New Zealand is a beautiful country, where the New Zealanders are referred to as Kiwis and the kiwi is the kiwifruit. Unlike Austrailia, which has too many poisionous creatures to count, New Zealand has relatively few harmful insects and animals. The scenery is breathtaking. The Lord of the Rings triology was filmed there as well as the series Hercules and Xena: Warrior Princess.
With an entire population of only four million, New Zealand is a nice place to visit or even settle down. Auckland is one major city and the most populated. It is a metropolis similar to New York, but much less crowded. New Zealanders have a high level of life satisfaction as measured by international surveys; this is despite lower GDP per-head levels than many other OECD countries. The country was ranked 20th on the 2006 Human Development Index and 15th in The Economist's 2005 world-wide quality-of-life index. The country was further ranked 1st in life satisfaction and 5th in overall prosperity in the 2007 Legatum Institute prosperity index. In addition, the 2007 Mercer Quality of Living Survey ranked Auckland on its 5th place and Wellington on the 12th place in the world.
Much of contemporary New Zealand culture is derived from British roots. It also includes significant influences from American, Australian and Māori cultures, along with those of other European cultures and – more recently – non-Māori Polynesian and Asian cultures. Large festivals in celebration of Diwali and Chinese New Year are held in several of the larger centres. The world's largest Polynesian festival, Pasifika, is an annual event in Auckland. Cultural links between New Zealand and the United Kingdom and Ireland are maintained by a common language, sustained migration from the United Kingdom and Ireland, and many young New Zealanders spending time in the United Kingdom/Ireland on their "overseas experience." The music and cuisine of New Zealand are similar to that of Britain and the United States, although both have some distinct New Zealand and Pacific qualities.
For more info on visiting or living in New Zealand go to:
http://saturnufo.nukiwi.hop.clickbank.net/
