New Zealand

Population: 4.1 million, plus about 30 million sheep.

Languages: English, Maori (spoken fluently by only a few thousand, but increasingly taught at kindergarten and primary school). NZ Sign Language is an official language.

Races: 70% New Zealand European/Pakeha; 15% Maori, 7% Pacific, 6% Asian.

Religion: mixed Christian denominations, rugby

Government: Westminster-style parliamentary democracy. Elections every three years use a form of proportional representation to elect members to a single-tier parliament. The party or coalition with a majority of seats in parliament gets to form the government.

Visas: nobody from North America, Europe, South Africa or the OECD-level countries in Latin America and Asia needs a visa as a tourist. You will automatically get 90 days on entry to the country. There’s also a long list of countries that can get a 1-year Working Holiday visa (link to work page). An onward ticket or evidence of funds are technically required when you arrive, regardless of what visa you have, and immigration officials may ask to see these.

If you overstay your visa, nothing much will happen if you are planning to leave but it may mess up your chances of coming back or staying on to work legally. There are plenty of opportunities to stay longer under various visas (link to work page), so do the right thing and fill out the forms.

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