NEW ZEALAND. -
I. GEOGRAPHY
This name, given by Captain James Cook in 1769 to the lands already discovered and named Staten Land by Tasman in 1642, refers to the archipelago located southeast of the Australian continent (between 166° and 179° E Greenwich); it consists of two main islands (North Island and South Island), the more southerly Stewart Island, and a small number of smaller islands.Of the two main islands, the northern one, which is less extensive, consists of a high plateau on which active volcanic cones rise and volcanic lakes open up (Lake Taupō), also of volcanic origin, bordered to the east by mountain ranges and hills. The region is renowned for the abundance and grandeur of its volcanic phenomena (geysers, fumaroles, solfataras, hot springs, etc.). The southern island, of a quite different character, is traversed by a series of mountain ranges which, due to their height (Mount Cook, 3,764 m) and landscape, fully merit the name of the New Zealand Alps. The western coast, where the mountains rise steeply, is indented by fjords; the eastern coast, towards which the rivers flow, is low and flat. The climate is temperate and uniform (oceanic), with abundant and well-distributed rainfall. Nearly half (47.4%) of New Zealand’s soil is covered by natural grasslands and pastures, over a quarter (26.6%) by forests, while arable land is reduced to minimal proportions (2%). The dominant occupation has long been and remains livestock farming (32.5 million sheep, 4.7 million cattle; 1.7 million quintals of wool in 1947), but the recent world wars have stimulated all forms of economic activity, facilitated by an environment rich in mineral resources (precious metals, but especially iron), water resources (2 million HP, of which 670,000 installed), and fishing grounds; industry has thus received a decisive boost (though food industries remain at the forefront, all industries are more or less widely represented).
The indigenous people (Māori) are now reduced to just over 50,000; the population (1.9 million; 7 per km²) is almost exclusively of British origin, with foreigners not exceeding 1.5% of the total. The major settlements are all located on the eastern side of the archipelago and correspond to the ports with the most intense traffic. In the North Island are the capital, Wellington (200,000 inhabitants), and Auckland (300,000 inhabitants), the most populous city; in the South Island are Christchurch (170,000) and Dunedin (90,000).
Since 1907, New Zealand has been a Dominion within the British Commonwealth, enjoying broad autonomy and its own Parliament. In addition to a good number of annexed oceanic dependencies (Cook Islands, the Union or Tokelau Islands, Kermadec, and Niue or Savage Islands) or external ones (i.e., within New Zealand’s borders but distant from the main islands: Antipodes Islands, Auckland Islands, Bounty Islands, Campbell Island, Three Kings Islands, Snares Islands, Manawatāwai, most of which are uninhabited), since 1920 the New Zealand Dominion has held the trusteeship administration of Western Samoa.
New York, Archdiocese of — The "Madre Cabrini" hospital built by Antonio de Pace.
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**Area in km²** | **Population (1949)** | **Density per km²**
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North Island | 114,680 | 1,270,370 | 11.0
South Island | 153,141 | 602,931 | 3.9
External Islands | 793 | 5 | —
Annexed Islands | 559 | 20,445 | 36.5
**TOTAL** | **269,173** | **1,893,751** | **7.0**
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**II. EVANGELIZATION.** — The first Catholic in New Zealand was the Irishman Thomas Poynton, who landed at Hokianga in 1828. In 1829, the Congregation of Propaganda, adopting the plan of Fr. Henri de Solages, decreed the establishment of the Apostolic Prefecture of the Islands of the South Seas or Great Ocean, comprising the territories “between the equator and the Antarctic Pole, and between Easter Island and New Zealand.” On 20 May 1833, this Apostolic Prefecture was divided into two Apostolic Vicariates: Eastern Oceania and Western Oceania; and on 23 December 1835, the Marists were entrusted with the Apostolic Vicariate of Western Oceania. The new bishop, Msgr. Jean-Baptiste Pompallier, arrived with four Marist fathers and three lay brothers on 10 January 1838. After long and perilous reconnaissance within his territory, Msgr. Pompallier established the seat of the Apostolic Vicariate in New Zealand. By 1840, Catholics, nearly all Irish farmers, numbered over 500 out of a white population of about 5,000. By 1851, they had grown to 3,472 out of 26,707 whites. The Marist Fathers, from their arrival in New Zealand, began evangelizing the Māori.
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**On 23 August 1842, the Apostolic Vicariate was dismembered with the establishment of the new Apostolic Vicariate of Central Oceania, entrusted to Msgr. Philippe-Joseph Viard, already Bishop Coadjutor of Msgr. Pompallier. Finding Pompallier in Rome for the second time, New Zealand**
new zealand - nusajri
nary endeavour among the Maoris of New Zealand, in *St. Joseph's Advocate*, 5 (1947), pp. 40-41. Nicola Kowalsky
**IV. EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM.** — In 1855 and 1857, primary education was established, and the entire country was divided into thirteen “education districts,” each comprising various “school districts.” These were further divided into “schools committees,” which were responsible for electing the Higher Education Council. The Education Act of 1877 stipulated that elementary education was to be compulsory from ages 7 to 14, secular, and free. The 1915 Act reduced the number of education districts to nine. The Education Amendment Act of 1921, up to 1922, required the registration of all private schools, and their teachers were required to take an oath of loyalty to the State. In 1946, an Advisory Committee was established to produce a report on pre-school education, concluding that the State should fully assume responsibility for pre-school services, dissolve all private kindergartens and nurseries, and leave only the right of religious instruction to church organizations. Vocational guidance for youth is the sole responsibility of the State, which has created guidance centers and psychology divisions for this purpose. For each school pupil, monitoring cards have been introduced that reflect not only the tendencies and inclinations of each student but also those of their parents.
Elementary and secondary education is the same as in England. Higher education includes the University of New Zealand (founded in 1869), the University of Otago in Dunedin (founded in 1871), Canterbury College in Christchurch (founded in 1873), Auckland University College (founded in 1882), Victoria College in Wellington (founded in 1897), and Massey Agricultural College in Palmerston North (founded in 1926). Catholic clergy education takes place in two seminaries. Catholics administer 119 primary schools and 40 secondary schools.