Music and traditional dance

Contemporary music is represented widely in different styles. This is the case of the OMC rapper (Pauly Fuemana) or the rock group Crowded House who are certainly one of the best and most famous musicians of New Zealand. Another of the most recognized contemporary artists are Bic Runga, Stellar, Shihad, Moana and the Moa Hunters, and King Kapisi.

Traditional dance

Haka is a term used to define any Maori tribal dance, but this name usually refers specifically to Maori tribal war dance. However, dance is often used as a sign of welcome and hospitality.

Maori's Art

Maori carvings and abstract painting are the most common expressions of painting New Zealand. The wood carvings can be seen in museums and exhibitions

New Zealander has contemporary art authors as Ralph Hotere, John Pule, Michael Parekowhai or Kahukiwa Robyn, who create showy images with dramatic and important influence of feminist groups and Pacific cultures.

Literature

The most important figure in New Zealand literature is Katherine Mansfield (1888-1923) His best-known stories are: The Doll's House, At the Bay, and The Garden Party, which tells of a great way Zealand life from the early colonial XX.

at the beginning of the twentieth century the country saw new and prominent writers emerged like John Mulgan (Man Alone), Robin Hyde (The Godwits Fly), Maurice Shadbolt (Strangers and Journeys), and Janet Frame (Owls do Cry). Currently many of the great figures of literature are Maori. Such as Patricia Grace, Witi Ihimaera and Alan Duff.
Much of the poetry written in this country has as its central theme the landscape of the islands. the poets most highlighted are: James K. Baxter, ARD Fairburn, Denis Glover, Allen Curnow, and Sam Hunt.

General Aspects

New Zealand's population is about 4 million. The Zealanders resident are  European or Polynesian the most numerous, almost three quarters of the population live in the North Island. Eighty-five percent live in cities and towns. The largest cities are New Zealand Auckland (1 million inhabitants), Wellington (335,000 inhabitants) and Christchurch (330,000 inhabitants).

"Aotearoa (often translated as "land of the long white cloud") is the current Māori name for New Zealand, and is also used in New Zealand English. It is unknown whether Māori had a name for the whole country before the arrival of Europeans, with Aotearoa originally referring to just the North Island. Abel Tasman sighted New Zealand in 1642 and called it Staten Landt, supposing it was connected to a landmass of the same name at the southern tip of South America. In 1645 Dutch cartographers renamed the land Nova Zeelandia after theDutch province of Zeeland. British explorer James Cook subsequently anglicised the name to New Zealand.

Māori had several traditional names for the two main islands, including Te Ika-a-Māui (the fish of Māui) for the North Island and Te Wai Pounamu (the waters of greenstone) or Te Waka o Aoraki (the canoe of Aoraki) for the South Island. Early European maps labelled the islands North (North Island), Middle (South Island) and South (Stewart Island / Rakiura)." (wikipedia)

The flag of New Zealand shows in red the four main stars of the constellation of the Southern Cross with a dark blue background and the "Union Jack", the Union Jack in the upper left corner.
The coat of arms is a shield topped with a crown and flanked by a Maori chief and a European woman

English is the common language for business and everyday use. The Maori is the second official language of New Zealand.