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NEW ZEALAND
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western
Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses
(commonly called the North Island and the South Island),
and numerous smaller islands, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura
and the Chatham Islands.
New Zealand is notable for its geographic isolation.
It is situated about 2000 km (1250 miles) southeast of
Australia across the Tasman Sea, and its closest neighbours
to the north are New Caledonia, Fiji and Tonga. During its long
isolation New Zealand developed a distinctive fauna
dominated by birds, a number of which became extinct after the arrival
of humans and the mammals they introduced.
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