« Baby-Faced King Tut? | Main | Hunt for the Narwhal »

May 10, 2005

New Zealand - Land of the Kiwis

About the size of the state of Colorado, New Zealand wasn't much of a tourist destination until Peter Jackson really put the country on the map by filming the Lord of the Rings trilogy - insisting on using local resources.

Surprisingly, the land of the Kiwi is one of the few places in the world where one can encounter a great variety in terms of geography. New Zealand is riddled with active volcanoes, craggy mountaintops with great ski slopes, bubbling hot springs, geysers, mud pots, and glaciers. Not to mention wildflower blanketed pastures.

Speaking of pastures...

The Claim:

There are more sheep in New Zealand than people.

The Truth:

People (Src: CIA Factbook)
4,035,461 (July 2005 est.)

Sheep (Src: Statistics New Zealand)
39,700,000 (2003 est.)
70,300,000 (1982 est.)

Thus, there have been between 10 and 20 times as many sheep as people in New Zealand, and that's a fact!

National Geographic has a great special feature on New Zealand. Check it out: New Zealand: Pictures, Maps, Travel, Wallpapers From National Geographic

Posted by sorsha at May 10, 2005 8:11 PM