New Zealand

New Zealand (/njuːˈziːlənd/ new-ZEE-lənd, Māori: Aotearoa [aɔˈtɛaɾɔa]) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The country geographically comprises two main landmasses – that of the North Island, or Te Ika-a-Māui, and the South Island, or Te Waipounamu – and numerous smaller islands. New Zealand is situated some 1,500 kilometres (900 mi) east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and roughly 1,000 kilometres (600 mi) south of the Pacific island areas of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga. Because of its remoteness, it was one of the last lands to be settled by humans. During its long isolation, New Zealand developed a distinctive biodiversity of animal, fungal and plant life. The country's varied topography and its sharp mountain peaks, such as the Southern Alps, owe much to the tectonic uplift of land and volcanic eruptions. New Zealand's capital city is Wellington, while its most populous city is Auckland.

Somewhere between 1250 and 1300 CE, Polynesians settled in the islands that were to become New Zealand, and developed a distinctive Māori culture. In 1642, Abel Tasman, a Dutch explorer, became the first European to sight New Zealand. In 1840, representatives of the British Crown and Māori Chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi, making New Zealand a British colony. Today, the majority of New Zealand's population of 4.5 million is of European descent; the indigenous Māori are the largest minority, followed by Asians and Pacific Islanders. Reflecting this, New Zealand's culture is mainly derived from Māori and early British settlers, with recent broadening arising from increased immigration. The official languages are English, Māori and New Zealand Sign Language, with English predominant.

2011 Rugby World Cup

The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Africa at a meeting in Dublin on 17 November 2005. The tournament was won by New Zealand, who defeated France 8–7 in the final. The defending champions, South Africa, were eliminated by Australia 11–9 in the quarter-finals. The result marked the third time that the tournament was won by the country that hosted the event (following New Zealand in 1987 and South Africa in 1995).

It was the largest sporting event ever held in New Zealand, eclipsing the 1987 Rugby World Cup, 1990 Commonwealth Games, 1992 Cricket World Cup and the 2003 America's Cup. Overseas visitors to New Zealand for the event totalled 133,000, more than the 95,000 that the organisers expected. However, there was a drop in non-event visitors, meaning the net increase in visitors over the previous year was less than 80,000.

New Zealand wine

New Zealand wine is largely produced in ten major wine growing regions spanning latitudes 36° to 45° South and extending 1,600 kilometres (990 mi). They are, from north to south Northland, Auckland, Waikato/Bay of Plenty, Gisborne, Hawke's Bay, Wellington, Nelson, Marlborough, Canterbury/Waipara and Central Otago.

History

You and Me (New Zealand TV series)

You and Me was a popular children's television programme hosted by Australian-born New Zealand entertainer Suzy Cato. The first episode aired in 1993 and more than 2000 episodes were produced in the next seven years. In the late 2000s, the show returned to New Zealand television airing on TVNZ 6 and TVNZ Kidzone 24.

External links

You and Me (Olympic theme song)

You and Me (Chinese: 我和你; pinyin: Wǒ Hé Nǐ) is the theme song for the 2008 Summer Olympics held in Beijing, People's Republic of China, which was performed in the opening ceremony of the Olympics by Liu Huan and Sarah Brightman. Zhang Yimou, director of the opening ceremony, chose the British singer which representing the next Olympic host nation in 2012 and over a local one in keeping to the game's theme of "One World, One Dream", signifying unity across language, race or religious barriers.

The official version of this song lasts four minutes, ten seconds and was composed by Chen Qigang, a Shanghai born French Chinese. The music video of this song features some people from around the world, their names in English and Chinese and lyrics appearing as sung.

References

External links

You and Me (Tammy Wynette song)

"You and Me" is a 1976 single written by Billy Sherrill and George Richey and recorded by Tammy Wynette. "You and Me" was Tammy Wynette's sixteenth and final number one country hit as a solo artist. The single stayed at number one for two weeks and spent a total of twelve weeks on the country chart.

Composition

According to Richey in a 1987 interview, the lyrics were inspired by his own (at the time) secret admiration for Wynette, who was still recovering from the fallout of her recent divorce from George Jones. The pair became close friends and eventually married two years later.

Chart performance

References

You and Me (Dave Matthews Band song)

"You and Me" is the third single from American rock band Dave Matthews Band's album Big Whiskey & the GrooGrux King. Matthews wrote the lyrics on his iPhone whilst crossing Saratoga Lake on a boat with his family and some friends while the band was playing in the area in mid-August 2007. It was recorded sometime in early 2008, making it one of the earliest songs finished for Big Whiskey.

The song was played live on June 6, 2009, in Hartford, Connecticut, four days after the album's release.

Customers who purchased the iTunes Pass for the album received two bonus versions of "You and Me" on September 1, 2009, including an acoustic version of the song recorded in the studio and a live version recorded June 12, 2009, at Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Saratoga Springs, New York.

Dave Matthews Band appeared on Ellen on September 16, 2009, to play an outdoor concert on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, California. During the broadcast, the band played "You and Me".