25 Fun Facts and Trivia about New Zealand

Perhaps one of the last frontiers in the world, New Zealand offers a lot to see for visitors and residents alike. It still holds a mystique that is unparalleled in the world and has several traditions that add to the enthralling quality of the locale.

Here are several golden nuggets of information about the country for reference in case you plan to visit or look for a job and end up here.

Tips and Things to Know about New Zealand

New Zealand flag

You will get to know the people, the area and the culture of the New Zealanders and find out about the quirky and interesting facts about them with this list:

Wellington is the world’s southernmost capital city.

Auckland, another of the premiere cities in the country, is the most affordable city to live in according to several surveys.

The country is tied with Denmark as the least corrupt countries in the world according to various survey indexes.

English, Maori and New Zealand Sign Language are the three recognized official languages in the country.

Aoetaroa, the Maori name for New Zealand, literally translates to the land of the long white cloud.

The country has two national anthems – God Save the Queen and God Defend New Zealand.

An astonishing fact – there are more animals than people in the country! Only 5% of the total living population in the country are humans – the rest are animals!

The world’s smallest dolphin species are to be found in the territorial waters off New Zealand.

The world’s clearest lake water is to be found in Blue Lake and it is part of the Nelson Lakes National Park – one of the many protected sanctuaries in the country.

Those who are averse to snakes would love New Zealand – there are no land snakes in the country – whether they are natural or introduced to the territory.

A native New Zealand bird, the kea, is known to remove the windscreen wipers off parked cars and also seem to love to consume the rubber strips from windows. It is definitely one of the most unique animals in the world!

The country also boasts of having the most number of species of penguins in the world.

Women’s rights supporters scored a major coup in 1893 when the country became the very first to give the women the right of suffrage.

Another such coup was scored in 2013 when the country legalized same-sex marriage – one of the countries in the world to enact and recognize such liberties.

Sir Edmund Hillary, the first man to scale Mount Everest, is a native Kiwi.

Baron Ernest Rutherford, he of the atom splitting fame, is also a native New Zealander.

Supporters of endless beauty through plastic surgery should also thank another Kiwi, Harold Gillies. He pioneered plastic surgery for augmentation and other purposes.

If you are a Lord of the Rings fanatic – you would recognize the landscape as the one that makes up Middle Earth in Tolkien’s masterpiece and Peter Jackson’s adaptations.

New Zealand is also the only country in the world which is allowed to put Hobbit-related illustrations in its currencies.

In another interesting tidbit, Pokemon-loving citizens of the world would be envious of residents of Niue, one self-governed island in New Zealand as it has images of Pokemon on its legal tender coins. They also have coins with images from the Star Wars films.

There are nine sheep for every man in the New Zealand population. That makes it the highest ratio in the world.

If you could eat 100 kilograms of butter and 65 kilograms of cheese per year, then you would find New Zealand to your liking because that is the average amount produced per person by these industries.

The longest name of a place is Taumatawhakatangihangaoauauotameteaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu which is in Maori. Translated to English, it means, “the place where Tamatea, the man with the big knees, who slid, climbed and swallowed mountains, known as the land-eater, played his nose flute to his loved ones”.

Way back in 199o, the country was the very first to appoint a National Wizard.

To get the most revenue, the country also had an appointed Minister for The Lord of the Rings – owing to the fact that the country is officially Middle Earth.

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