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Country profile:
New-zealand
languages:
English, Maori
Prime
minister: John
Key
New
Zealand
religion: Christianity
Agro-Industry Development
Agriculture in New Zealand
is the largest sector of the tradeable economy,
contributing about two-thirds of exported goods
in 2006-7. For the year ended March 2002,
agricultural exports were valued at over $14.8
billion. The New Zealand agricultural sector is
unique in being the only developed country to be
totally exposed to the international markets
since subsidies, tax concessions and price
supports were removed in the 1980s. Pastoral
farming is the major land use but there are
increases in land area devoted to horticulture.
New Zealand is a member of the Cairns Group
which is seeking to have free trade in
agricultural goods.
Pastoral farming:- In
Northland, the major form of pastoral farming is
beef cattle. In the Waikato and Taranaki areas,
dairy cattle predominate. Through the rest of
New Zealand, sheep farming is the major rural
activity, with beef cattle farming in the hills
and high country, and dairying increasing in
Canterbury, Otago and Southland.
New
Zealand,
a
wealthy
Pacific
nation,
is
dominated
by two
cultural
groups:
New
Zealanders
of
European
descent,
and the
minority
Maori,
whose
Polynesian
ancestors
arrived
on the
islands
around
1,000
years
ago.
Agriculture
is the
economic
mainstay,
but
manufacturing
and
tourism
are
important
and
there is
a
fledgling
film
industry.
New
Zealand
has
diversified
its
export
markets
and has
developed
strong
trade
links
with
Australia,
the US,
and
Japan.
In April
2008 it
became
the
first
Western
country
to sign
a free
trade
deal
with
China.
British
sovereignty
was
established
under the 1840
Treaty of
Waitangi - a
pact between
Maori chiefs
and the
British
government
over land
rights.
AT-A-GLANCE
Politics:
John
Key
led
the
National
Party
to
victory
in the
November
2008
election
Economy:
The
country
officially
went
into
recession
in
September
2008,
for
the
first
time
in ten
years
International:
New
Zealand
troops
have
taken
part
in
regional
peacekeeping
efforts
and
are
deployed
in
Afghanistan
The treaty
gave rise to
land claims
which
culminated in
the "New
Zealand Wars",
a series of
skirmishes
between
colonial
forces and
Maori on the
north island.
The government
awarded money
and land in
settlements
during the
1990s, but the
land issue
remains
controversial.
In 1984 the
government
embarked on a
dramatic and
controversial
economic
reform
programme,
which lifted
controls on
wages, prices
and interest
rates and
removed
agricultural
subsidies.
The landscape
is diverse,
and sometimes
spectacular.
This has
fuelled
tourism;
visitors are
drawn to the
glacier-carved
mountains,
lakes, beaches
and thermal
springs.
Because of the
islands'
geographical
isolation,
much of the
flora and
fauna is
unique to the
country.
New Zealand
plays an
active role in
Pacific
affairs. It
has
constitutional
ties with the
Pacific
territories of
Niue, the Cook
Islands and
Tokelau.
Its troops
served in East
Timor when
violence broke
out in the
territory in
1999 and were
part of a
multinational
force intended
to restore
order to the
Solomon
Islands in
2003. Further
afield, New
Zealand forces
have backed
peacekeeping
and
development
efforts in
Afghanistan.
But its
anti-nuclear
stance -
including a
ban on
nuclear-powered
or
nuclear-armed
vessels from
its waters -
put it at odds
with the US in
the 1980s.
A significant
amount of New
Zealand's
electricity is
generated by
hydropower
sources and
the country
has a range of
renewable
energy sources
at its
disposal.
Migration
patterns have
changed, with
most incomers
coming from
Asia and
Pacific island
states, rather
than from the
UK and
Australia.
Officials
estimate that
Asians will
make up 13% of
the population
by 2021.
Head of state:
Queen
Elizabeth II,
represented by
Governor-general
Anand
Satyanand
Prime
minister: John
Key
Mr
Key's
victory
ended
nine
years
of
Labour
rule
John Key led
the
centre-right
National Party
to victory in
the November
2008 general
election,
ending nine
years of
Labour-led
government.
His party was
just short of
an overall
majority, and
formed a
government
after agreeing
a coalition
deal with two
smaller
parties.
Born in 1961
and brought up
in relative
poverty by his
Austrian-Jewish
immigrant
mother after
the early
death of his
father, Mr Key
became a
currency
trader and has
acquired a
substantial
personal
fortune.
He rose to be
head of
foreign
exchange at
Merrill Lynch
in Singapore,
and served as
a member of
the Foreign
Exchange
Committee of
the New York
Federal
Reserve Bank
in 1999-2001.
National Party
president John
Slater
enouraged him
to enter
politics in
2001, and Mr
Key was
elected to
parliament the
following
year. He was
appointed
opposition
finance
spokesman in
2004, and
became party
leader in 2006
after Don
Brash resigned
over
allegations of
election-funding
irregularities.
Since taking
over the
party, Mr Key
has positioned
it more on the
centre ground.
His first
speech as
leader pledged
a future
government to
measures to
prevent the
creation of an
"underclass",
and he has
said that
reducing
greenhouse gas
emissions by
50% in the
next 50 years
will be a
priority.
New Zealand
has a
single-chamber
parliament,
the House of
Representatives,
which is
elected for a
three-year
term.
Coalition
governments
have been the
norm since
proportional
representation
replaced the
"first past
the post"
electoral
system in
1993.