New+Zealand+Olympics

Olympic Games 2012
This year the Olympic games are being held in London, England. The games start on the ..... until ......... 2012.

There are............ countries competing in the Olympic games with a total of .................competitors.

The country I am focusing on is New Zealand. I am going to put on this page some important information not only about New Zealand itself but about some of the competitors they are sending to the Olympic games.



New Zealand is 1600 kilometres north to south with an area of 268,000 sq km. It has two major islands: the North Island (115,000 sq km) and the South Island (151,000 sq km), and a number of small islands such as Stewart Island right at the bottom.

New Zealand has a population of approximately 4.3 million.

New Zealand has what is known as a maritime climate. Climate and weather conditions in the seas around New Zealand can cause weather changeability. Rain is more evenly distributed in the North Island than in the South. The Waikato River in the North Island is the longest New Zealand river at 425km. The longest navigable river is the Whanganui, also in the North Island.

The official languages of New Zealand are English, Maori.

New Zealand's largest cities are Auckland and Wellington in the North Island, and Christchurch and Dunedin in the South Island. Christchurch is currently being re-built after 2 earthquakes which destroyed many buildings and killed….. people. Wellington is the capital city and is the middle of the country.

New Zealand's first inhabitants are believed to be the Maori. In 1642 Dutch explorer Abel van Tasman sailed up the west coast of the place he named Nieuw Zeeland, after the Netherlands province of Zeeland. Captain James Cook sailed around New Zealand on three separate voyages, the first in 1769. Captain Cook gave names to a number of New Zealand places which are still in use. The first settlers were sealers, then missionaries. The Europeans started arriving in greater numbers in the early 19th century. The treaty of Waitangi signed in 1840 ceded sovereignty over New Zealand to the Queen of England and guaranteed Maori possession of their own land. The treaty was written in English and in Maori.

**An interesting fact **