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At first New Zealand was administered from Australia as part of the colony of New South Wales, and from 16 June 1840 New South Wales laws were deemed to operate in New Zealand. [68] This was a transitional arrangement, and the British Government issued the Charter for Erecting the Colony of New Zealand on 16 November 1840.
Modern New Zealand archaeology has clarified the origin and dates of the earliest migrations, establishing firmly that there is no evidence that anyone settled New Zealand before Māori. As far back as the 19th century, any claim to the contrary has been considered to be pseudohistorical due to a lack of evidence.
When the British colony of New South Wales was founded in 1788 it nominally included a claim to New Zealand as far as 43°39'S (approximately halfway down the South Island). In the years before 1800 there was little interest shown by European powers in New Zealand except for the events of 1793 (see below).
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.
Due to New Zealand's geographic isolation, several centuries passed before the next phase of settlement, that of Europeans. Only then did the original inhabitants need to distinguish themselves from the new arrivals, using the adjective "māori" which means "ordinary" or "indigenous" which later became a noun although the term New Zealand native was common until about 1890.
Map of New Zealand. The economic history of New Zealand dates to before European colonisation of the country. By the 20th century, it had become one of the most globalized economies in the world, relying heavily on international trade with developed countries including Australia, Canada, China, European Union, the United States, Japan, and South Korea.
Abel Tasman was the first known European explorer to reach the islands of Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania) and New Zealand, and to sight the Fiji islands. His navigator François Visscher, and his merchant Isaack Gilsemans, mapped substantial portions of Australia, New Zealand, Tonga and the Fijian islands.
Although the current New Zealand flag remains a popular symbol of New Zealand, there have been proposals from time to time for the New Zealand flag to be changed. Proponents of a new flag argued "[t]he current New Zealand Flag is too colonial and gives the impression that New Zealand is still a British colony and not an independent nation."