About New Zealand
New Zealand (Maori: Aotearoa) is an island country in the south-western Ocean comprising
two main landmasses (the North Island and the South Island) and numerous islands.
New Zealand is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary democracy, although
its constitution is not codified. Queen Elizabeth II is the Queen of New Zealand.
New Zealand has a mild and temperate maritime climate with mean annual temperatures
ranging from 10°C (50 °F) in the south to 16°C (61 °F) in the north. New Zealand's
geographic isolation for 80 million years and island biogeography is responsible
for the country's unique species of flora and fauna.
Capital : Wellington
Largest City : Auckland
Population : 4,414,400 around
New York, London and Paris don't hold a candle to Auckland and Wellington, according
to a worldwide quality of living survey.
The New Zealand cities ranked among the best in the Mercer 2009 Quality of Living
survey, which covered 215 cities and was based on criteria including political,
social, economic and environmental factors.
Auckland jumped one place from last year to join Canada's Vancouver in fourth place,
while Wellington stayed 12th on the list. Austrian capital Vienna took the No 1
spot, knocking Switzerland's Zurich and Geneva into second and third respectively.