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New Zealand Shillings Shillings
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Shillings
1933 to 1965
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About New Zealand
The nation of New Zealand has a rich history. The islands are the above-water remnants of a continental fragment that is known today as Zealandia. This subcontinent was once attached to the ancient supercontinent Gondwanaland, broke off about 80 million years ago, and became submerged by the ocean within the last 23 million years.
The first peoples to reach the islands were the Polynesians. They occupied the islands starting in the thirteenth century and grew and developed the Maori culture. The Dutch explorer Abel Tasman was the first European to sight the islands and experienced a hostile encounter with the natives. Years later, in 1769, James Cook became the first explorer to map the coastline.