Why do they call New Zealand New Zealand?

Answer 1

Abel Tasman sighted the islands in 1642 and named them Staten Landt, assuming they were connected to land off the southern tip of South America. In 1645 Dutch cartographers renamed the islands Nova Zeelandia after the Dutch province of Zeeland.

There is/was a province in Holland called Zeeland. New Zealand was called after that province. There are various similar names around the world.

New York.

New Amsterdam. etc.

Answer 2

It was the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman who traveled the unexplored world who "discovered" New Zealand. He constructed crude maps/drawings of the islands (North, South and Stewart) before returning to his homeland.

Other "lands" were also "discovered" and reported upon. Abel Tasman realised that this foreign land reminded him of his homeland region of Holland/Netherlands called Zeeland. Abel Tasman called the collection of islands Staten Landt but the name New Zealand originated with Dutch cartographers who called the islands Nova Zeelandia after the Dutch province of Zeeland.

The literal translation of Nova Zeelandia, for the benefit of English speakers/explorers, is "New Zealand" The Treaty of Waitangi is a British document which was in English; so New Zealand became the nation's formal name.

The Māori did not have a collective name for New Zealand before European arrival, but post-colonisation the name Aotearoa was developed (commonly translated as 'long white cloud') and was used to refer to the whole country.

Answer 3

New Zealand is known as Middle-earth as it is where the Lord of the Rings trilogy was filmed. The spectacular scenery of the country was the perfect place for New Zealand born Peter Jackson to bring to life Middle-earth (from Lord of the Rings), beginning with The Fellowship of the Ring in 2001.

Answer 4

Aotearoa is a Maori word loosely translated as "Land of the long white cloud". There are various explanations for why it was given this name. Old New Zealand stories tell tells that voyagers of that time were guided by a long white cloud which lay over the islands during the day, and by the great Magellan cloud near the bright star Canopus in summer, which gave the appearance of a long bright cloud at night. Other stories say it was named after the canoe "Aotearoa" which belonged to Kupe, traditionally heralded as the first explorer and discoverer of New Zealand.

Answer 5

New Zealand is named after Zeeland, the western most province of Netherlands. A Dutch explorer Abel Tasman was the first European to discover the land and named it New Zealand.

Answer 6

Since New Zealand has a lot of maoris in the country aoetearoa means New Zealand in Maori