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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 Māori culture.
New Zealand troops join multi-national force in the Gulf War. An avalanche on Aoraki / Mount Cook reduces its height by 10.5 metres. 1992. Government and Māori interests negotiate Sealord fisheries deal. Public health system reforms. State housing commercialised. New Zealand gets seat on United Nations Security Council.
Today, New Zealand enjoys particularly close relations with the United States and is one of its major non-NATO allies, [217] as well as with Australia, with a "Trans-Tasman" identity between citizens of the latter being common. [218] New Zealand is a member of the Five Eyes intelligence sharing agreement, known formally as the UKUSA Agreement.
The natural history of New Zealand began when the landmass Zealandia – today an almost entirely submerged mass of continental crust with New Zealand and a few other islands peaking above sea level – broke away from the supercontinent Gondwana in the Cretaceous period. Before this time, Zealandia shared its past with Australia and Antarctica.
Many New Zealand species may have been heading for slow extinction after Polynesian settlement. [2] The extinction of the mega fauna (moa) seems to have occurred quickly, within 100 years. [43] The first settlers came to New Zealand from tropical Polynesia and adapted to a temperate environment while preserving many of their old practices.
In New Zealand, it is illegal to disturb or destroy an archaeological site, and can result in substantial fines and a criminal conviction. [57] Heritage New Zealand investigated how Hilliam had obtained the skulls and whether he had sent human remains out of New Zealand, but found no evidence beyond his claims to have done so. [58]
Kupe was a legendary [1] Polynesian explorer who, according to Māori oral history, was the first person to discover New Zealand. [2] He is generally held to have been born to a father from Rarotonga and a mother from Raiatea , and probably spoke a Māori proto-language similar to Cook Islands Māori or Tahitian .
In English, the most common name is Zealandia, a latinate name for New Zealand; the name was coined in the mid-1990s and became established through common use. In the Māori language , the landmass is named Te Riu-a-Māui , meaning 'the hills, valleys, and plains of Māui '.