17 - Lost in space
In the scene of Star Trek: First Contact, when Picard shows Lilly she is orbiting Earth, Australia and Papa New Guinea are clearly visible but New Zealand is missing.
18 - Bottom line
No capital city in the world is further south than Wellington.
19 - Animal farm
Less than 5 per cent of the population of New Zealand is human - the rest are animals. This is one of the highest ratios of animals to humans in the world.
20 - Pipebands galore
There are more Scottish pipe bands per head of population in New Zealand than in Scotland.
21 - Big readers
New Zealand has more book-shops per head of population than any other country; one for every 7500 people.
22 - Bad behaviour
New Zealand has the third highest rate of deaths in the developed world from maltreatment among under-15-year-olds; third to Mexico and the US.
23 - Freshwater spring
More fresh water flows up from cracks in the limestone at Waikoropupu, near Takaka, than from any other freshwater spring in the world - more than 2100 million litres every 24 hours.
24 - Trout heaven
More rainbow trout in the 2kg to 3kg category are caught annually in New Zealand than in the rest of the world put together.
25 - World-beaters
New Zealand is home to the world's smallest dolphin, the Hectors Dolphin, the rarest sea lion, the Hookers Sea Lion, the largest flightless parrot, the kakapo, the oldest reptile, the tuatara, the heaviest insect, a weta, the biggest earth-worms, the smallest bats, some of the oldest trees, and many of the rarest birds, insects, and plants in the world.
* Facts sourced from Statistics New Zealand, Strange Facts & True About New Zealand, Guinness World records, The Kiwi Site and the ENZ New Zealand Immigration Guide.
Note:
Fact 22 - this is a fact that I am very ashamed of. Our rate of child abuse is horrifying. There is a particularly sad case before the courts at the moment.
6 comments:
it is not fair....fishing is such a wonderful experience which i am sure you newzealanders have proved time and time again...and here i sit wanting to fish but do not really have the skill....maybe i could fish for sheep. we have pleanty of them
Yu saved the best till last. Now I want photos of these record breaking creatures like smallest dolphins and whats a Weta?
I had heard about the child abuse and teenage problems before, you wouldn't think that of New Zealand would you?
Is there any specific reason for this?
Funny but the word verification I have below is 'bashingr'. Hmmmmm
More pipebands than Scotland? Wow.
22 is looking good for my home country either, I'm afraid.
LOVE your "Facts" posts!!! :)
BTW, thank you so much for thinking of us, Mrinz! You are so thoughtful. Really, so appreciated!
I'll be checking you out a lot more now that I'm on hospital bed rest until the baby is born.
XOXO
Putz - Hmm dont know about fishing for sheep!
Tismee - I did a post about the weta, one of my favourite insects. I found about 9 of them when I was cleaning out the woodheap.
Tismee - I have just re- posted a post about the Weta that I did last year especially for you.
You can see that a weta is an interesting creature, not exactly cuddly, not exactly a suitable pet, but fascinating all the same.
Ewe - thank you for stopping by.
#22 is in all countries, seems to be worsening.
Chrissy - I will be in touch.
Post a Comment