Let’s get the first of several interesting facts about New Zealand you’ll learn today out of the way. New Zealand’s population is ~4.5 million plus who knows how many travelling/living abroad.
Having met 100’s of people in around the world, it’s fun to see people get excited about meeting someone from New Zealand. We make up such a small portion of travellers worldwide why wouldn’t you get excited right?
Often I’m the first person they’ve met from New Zealand making me their instant best friend in the room. Winning!
Yet when you meet someone from a country for the first time, do you feel a bit silly when you know virtually nothing about their country?
You shouldn’t as there’s a lot of countries in the world and being a know it all isn’t always fun.
Given New Zealand doesn’t feature in world news regularly, and we aren’t at the top of history lessons there are some common facts about New Zealand(er’s) you might not know. But probably should.
This is the six of these facts about New Zealand you’ll be glad to know once you’ve finished reading.
TL;DR: Facts About New Zealand You Need To Know
- Wellington is located at the bottom of the North Island
- Few kiwi’s can speak Maori and/or perform the Haka
- The Aussie Flag has one more star than NZ’s flag
- New Zealand has a larger land area than the UK
- Sir Edmund Hillary is kiwi
- New Zealand and Australia is like the EU. You can live and work freely in either country.
1. Wellington Is At The Bottom Of The North Island
Image courtesy of Matt Chan
Wellington, not Auckland, is our capital city. You’ll find Wellington at the bottom of the North Island. The Southwest corner to be precise, bordered by the Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Ranges.
Three random facts about Wellington:
- Lonely Planet said Wellington was “the coolest little capital in the world”
- Wellington is the southern most capital in the world
- Known as ‘Windy Wellington’, the average wind speed is 22km/h…the same as New York! Ladies, keep the dresses and skirts in your bags.
2. We Don’t All Speak Maori And/Or Know The Haka
Kia Ora! That’s hello in Maori. The history of Maori people fascinates people who show any sign of interest in New Zealand. I’m always asked if I can speak Maori, especially from Europeans who seemingly can all speak three languages minimum.
Nope, I can’t speak Maori but all Maori speakers speak English.
There are various statistics out there, but the 2013 Census said 3% of the population in New Zealand can speak Maori (11% of the Maori population). A large portion are aged 65+, so unfortunately it’s a a dying language. There will be core groups who keep the language alive which I’m thankful for, even after I said we should stop being taught Maori in schools last year.
There are lots of places, birds and trees in New Zealand that are known in English by their Maori name.
Before moving onto the haka, check out this video of the All Blacks performing the haka before continuing.
The haka is epic, watching the All Blacks perform the haka gets the hairs standing up on my arms. We don’t learn the haka in school unless we are part of a Kapa Haka group which is a small percentage of students. I did do the haka in front of a couple thousand people in The Bahamas!
I myself didn’t ever know the meaning of the words in the haka (Ka Mate) until a couple weeks back.
Image couresty of Haka.co.nz
3. The Aussie And New Zealand Flag Are Different
NZ flag courtesy of Nicolas Raymond
Aussie flag courtesy of Nicolas Raymond
It’s not everyday you hear about a countries flag possibly changing so when the New Zealand Flag Referendum was going on, it was a massive talking point in New Zealand and got attention worldwide too.
Politics isn’t my favourite subject so I shied away from making my opinion public, unless someone asked me directly.
I voted to change the flag to the winning design.
To Kiwis and Aussies, the difference in the two flags is obvious.
Yet I’ve learnt from hundreds of other nationalities the difference isn’t obvious.
In reality, the flags are very similar. Both feature the Union Jack in the top left corner, both feature the Southern cross on the right side (the colours are different and Aussie has one more star on the cross). The only major difference is the Aussie flag has the federation star below the Southern Cross.
I haven’t done any formal test but there’s definitely a lack of identity in the current New Zealand flag. Two people I met even thought we had the same flag as Aussie.
57% of voters decided to keep the current flag, so it wasn’t that far off New Zealand getting a new flag, further interest in our country and to step away from the shadow of both the Commonwealth and Australia.
What NZ flags could have been….
4. New Zealand Is Bigger Than You Think
New Zealand is often an afterthought on some world maps where we aren’t included at all. Yet we we have a larger land mass than the United Kingdom! It seems to happen less often now, but please don’t forget where we are on the world map.
We aren’t a China, we are bigger than well over half the countries in the world.
NZ is the bottom right! Image courtesy of kcp4911
5. Sir Edmund Hillary Is A Kiwi
Image Courtesy of Jonathan Keelty
This one first came to my attention recently when a friend messaged me on Facebook having arrived in New Zealand for the first time. He didn’t know Sir Ed is kiwi until seeing the $5 note.
Yup, in 1953 New Zealand born, Sir Edmund Hillary became the first person to reach the highest point on earth, the peak of Mount Everest.
Born in Auckland (1919), the late Sir Edmund Hillary was a recognised hero worldwide that New Zealand took great passion in claiming him as our own.
That’ll be Sir Ed! source.
His face is indeed on the $5 note. He of course received plenty of rewards throughout the years following his Everest expedition and to finish it off he was named one of the top 100 most influential figures of the 20th century by Time Magazine.
6. We Can Live And Work In Aussie As We Please
No friends on the rugby field! Image couresy of Andy Todd
People are surprised by this and it comes up as a topic in these two situations:
- working with people in Australia on their working holiday visa
- mentioning I lived in Melbourne for two years
While we don’t share a land border, Australia and New Zealand are tight (we love to hate each other, like brothers) and if you own a passport from one country, you can live and work freely in both countries (there are exceptions of course).
However if you’re a kiwi in Aussie, you aren’t always entitled to the same benefits and vice-versa.
We are essentially like the European Union. It’s not that crazy.
There you go. Next time you meet a kiwi, you’ll be a bit more knowledgeable. Don’t worry though, we incredibly nice, laid back and don’t bite often.
WANT TO PROCRASTINATE? READ ALL OF THE FREE THINGS TO DO IN NEW ZEALAND
