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Exploring New Zealand: A Quiz on History, Culture, and Geography

Test your knowledge about New Zealand's history, culture, and geography with this engaging quiz. Explore key facts and figures that define this unique country.

#New Zealand #History #Culture #Geography #Sports #Māori

1 Which of the following lead to the establishment of New Zealand?

2 From the early nineteenth century, Christian missionaries began to settle New Zealand, eventually converting most of the Māori population, who had become disillusioned with their indigenous faith by the introduction of ________.

3 What % of the area of New Zealand is water?

4 Other popular participatory sports include cricket, ________, netball, soccer, motorsport, golf, swimming and tennis.

5 In 1863 Premier Alfred Domett moved a resolution that the capital transfer to a locality in ________, apparently due to concern that the South Island might form a separate colony.

6 Who of the following is/was the leader of New Zealand?

7 ________ are rarely housed, but are sometimes fed small quantities of supplements such as hay and silage, particularly in winter.

8 Which is the largest city in New Zealand?

9 What is the leader of New Zealand called?

10 Sport has a major role in New Zealand's culture, with the unofficial national sport of ________ being particularly influential.

💡 Interesting Facts

  • the acronym Vorb contained in Tama Easton's popular New Zealand internet forum vorb.org.nz stands for "Vaguely Organised – Ride Bikes".
  • the fishing industry in New Zealand works an exclusive economic zone fourteen times larger than the land area of New Zealand itself.
  • the International Cricket Council awarded Australia and New Zealand the hosting rights to the 2015 Cricket World Cup because they were sufficiently impressed with their 2011 bid which lost to Asia by 7 votes.
  • ten New Zealand soldiers lost their lives in 1917 in the Bere Ferrers rail accident due to being unaccustomed to the British railway system.
  • southern African vine Acetosa sagittata is a weed in Australia and New Zealand, and may smother vegetation it grows upon.
  • researchers believe the monotypic New Zealand genus Oreostylidium represents an extreme example of floral paedomorphosis and should be transferred back to the related Australian genus Stylidium.
  • sightings of Captain Cook were common around New Zealand as late as the 1950s.
  • the Kaipara Harbour of Northland, New Zealand, was named at a hāngi on the Pouto Peninsula, at which the para fern (Marattia salicina) was served.
  • the New Zealand endemic amphipod Paraleptamphopus caeruleus lives in "bog-water on top of Swampy Hill".
  • the New Zealand Railways Department's experimental RM class Westinghouse railcar was the first railcar to enter revenue service in New Zealand.
  • the shot tower of the Colonial Ammunition Company is the only surviving tower of its kind in New Zealand.
  • the New Zealand member of parliament William Montgomery worked on the extension of the Little River railway to Akaroa.
  • the New Zealand Members of Parliament John Thomas Peacock, Francis James Garrick, John Evans Brown and Henry Richard Webb were brothers-in-law.
  • the New Zealand Member of Parliament Frederic Jones was described as the foremost local government expert of his time.
  • the New Zealand McGillicuddy Serious Party wanted to return to a medieval lifestyle and establish a monarchy based on the Scottish Jacobite line.
  • nearly half the eligible male population of New Zealand served in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force during World War I.
  • nearly every known example of the New Zealand-designed Charlton Automatic Rifle was destroyed in a fire at the storage depot shortly after World War II.
  • although the tiny Hochstetters frog of New Zealand has no tail, it has atavistic tail-wagging muscles.
  • around a third of New Zealanders claim no religious affiliation, including the leaders of both main political parties.
  • fourteen people died in the Cave Creek disaster when a scenic viewing platform collapsed in New Zealand in 1995.
  • although his crew were merely taking geological observations, the British Government believed Cyrille Pierre Théodore Laplace had claimed New Zealand for France.
  • all species of the New Zealand parrot family Nestoridae (Kākā pictured) are either endangered or have gone extinct due to human activity.
  • a new free trade agreement called the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership between Brunei, Chile, New Zealand and Singapore will come into effect on 1 January 2006.
  • according to a survey by Reader's Digest, the Royal New Zealand Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is New Zealand's second most trusted charity.
  • from the 1860s, the New Zealand government established a network of castaway depots (example pictured) on their sub-antarctic islands for the use of shipwreck survivors.
  • habitual con artist Amy Bock impersonated a man in early-20th century New Zealand in order to marry and defraud her landlady's daughter.
  • in 2007, the New Zealand initiative eDay saw 415 tonnes (910,000 lb) of electronic waste collected.
  • in April 1999, Australian Justice Carolyn Simpson joined Margaret Beazley and Virginia Bell to form the first all-female bench to sit in Australia, England or New Zealand.
  • in 2007, Fiji international goalkeeper Simione Tamanisau was prevented from playing in a FIFA World Cup qualifying match by the New Zealand authorities.
  • in 1993, an officer in New Zealand's Diplomatic Protection Squad accidentally discharged a pistol on a VIP aircraft while in flight.
  • in 1909 at the age of 17, New Zealand pianist Frank Hutchens became the youngest-ever subprofessor appointed to London's Royal Academy of Music.
  • in 1909, New Zealand gifted a new battlecruiser to Britain.
  • the tsunami triggered by the 1868 Arica earthquake, that led to 25,000 deaths in Peru and northern Chile, caused damage and at least one death in New Zealand.
  • the 1855 Wairarapa earthquake was the most powerful earthquake in New Zealand.
  • the flightless adzebill was a large predatory bird that lived in New Zealand, and was initially thought to be a kind of moa.
  • the last three New Zealand Open tournaments, the leading men's golf tournament in New Zealand, were played on Michael Hill's private golf course.
  • the main threat to Pisonia brunoniana (pictured) in New Zealand is cutting by people trying to prevent small songbirds from getting trapped by its very sticky seeds.
  • the fish known as the snapper (Chrysophrys aurata; pictured) in Australia and New Zealand does not belong to the snapper family of tropical fish.
  • the first New Zealanders were Eastern Polynesians, who are thought to have arrived in New Zealand around 750 years ago.
  • the entrance to Kaipara Harbour has treacherous sandbars known as "the graveyard", which are responsible for more shipwrecks than any other place in New Zealand.
  • the field of island restoration is usually credited with having been started in New Zealand in the 1960s.
  • the name of Whangaroa Harbour, an inlet on the northern coast of the Northland Region of North Island, New Zealand, comes from the Māori lament "Whaingaroa" or "What a long wait" of a woman whose warrior husband had left for a foray to the south.
  • the noise of the 1929 Murchison earthquake, which occurred on New Zealand's South Island, was so loud that it was heard in New Plymouth, over 250 km (160 mi) away on North Island.
  • there was once an estuarine valley with a rich abundance of New Zealand flounders near Waipatiki, Hawke's Bay, New Zealand, but it became a stream system after an earthquake in 1931.
  • while The Goons may have joked about exploding trousers, farmers in New Zealand in the 1930s actually experienced the phenomenon when herbicide that they were using caught fire.
  • the uncommon thorium nesosilicate mineral Huttonite (unit cell pictured) was first discovered in 1950 in New Zealand.
  • the suburb of South Dunedin in Dunedin, New Zealand, contains one of only three known preserved gasworks museums in the world.
  • the peak of Mount Hikurangi (1620 metres) is the highest non-volcanic peak on the North Island of New Zealand.
  • the road over the Wilmot Pass (pictured) is not connected to any other road on the New Zealand network.
  • the White-capped Albatross breeds in New Zealand's subantarctic possessions but nonbreeding birds may range to the southwestern South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.
  • the United States Academic Decathlon National Championships have featured teams from Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, South Korea, Northern Ireland and Brazil.
  • the Black Tree Fern is the largest of the tree fern species endemic to New Zealand.
  • the Coenocorypha snipes (pictured alongside a Godwit) once ranged from New Caledonia and Fiji to New Zealand but are now restricted to New Zealand's outlying islands.
  • the Black-fronted Tern of New Zealand is known as the ploughboy or ploughman's friend for its propensity to eat worms and grubs in newly ploughed ground.
  • the aquaculture industry in New Zealand aims to be a sustainable NZ$1 billion industry by 2025.
  • the 1979 Abbotsford landslip was the biggest landslide ever in an urban area in New Zealand.
  • the 1st Special Squadron of the Imperial Japanese Navy was tasked with defending Australia and New Zealand during World War I.
  • the Heartland Championship and the Air New Zealand Cup have replaced the National Provincial Championship in New Zealand rugby union.
  • the Kaimai Tunnel running through the Kaimai Ranges is the longest rail tunnel in New Zealand.
  • the Creeping Groundsel (pictured), a climbing succulent perennial native of South Africa, is a problem weed in New Zealand, but cultivated in parks in Spain and Germany.
  • the St. James Theatre in Wellington, New Zealand, was nearly demolished in the 1980s and is said to be haunted by numerous ghosts.
  • the SS Tararua sank off the Catlins in 1881, in New Zealand's worst civilian shipping disaster.
  • the obscure mealybug, a pest of vineyards in New Zealand and California, is believed to have been introduced from Australia or South America.
  • the Mount Victoria Tunnel is 623 metres long and was the first New Zealand tunnel to have air conditioning.
  • the Pompallier Mission is New Zealand's oldest industrial building and printed some of the earliest texts in Māori.
  • a golden handshake report by New Zealand journalist Duncan Garner cost an MP his Cabinet position.
  • a German Shepherd named Rajah was the first police dog in New Zealand.
  • New Zealand telecommunications entrepreneur Annette Presley once claimed that she would work as the CEO of Telecom New Zealand for NZ$1.
  • New Zealand's North Island Robin was originally thought to be a subspecies of the New Zealand Robin, but mitochondrial DNA sequence analysis has shown that the two lineages split prior to the Pleistocene.
  • New Zealand's historic Arapuni Suspension Bridge received little mention when under construction as it was part of a much larger project.
  • New Zealand rower Rob Hamill has also stood as a political candidate, and his brother was a victim of the Khmer Rouge.
  • New Zealand politician John Key once promised Grey Power, a lobbyist group for people over 50, that he would resign if he ever lowered the superannuation.
  • New Zealand journalist Bill Ralston was shot at a Soweto school in South Africa in 1986.
  • New Zealand moved 30 centimetres (12 in) closer to Australia during a recent 7.8 magnitude earthquake.
  • New Zealand's indigenous Māori people used the cabbage tree Cordyline australis for food, medicine, and to make strong ropes like those used for morere swings (pictured).
  • China's Sanlu Group refused to recall contaminated infant formula until Prime Minister Helen Clark of New Zealand intervened.
  • Barzillai Quaife has been described both as "New Zealand's first public anti-racist" and "Australia's first philosopher".
  • Charlotte Glennie became the first New Zealand journalist to officially film in North Korea.
  • Barnet Burns (pictured) toured England from 1835, exhibited his Māori tattoos and recounted his adventures in New Zealand.
  • Ayrlies Garden has been described as the "quintessential New Zealand garden".
  • Anglo-German novelist Elizabeth von Arnim was a cousin to New Zealand short story writer Katherine Mansfield.
  • wildlife biologist Olaus Murie was the first American Fulbright Scholar to study in New Zealand.
  • New Zealand is sometimes called The Half Gallon Quarter Acre Pavlova Paradise.
  • New Zealand currently has free trade agreements with Australia, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Chile and China.
  • New Zealand cricketer Ted Badcock is the only player to be out first ball in both innings on his Test debut.
  • New Zealand MP William Downie Stewart's son, William Downie Stewart, became Mayor of Dunedin—and his daughter Mary served as Lady Mayoress.
  • labour law expert Ron McCallum is the first totally blind person to have been appointed to a full professorship at any university in Australia or New Zealand.
  • racecar driver Stan Fox barely survived a crash in the 1995 Indy 500, but later died in a head-on collision on New Zealand's North Island.
  • nineteenth century New Zealand gum-diggers retrieved 5,000 tons of kauri resin a year for the varnish trade, and that the gum was Auckland's main export.
  • Australian cricketer Trevor Chappell was reprimanded by the Prime Ministers of Australia and New Zealand when he rolled an underarm delivery to batsman Brian McKechnie to stop him from lofting the ball for six.
  • New Zealand Transport Minister Steven Joyce started radio station Energy FM with a group of friends.
  • New Zealand Prime Minister John Key was a finalist for the 2009 Cycle Friendly Awards in the 'Cycling Champion of the Year' category.
  • New Zealand and Australian soldiers massacred the adult males of a village in Palestine during the Surafend affair of 1918.
  • New Zealand band The Trons (pictured) has no human members.
  • New Zealand rugby player Andy Dalton suffered an injury that kept him from captaining the All Blacks side that went on to win the inaugural 1987 Rugby World Cup.
  • New Zealand rugby union player Billy Stead co-authored The Complete Rugby Footballer while on tour with the All Blacks in 1905-6.
  • New Zealand rugby union footballer Ali Williams did not start playing until he was aged 17, but earned three international caps before he was 22.
  • New Zealand rugby union footballer Jimmy Hunter's 44 tries on the 1905 All Blacks tour is a record that is unlikely to ever to be surpassed.
  • Closer Economic Relations is a free trade agreement between the governments of New Zealand and Australia.
  • Edward Cephas John Stevens initiated the land transfer that gave Christchurch, New Zealand, the park on which AMI Stadium now stands.
  • Te Kopuru once had the largest sawmill in New Zealand.
  • William Bambridge, the father of England Football international Charles Bambridge was a member of the Te Waimate mission, New Zealand who became official photographer to Queen Victoria.
  • Rev William Cotton, vicar of Frodsham, Cheshire, introduced the skills of beekeeping to New Zealand in the 1840s.
  • taranakite, a mineral formed from the reaction of clays or aluminous rocks with materials derived from bat or bird guano, was first found in New Zealand's Sugar Loaf Islands in 1865.
  • Seacliff Lunatic Asylum (pictured) in New Zealand was plagued by landslips, a fatal fire in a locked psychiatric ward and allegations of abuse before reverting to a forest reserve.
  • Ruatara, chief of the Ngā Puhi, hosted the first Christian mission in New Zealand in 1814.
  • Schools Plus, an education policy proposed by New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark, was boycotted by 15 schools.
  • William Miles Maskell was a New Zealandic farmer and entomologist who advocated biological pest control.
  • Mauisaurus was the largest plesiosaur to roam New Zealand waters and that it gets its name from the Māori god Maui.
  • Major-General Richard Hutton Davies, the first New Zealand officer to command a division in World War I, committed suicide in 1918.
  • Outhwaite Park in Auckland, New Zealand, is named after early settlers, the Outhwaite family.
  • Asian women have been left traumatised and questioned by police investigating missing two-year-old Aisling Symes in New Zealand.
  • Powelliphanta Sp.Augustus is found only on a five hectare area northeast of Westport, New Zealand.
  • Orthodera novaezealandiae is a praying mantis native only to New Zealand.
  • Pectinaria australis, a marine ice cream cone worm of New Zealand, builds a delicate tube home from sand grains only one grain thick.
  • Project Aqua was a proposed hydroelectric scheme for the lower Waitaki River in New Zealand that would have diverted up to 77% of the river's flow into a separate canal.
  • Peter Jackson medaled in table tennis for New Zealand.
  • Hedley Howarth helped lead New Zealand to its first ever test cricket win on the Indian subcontinent with a five-wicket bag against India in 1969.
  • Houhora Mountain was the first part of New Zealand that the early explorer Kupe saw, but he thought it was a whale, according to Māori legend.
  • George William Smith not only represented New Zealand in both codes of rugby football but was also a successful athlete winning fourteen national titles as a sprinter and hurdler.
  • George Matthew Snelson, the first Mayor of Palmerston North, New Zealand, is regarded as the father of his city.
  • Francis James Garrick and James Francis Garrick, MPs in New Zealand and Queensland respectively, were brothers.
  • French Pass has the fastest tidal flows in New Zealand, reaching nearly nine knots and capable of stunning fish.
  • housetruckers in New Zealand live in old trucks and school buses (pictured) that have been converted into mobile homes.
  • Ira Goldstein, an advertisement campaign character for the ASB Bank in New Zealand, supposedly drives a metallic-brown 1979 Leyland Princess 2000 HL.
  • mokomokai, the preserved heads of Māori people with facial tattoos, were traded for firearms during the early 19th century in New Zealand.
  • Motu Matakohe island is used as a safe location for baby Kiwi (pictured) until they weigh 1 kilogram and are brought to mainland New Zealand.
  • Mary Ann Müller has been described as "New Zealand's pioneer suffragist".
  • Larnach Castle is one of only two castles in New Zealand.
  • Johann Myburgh, a South African cricketer playing in New Zealand, broke Graeme Pollock's mark for the fastest first-class double century.
  • John William Hansen, a member of International Cricket Council's Code of Conduct Commission, is a New Zealand High Court justice.
  • 67 Australian, Canadian, and New Zealand Article XV squadrons were formed during World War II from graduates of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan.
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