New Zealand was discovered by a Dutch explorer, Abel Tasman, in 1642.
At first, Abel thought he had ended up on an island near Chile, so he named it "Staten Landt" on his maps. He quickly realised his mistake, however, and renamed the land "Nieuw Zeeland". Which is named after the providence "Zeeland", in Holland. From Dutch to English translations, Zeeland means Sea-Land.
Later, the English explorer, Captain James Cook, ordered that his maps of the known world be updated. His map-makers actually, accidentally, misspelt the country's name on their maps, labelling it "New Zealand" instead of "New Zeeland".
The name, New Zealand, has stuck ever since.
Abel Tasman also discovered an island off Australia which he named Van Diemen's Land, but was later given the more appropriate name of Tasmania.
New Zealand was named after Zealand, a province in The Netherlands, by Dutch explorer Abel Tasman.
The sun rises first in Gisborne, New Zealand.
The sun rises first in Gisborne, New Zealand.
New Zealand.
The Maori name "Aotearoa" means "Land of the Long White Cloud." It reflects the country's geographic features, specifically the long white clouds often seen over the islands. The name has cultural significance to the Maori people, who were the original inhabitants of New Zealand.
The indigenous people of New Zealand are the Maori.
Emma would be a quite acceptable female name in New Zealand.
There are three syllables in the name "New Zealand." The syllables in the name are new-zea-land.
New Zealand has many rivers.
The Māori name for New Zealand is 'Aotearoa' meaning 'land of the long white cloud'. The word "Māori" is the name of New Zealand's indigenous people who were the first to discover the land.
There are only two names, New Zealand and the maori name Aotearoa
The most common name for the kiwi in New Zealand is kiwi.
New Zealand