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Population :
4.009 million
Land Mass :
268,680 sq km
About 80% if the population lives in cities
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By world standards, New Zealand is lightly populated, with a resident population of 4.009 million people (est. resident population 30 June 2003). Although the economy is still based on the land, the proportion of people living in towns and cities has more than doubled during the last 100 years and now three quarters of the New Zealanders live in urban areas.
New Zealanders have achieved a great deal in many fields: art, science, sport, culture, politics, multicultural affairs, trade, tourism, the film industry, and many more. Their most celebrated scientist, Sir Ernest Rutherford, was the first to unlock the secrets of the atom. Sir Edmund Hillary, along with Sherpa Tensing, was the first to climb Mt Everest.
One in seven New Zealanders is Maori, while about four-fifths claim European ancestry - mostly from Britain, but also from The Netherlands, Germany, Greece, the former Yugoslavia and other nations. Significant numbers of Pacific Peoples, Chinese and Indians have lived in New Zealand for several generations.
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- The fastest growing territorial authority is the Queenstown/Lakes District of the South Island
- New Zealand has more sheep than its population
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