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The original settlers were moa hunters, a favourite food source being the large flightless birds which were not unlike ostriches and rheas. Moa were quickly pushed to extinction, since they were not adapted to human or mammalian predation. Before the coming of humans, the moa were the prey of the harpagornis or Haast's eagle, the largest bird of prey ever recorded. Harpagornis became extinct along with its prey. The moa-hunters may have merged with later waves of Polynesians who, according to Maori tradition, arrived between 952 and 1150. Some of the Maoris called their new homeland "Aotearoa," usually translated as "land of the long white cloud."

Confronted like Australia with the strategic implications of Britain's 20th-century eclipse as a world power of the first rank, New Zealand joined with Australia and the United States in the ANZUS pact in 1951, but the US suspended its defence commitments to the country in 1986 after the then Labour government banned nuclear-powered or armed ships from New Zealand ports.

New Zealand is a unitary state rather than a federation — regions are created by the authority of the central government, rather than the central government being created by the authority of the regions. Local government in New Zealand has only the powers conferred upon it by Parliament. These powers have traditionally been distinctly fewer than in some other countries. For example, police and education are run by central government, while the provision of low-cost housing is optional for local councils. Many of them used to control ports and gas and electricity supply, but nearly all of that was privatised in the late 20th century.

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

The first Europeans known to reach New Zealand were the crew of Dutch explorer Abel Tasman's ships Heemskerck and Zeehaen, which anchored at the northern end of the South Island in December 1642 but sailed northward to Tonga following a clash with local Maori. Tasman sketched sections of the two main islands' west coasts. Tasman called them "Nova Zeelanda." The name Nieuw Zeeland appeared on charts of the area shortly afterward, having earlier been applied to an island near New Guinea. Lieutenant James Cook of His Majesty's Barque Endeavour made a fuller reconnaissance, surveying the shores of both islands in 1769 - 1770. Cook returned to New Zealand in both his subsequent Pacific voyages.

New Zealand was originally settled by waves of Polynesians, some time between 1000 and 1300, although some evidence now suggests an earlier settlement. Those in the main islands of New Zealand became the Maori people. Separate settlement of the tiny Chatham Islands in the east of New Zealand produced the Moriori people, but it is uncertain whether they went there direct from Polynesia or were mainland Maori who ventured eastward.

New Zealand is heavily dependent on trade—particularly in agricultural products—to drive growth, and it has been affected by global economic slowdowns and slumps in commodity prices. Since agricultural exports are highly sensitive to currency values and a large percentage of consumer goods are imported, any changes in the value of the New Zealand dollar has a strong impact on the economy.