Sjffgdhf

Ethnicity and immigration
The population of New Zealand is approximately 4.3 million, of which approximately 78% identify with European ethnic groups. The term Pākehā usually refers to NewZealanders of European descent, although some reject this name, and some Māori use it to refer to all non-Māori and non-Polynesian New Zealanders. Most European New Zealanders are of British and Irishancestry, although there has been significant Dutch, Italian, and German immigration together with indirect European immigration through Australia, North America, South America and South Africa.Official Languages

English and Maori are the official languages of New Zealand. Maori became an official language in 1987.
In April 2006, New Zealand became the first country to declaresign language an official language, alongside Maori and English.

Maori Language

Maori is only used in New Zealand and nowhere else in the world. Despite its official status, thelanguage continues to struggle against being lost.
When Maori people moved to the cities in the 1940's, they felt pressured to speak English and children were raised without the Maori language. Bythe 1970's, the Maori language was close to being irrevocably lost.
A recent survey by the New Zealand government shows about 130,000 people speak some Maori.
Religion
New Zealand isnominally Christian, and three-fifths of the population adhere to the Anglican, Presbyterian, Roman Catholic and Methodist denominations. Minor Protestant sects, Eastern Orthodox and Maori adaptations ofChristianity make up the rest. Nonetheless, a significant proportion of the population does not claim any religious affiliation.
The Maoris originally followed a polytheistic religion with themain focus being the tapu. Belief in tapu without a doubt was the most important of all aspects of Maori life and thought, affecting man directly from birth to death.

Stories and Legends...