The human history of New Zealand can be dated back to between 1320 and 1350 CE, when the main settlement period started, after it was discovered and settled by Polynesians, who developed a distinct Mā
Māori whānau (extended family) from Rotorua in the 1880s. Many aspects of Western life and culture, including European clothing and architecture, were incorporated into Māori society during the 19th century.
The Mission House at Kerikeri, completed in 1822, is New Zealand's oldest surviving building.
One of the few extant copies of the Treaty of Waitangi
Scottish Highland family migrating to New Zealand, 1844, by William Allsworth. Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington.
New Zealand is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It comprises two main landmasses—the North Island and the South Island —and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island
History of New Zealand
…but, unlike them, it was adapted to a cool, temperate environment rather than a warm, tropical one. The first European explorer known to have visited New Zealand was the Dutch navigator Abel Tasman, on 13 December 1642. In 1643 he charted the west coast of the North Island, his expedition then sailed back to…
A meeting of European and Māori residents of Hawke's Bay Province. Engraving, 1863.
Residents of Dunedin celebrate the news of the Armistice of 11 November 1918.
The snow-capped Southern Alps dominate the South Island, while the North Island's Northland Peninsula stretches towards the subtropics.