach. Penguin families tend to keep to themselves rather than congregate as most penguins do. Because of shoreline deforestation, these unusual-looking penguins are at great risk.