New Zealand Economic Characteristics

New Zealand is a developed country that has a comparatively small and open economy that is based upon free market principles. In fact, the Heritage Foundation has rated New Zealand with an economic freedom score of 82.1, which makes it the third freest economy in the world in the 2015 index (The Heritage Foundation, N.d.). Some of the factors that have allowed New Zealand to achieve this level of economic freedom include a well-established rule of law, the lowest corruption reported in the world, strong property rights (including intellectual property), efficient regulations, an efficient labor market, and a relatively open financial sector. Prudent regulations allowed firms to withstand the global financial turmoil with little disruption; including the economic recession of 2008 which it recovered fairly quickly from.

Another interesting fact about the New Zealand economy is that it is heavily export oriented. In fact, New Zealand has a very export-driven competitive economy with exports accounting for about 30% of GDP (New Zealand, N.d.). The top exports are milk powder, butter, and cheese along with meats and natural resources. The GDP breakdown of the country is as follows:

https://www.newzealandnow.govt.nz/investing-in-nz/opportunities-outlook/economic-overview

Cultural Traditions

New Zealand has an extraordinarily rich culture given the unique mix of peoples that live in the country. There are actually three official languages that are accepted in the country -- English, Maori, and NZ Sign Language...

The rough demographics of the country include the following:
Population: 3,993,817 (July 2004 est.)

Ethnic Make-up: New Zealand European 74.5%, Maori 9.7%, other European 4.6%, Pacific Islander 3.8%, Asian and others 7.4%

Religions: Anglican 24%, Presbyterian 18%, Roman Catholic 15%, Methodist 5%, Baptist 2%, other Protestant 3%, unspecified or none 33% (1986)

The culture is largely divided between the Maori (indigent) and NZ European culture since the Maori represents the original population before European settlers emerged.

The Maori culture has been actively preserved by the ancestors of the original inhabitants. Within any Maori community, the marae provides a focus for social, cultural and spiritual life and the term marae describes a communal 'plaza' area that includes a wharenui (meeting house) and wharekai (dining room) (New Zealand Tourism Guide, N.d.). The ancient beliefs of Maori culture are recognised and respected by New Zealand's leaders today. For example, there is one story of a road project in which the road had to be moved to avoid disturbing a Maori belief in a taniwha (water monster). The Maori culture is actually a source of tourism in the country so it makes sense on multiple levels for the country to respect their heritage as much as possible.

Jobs in Education

To say that New Zealand has a good education system would be an understatement. NZ has one of the best education systems in the world.

"New Zealand is a world leader for education, according to the…