In 1840, representatives of the United Kingdom and Māori chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi which paved the way for Britain's declaration of sovereignty later that year and the establishment of the Crown Colony of New Zealand in 1841.

Nationally, legislative authority is vested in an elected, unicameral Parliament, while executive political power is exercised by the Government, led by the prime minister, currently Christopher Luxon.

[34] The existence of a single great fleet which settled New Zealand has since been superseded by the belief that the majority of settlement was a planned and deliberate event that occurred over several decades.

While mitochondrial DNA variability within Māori populations suggest that New Zealand was first settled between 1250 and 1300,[24][40][41] no human remains, artefacts or structures can be reliably dated to earlier than the Kaharoa eruption of Mount Tarawera in around 1314 CE.

[42] This scenario is also consistent with a debated third line of oral evidence,[43] traditional genealogies (whakapapa) which point to around 1350 as a probable arrival date for several of the migratory waka (canoes) from which many Māori trace their descent.

[56] His duties, given to him by Governor Bourke in Sydney, were to protect settlers and traders "of good standing", prevent "outrages" against Māori, and apprehend escaped convicts.

[67] Following concerns that the South Island might form a separate colony, premier Alfred Domett moved a resolution to transfer the capital from Auckland to a locality near Cook Strait.

[81] New Zealand experienced increasing prosperity following the Second World War,[82] and Māori began to leave their traditional rural life and move to the cities in search of work.

[107] Oceania is a wider region encompassing the Australian continent, New Zealand, and various island countries in the Pacific Ocean that are not included in the seven-continent model.

[110] Conditions vary sharply across regions from extremely wet on the West Coast of the South Island to semi-arid in Central Otago and the Mackenzie Basin of inland Canterbury and subtropical in Northland.

[137][138] Marine mammals, however, are abundant, with almost half the world's cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises) and large numbers of fur seals reported in New Zealand waters.

[141] Since human arrival, almost half of the country's vertebrate species have become extinct, including at least fifty-one birds, three frogs, three lizards, one freshwater fish, and one bat.

[169] New Zealand ranks highly for civic participation in the political process, with 82% voter turnout during recent general elections, compared to an OECD average of 69%.

[174] In terms of structural discrimination, the New Zealand Human Rights Commission has asserted that there is strong, consistent evidence that it is a real and ongoing socioeconomic issue.

[201][202] Despite the United States's suspension of ANZUS obligations, the treaty remained in effect between New Zealand and Australia, whose foreign policy has followed a similar historical trend.

[216] Today, New Zealand enjoys particularly close relations with the United States and is one of its major non-NATO allies,[217] as well as with Australia, with a "Trans-Tasman" identity between citizens of the latter being common.

It has contributed forces to several regional and global peacekeeping missions, such as those in Cyprus, Somalia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Sinai, Angola, Cambodia, the Iran–Iraq border, Bougainville, East Timor, and the Solomon Islands.

[240] Historically, extractive industries have contributed strongly to New Zealand's economy, focusing at different times on sealing, whaling, flax, gold, kauri gum, and native timber.

[253] However, the global financial crisis that followed had a major effect on New Zealand, with the GDP shrinking for five consecutive quarters, the longest recession in over thirty years,[254][255] and unemployment rising back to 7% in late 2009.

[273] New Zealand's wine industry has followed a similar trend to dairy, the number of vineyards doubling over the same period,[285] overtaking wool exports for the first time in 2007.

[300] Early indigenous contribution to science in New Zealand was by Māori tohunga accumulating knowledge of agricultural practice and the effects of herbal remedies in the treatment of illness and disease.

[302] The establishment of universities in the 19th century fostered scientific discoveries by notable New Zealanders including Ernest Rutherford for splitting the atom, William Pickering for rocket science, Maurice Wilkins for helping discover DNA, Beatrice Tinsley for galaxy formation, Archibald McIndoe for plastic surgery, and Alan MacDiarmid for conducting polymers.

In 1921, the country's median centre of population was located in the Tasman Sea west of Levin in Manawatū-Whanganui; by 2017, it had moved 280 km (170 mi) north to near Kawhia in Waikato.

Social organisation was largely communal with families (whānau), subtribes (hapū) and tribes (iwi) ruled by a chief (rangatira), whose position was subject to the community's approval.

[383] Greenstone was fashioned into earrings and necklaces, with the most well-known design being the hei-tiki, a distorted human figure sitting cross-legged with its head tilted to the side.

[389] Although still largely influenced by global trends (modernism) and events (the Great Depression), writers in the 1930s began to develop stories increasingly focused on their experiences in New Zealand.

[406] The highest-grossing New Zealand films are Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Boy, The World's Fastest Indian, Whale Rider, Once Were Warriors, Heavenly Creatures, What We Do in the Shadows and The Piano.

[408][409] The country's diverse scenery and compact size, plus government incentives,[410] have encouraged some producers to shoot very big-budget and well known productions in New Zealand, including The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit film trilogies, Avatar, The Chronicles of Narnia, King Kong, Wolverine, The Last Samurai, The Power of the Dog, Alien Covenant and Mulan.

[417] Distinctive ingredients or dishes include lamb, salmon, kōura (crayfish),[418] Bluff oysters, whitebait, pāua (abalone), mussels, scallops, pipi and tuatua (types of New Zealand shellfish),[419] kūmara (sweet potato), kiwifruit, tamarillo, and pavlova (considered a national dessert).

[420][416] A hāngī is a traditional Māori method of cooking food using heated rocks buried in a pit oven; still used for large groups on special occasions,[421] such as tangihanga.