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For a variety of reasons many Maori and Pacific people have been socially disadvantaged, forming an underclass in some areas. Cultural considerations for both Maori and Pacific people now have a significant influence on educational, medical and social organisations, particularly in areas with high concentrations of these population groups.

New Zealand has a modern, developed economy. Its primary export industries are agriculture, horticulture, fishing, forestry and information technology. There are also substantial tourism and export education industries. The film and wine industries are considered to be up-and-coming.

Because of its long isolation from the rest of the world, New Zealand has extraordinary flora and fauna. Until the arrival of the first humans just a millennium or two ago, 80% of the land was forested and, barring two species of bat, there were no non-marine mammals at all. Instead, New Zealand's forests were inhabited by a diverse range of birds (many of them flightless), reptiles, and insects—some of them almost the size of a mouse (see weta).

New Zealand is the most geographically isolated of all countries. Its closest neighbour Australia is 2,000 km to the northwest of the main islands across the Tasman Sea. The only landmass to the south is Antarctica, and to the north are New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga.

The remoteness of many parts of New Zealand and the distance of the country from much of the developed world meant that things that were easily obtainable in other parts of the world were often not readily available locally. New Zealand has only recently experienced economic development outside farming, so traditionally, Kiwis are jacks-of-all-trades to some extent, willing to roll up their sleeves and have a go. Most highly industrialised countries produce experts trained in narrow fields of specialisation, but New Zealand professionals are often generalists as well. This reputation often makes New Zealanders uniquely valued employees in overseas organisations.

New Zealand imports much of its cultural material from overseas, particularly from Britain or the United States. Most successful Hollywood films screen on New Zealand cinema screens and New Zealand Television shows a lot of British and American television programmes. It is somewhat ironic that some of these programmes are now made in New Zealand but receive their first screening elsewhere. The New Zealand cinematographic industry is becoming one of the country's major export enterprises, with several major motion pictures being filmed on New Zealand locations recently, including the highly acclaimed film adaptation of Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" directed by the Kiwi Peter Jackson.

New Zealand was featured as the setting for "Middle Earth" in the renowned early 21st century trilogy of films based on Tolkien's Lord of the Rings books. It has brought an additional interest in tourism to the nation.

In 2004 it began discussing free trade with China, one of the first countries to do so.

New Zealand became a British colony in 1840 following the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi between the Crown and Maori chiefs. The Crown was represented by William Hobson, who was Lieutenant-Governor of New Zealand. At that time New Zealand was a dependent colony of New South Wales.