About this site

What is Te Ara?

‘Te ara’ in Māori means ‘the pathway’. Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand offers many pathways to understanding New Zealand. When complete, it will be a comprehensive guide to the country’s peoples, natural environment, history, culture, economy, institutions and society.

Te Ara consists of a series of themes, appearing progressively between 2005 and 2013:

• Māori New Zealanders and
• New Zealand Peoples – the arrival and settlement of the people.
• Earth, Sea and Sky – marine life, people and the sea, natural resources, and shaping forces such as geology and climate.
• The Bush – New Zealand’s landforms, fauna and flora.
• The Settled Landscape – farming, rural life, and people’s impact on the land.
• Economy and the City – the economy, business and city life.
• Social Connections – social groups, families and communities.
• Nation – systems of government and symbols of national identity.
• Daily Life – the customs, leisure activities and beliefs that make New Zealand unique.
• Creativity – arts, culture, invention and innovation.

New Zealand in Brief gives concise, up-to-date information and essential facts about New Zealand.

In addition there will be features on:

• Places – 22 major geographic regions: Northland, Auckland, Hauraki, Waikato, the King Country, the Volcanic Plateau, Bay of Plenty, East Coast, Hawke’s Bay, Taranaki, Wanganui, Manawatū and Horowhenua, Wairarapa, Wellington, Nelson, Marlborough, the West Coast, Canterbury, South Canterbury, Otago, Southland, Offshore Islands
• 50 iconic places such as Cape Rēinga and Milford Sound.

Māori Te Ara

An important feature of Te Ara is its Māori content. The Māori perspective is presented with each theme, and entries with substantial Māori content are available in the Māori language.

1966 Encyclopaedia of New Zealand

This was New Zealand’s last official encyclopedia. It is published here in full, with all the original drawings, maps and photographs. The information has not been updated or corrected, but we have incorporated the corrigenda published with the original three volumes.

The editor of the encyclopedia was New Zealand’s parliamentary historian, Dr Alexander Hare McLintock. He and his team of two, with 359 other contributors, compiled over 1,800 general articles and 900 biographies.

The content was presented in alphabetical order, with some subjects grouped under broader headings, such as ‘Defence’ or ‘Education’. We have broken down many of these into smaller topics.

In 1966 the world looked rather different. Some issues which today have revealed their complexity were then regarded as clear cut. Others which received extensive treatment are no longer of burning interest. New discoveries have made some of the encyclopedia’s factual information outdated, and some articles seem old fashioned as we gain new perspectives on the world. Nevertheless it is a mine of useful information, and a fascinating opportunity to travel back in time and experience a state-of-the-art encyclopedia from the mid-20th century.