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2 BCE
GEOLOGICAL HISTORY
180 millions years ago New Zealand and Australia were part of a great terrotorial mass called GONDWANA. A tectonical movement cause the break of NZ and it drifted 3.000km to the South of Australia -
1 BCE
THE CREATION OF THE SUBMERGED CONTINENT
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1 CE
NEW ZEALAND'S CONTINENT
93% OF THE CONTINENT IS SUBMERGED (ZEALAND)
7% HABITABLE LAND -
1301
THE MAORIS
The polynesians came to the island because of the great migrations at the beggining of the 14th century. Following the steps of their ancestors, the Kupe, that started the migrations in the year 950. -
1302
THE MAORIS
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FIRST EXPLORER
The Dutch Abel Tasman discovered the lands in 1642. Tasman found hostiles native people, the Maoris that were already settled and came before him. Dutch explorer Abel Tasman sights the south island and charts some of the country's west coast. It subsequently appears on Dutch maps as Nieuw Zeeland, named after the Dutch province of Zeelan -
EUROPEAN COLONIZATION
In 1769, the Naval Capitain James Cook started the colonization in New Zealand. -
THE BRITISH EMPIRE
Māori chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi at Waitangi in the Bay of Islands. This treaty made New Zealand a colony of the British Crown.
Treaty of Waitangi between British and several Maori tribes pledges protection of Maori land and establishes British law in New Zealand. -
NEW ZEALAND'S GOLD
Gold discoveries in Otago (1861) and Westland (1865), caused a worldwide gold rush that more than doubled the population in a short period, from 71,000 in 1859 to 164,000 in 1863. The gold was discovered by the Australian explorer Gabriel Read in the South of the Island. -
COMMONWEALTH
In 1907, New Zealand changed from being a colony to a separate "Dominion" in 1907, equal in status to Australia and Canada. -
INDEPENDENCE
The country has become independent in 1947, as a member of the Bristish community
