Fun facts 'bout New Zealand

[Jape Corbel]

So fellow escapists, I have a presentation to make for a contest. The subject is New Zealand wich means that I can choose anything from demography to criminal records. I decided to entitle my presentation "15 interesting facts about New Zealand". Now, It would be of great aid to me if you could post some such facts (and I especially seek help of actual Kiwis themselves). So yeah, if you have time I'd be very thankfull.

P.S. Sorry If I my english is bad

 

[SwimmingRock]

Fun fact about New Zealand: It's actually not new. It's been around for a while.

Sorry, I know nothing about New Zealand. But Wikipedia (if you're willing to trust that) informs me that the indigenous Maori people call it "Aotearoa" (no idea on pronunciation), which apparently means "land of the long white cloud". Sounds fishy to me, but who knows? You might be able to get away with it.

EDIT: Well, damn. Ninja'd on the first bit...

 

[Revnak_v1legacy]

There are people too.

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

I just Googled it and found a ton of good sites to get facts of off. Try that first.

Here's one.

"New Zealand was the first major nation to have universal suffrage. In 1893 it became legal for all male and female citizens of New Zealand to vote."

 

[Giest4life]

New Zealand is a country with a current of just over 4 million people, and yet they can find enough bad ass motherfuckers to kick the World's ass in Rugby. Go figure.

 

[Jape Corbel]

Oh no, you got me wrong. I had some facts already, I was just curious if you had some other more interesting ones, that's why I mentioned that I'm mostly interested in opinions of actual New Zealanders.

 

[J-dog42]

Here's a good one. It's 11.30am here, right in the middle of the work day, so probably not the best time to post a thread. Unless you are an unemployed student such as myself.

Edmund Hillary, the first man to climb Mt Everest was a New Zealander, as was Ernest Rutherford who split the atom.

We are home to the Rugby World Champions, the All Blacks. Although, not all the players are black, which is a bit misleading. Also in sports, the All Whites, our soccer team, were the only undefeated team at the last FIFA World Cup.

Ours is a bicultural society, with pretty much everything being available in English and Maori, including the national anthem. However, it wont be long before the Asian population exceeds the Maori one.

Our elections are coming up and they are expected to be won by the National party, who currently are in power with a coalition government. They are fairly centre-right, with the opposition Labour party, sitting centre-left.

Our national airline, creatively named Air New Zealand, was one of the first customers of the new Boeing 787 and will be first to receive the 787-9 when it comes out in 2014. AirNZ is also one of the best in the world.

Despite having a bigger landmass than the UK, we only have 4 million people.

We like to shag sheep for fun...oh wait I wasn't supposed to let that one out of the bag.

 

[LoFr3Eq]

I'm From NZ,

-We won the rugby world cup this year, the first time in 24 years (we are usually ranked #1 in the world)

-There are more residents of Asian decent than of Maori decent here.

-On the flipside, I am part Maori, as would many people that associate with NZ European heritage.

-A Kiwi is a medium sized endangered flightless bird. A Kiwifruit is a furry sour fruit.

-Our Prime Minister is John Key, he appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman last year, he was pretty terrible. (He is likely to get re-elected this month )

-Brett from Flight of the Conchords appeared in The Fellowship of the Ring, and had a line in Return of the King, his character's name was FIGWIT (Frodo is Great, Who is That?). He has a very strong online following.

-one more... In my home city of Christchurch we had 2 very powerful earthquakes in the last year. Many people died in the second one even though its magnitude was less than the first (6.3 compared to 7.1).

 

[Jelly ^.^]

New Zealand was once almost a state of Australia.

Spoiler

AND ONE DAY IT WILL BE! MUAHAHAHAHA​

 

[doggie135]

I can safely say you need to watch "Flight of the Conchords".
It's an American show, but its two stars give quite some insight into the NZ culture (we aren't insane).

Also, don't confuse us with Australians. Ever.
:3


And one last personal fact:
Not every person in New Zealand likes rugby. Just ~99% of us