6th February: New Zealand

Waitangi Day The Treaty of Waitangi, New Zealand's founding document was first signed in the Bay of Islands on 6 February 1840.

1. New Zealand was named after a province in the Netherlands - Zeeland. The indigenous Maori people, however, have their own name for it - Aoetaroa, meaning ‘land of the long white cloud’.
2. New Zealand was part of Australia until 1901, when Australia federated. New Zealand then refused the offer to become a state of Australia and struck out on its own. That said, the Australian constitution still lists New Zealand as one of its states - so it could still become a state of Australia if it wanted to.
3. There are a number of things New Zealand has more of per person than anywhere else. It has more Scottish pipe bands per capita than any other country in the world (including Scotland); more golf courses; more sheep (around nine sheep per person); more book-shops (one for every 7500 people); more Helicopters and more Olympic gold medals. The largest city, Auckland also has the largest number of boats per capita than any other city in the world.
4. In terms of wildlife, the only native mammals are Bats. Everything else was introduced by humans. There are no Snakes, introduced or otherwise. There are more different species of Penguins here than anywhere else; and the country is home to the world’s smallest marine Dolphin (Hector’s Dolphin), the world's heaviest insect (the giant weta, which weighs more than a small bird and looks like a giant cockroach), the world's only flightless parrot (the Kakapo), and of course, its national bird, the kiwi, which lays the largest egg in the world in relation to the size of the bird - a kiwi's egg weighs about one-third of the female bird’s weight. It is the only bird in the world to have a sense of smell, and even though it cannot fly, it is the symbol of the New Zealand Air Force.
5. Wellington is the southernmost capital city in the world. Auckland is the largest city, though - more people live there than on the whole of the South Island.
6. In 1893, New Zealand became the first country to give women the right to vote. In 2006 it became the only country in the world where all the highest positions were simultaneously held by women: the Queen, the Governor-General, the PM, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Chief Justice were all women. It was also the first country in the world to have a transsexual Member of Parliament in 1999 (Georgina Beyer). It has created a couple of slightly wacky government posts - a Minister for Lord of the Rings, to maximise the amount of money which could be made from the films; and a National Wizard. His duties include casting out evil spirits and cheering up the population. New Zealand ties with Denmark as the least corrupt nation in the world.
7. New Zealand has two National Anthems - God Save The Queen and God Defend New Zealand. New Zealand is one of only three countries that have two official (and of equal standing) national Anthems. The others are Denmark and Canada.
8. New Zealand is home to the tallest man made structure in the Southern Hemisphere (the Sky Tower in Auckland at 328m) and the world's steepest street (Baldwin Street, in Dunedin has a gradient of 1 in 2.86 at its steepest section).
9. The highest mountain is Aoraki/Mount Cook at 3,754 metres (12,316 ft).
10. The Maori name for a hill in Hawke’s Bay is 85 characters long and is the longest place name found in any English speaking country. It is Taumatawhakatangihangaoauauotameteaturipukakapikimaungah-oronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu, which roughly translates as, “the place where Tamatea, the man with the big knees, who slid, climbed and swallowed mountains, known as the land-eater, played his nose flute to his loved ones”.