How did New Zealand get its name?
In December 1642 Dutch navigator Abel Janszoon Tasman was the first European to sight New Zealand’s South Island, and Dutch cartographers named the territory after the Dutch maritime province of Zeeland.
What does the name New Zealand mean?
The name New Zealand comes from the Dutch “Nieuw Zeeland”, and was bestowed on the country by a Dutch mapmaker. Aotearoa is commonly translated as “land of the long white cloud”.
What is New Zealand’s real name?
Aotearoa
New Zealand’s Maori Party Tuesday launched a petition to officially change the country’s name to “Aotearoa”, which means “land of the long white cloud” in the indigenous Te Reo Maori language.
What did Māori call New Zealand?
Aotearoa is the Maori name for New Zealand, though it seems at first to have been used for the North Island only.
What was New Zealand first called?
Hendrik Brouwer proved that the South American land was a small island in 1643, and Dutch cartographers subsequently renamed Tasman’s discovery Nova Zeelandia from Latin, after the Dutch province of Zeeland. This name was later anglicised to New Zealand.
What do natives call New Zealand?
“Kiwi” (/ˈkiːwi/ KEE-wee) is a common self-reference used by New Zealanders, though it is also used internationally. Unlike many demographic labels, its usage is not considered offensive; rather, it is generally viewed as a symbol of pride and endearment for most people of New Zealand.
What did the natives call New Zealand?
Māori
Aotearoa was originally used by the Māori people in reference to only the North Island, with the name of the whole country being Aotearoa me Te Waipounamu (“North Island and South Island”) in the South Island. In the pre-European era, Māori had no name for the country as a whole.
Who founded New Zealand?
Dutch navigator Abel Tasman
In 1642, Dutch navigator Abel Tasman became the first European to discover the South Pacific island group that later became known as New Zealand.