)

Climate: temperate with sharp regional contrasts

Terrain: predominately mountainous with some large coastal plains

Natural resources: natural gas, iron ore, sand, coal, timber,
hydropower, gold, limestone

Land use:
arable land: 2%
permanent crops: 0%
meadows and pastures: 53%
forest and woodland: 38%
other: 7%

Irrigated land: 2,800 sq km (1989 est.)

Environment:
current issues: deforestation; soil erosion; native flora and fauna
hard-hit by species introduced from outside
natural hazards: earthquakes are common, though usually not severe
international agreements: party to - Antarctic-Environmental Protocol,
Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species,
Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Nuclear
Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Tropical Timber 83, Wetlands,
Whaling; signed, but not ratified - Law of the Sea, Marine Life
Conservation

Note: about 80% of the population lives in cities

@New Zealand:People

Population: 3,407,277 (July 1995 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 23% (female 381,027; male 401,285)
15-64 years: 65% (female 1,109,402; male 1,111,079)
65 years and over: 12% (female 234,339; male 170,145) (July 1995 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.52% (1995 est.)

Birth rate: 15.14 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Death rate: 8.03 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Net migration rate: -1.87 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 8.6 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 76.65 years
male: 73.08 years
female: 80.42 years (1995 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.99 children born/woman (1995 est.)

Nationality:
noun: New Zealander(s)
adjective: New Zealand

Ethnic divisions: European 88%, Maori 8.9%, Pacific Islander 2.9%,
other 0.2%

Religions: Anglican 24%, Presbyterian 18%, Roman Catholic 15%,
Methodist 5%, Baptist 2%, other Protestant 3%, unspecified or none 33%
(1986)

Languages: English (official), Maori

Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (1980 est.)
total population: 99%

Labor force: 1,603,500 (June 1991)
by occupation: services 66.6%, industry 22.6%, agriculture 10.8%
(1992)

@New Zealand:Government

Names:
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: New Zealand

Abbreviation: NZ

Digraph: NZ

Type: parliamentary democracy

Capital: Wellington

Administr