Māori settlement
First to arrive were ancestors of Māori. The first settlers probably arrived from Polynesia between 1200 and 1300 AD. They discovered New Zealand as they explored the Pacific, navigating by ocean currents and the winds and stars.
The first Europeans
The Dutch
The first European to arrive in New Zealand was the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman in 1642. That is how we got the Dutch-sounding name - from a Dutch mapmaker who first called us Nieuw Zeeland.
British and French
A surprisingly long time passed - 127 years - before New Zealand was visited by another European, Captain James Cook. He came in 1769 on the first of three voyages.
European whalers and sealers started visiting regularly and then came traders.
By the 1830s, the British government was being pressured to curb lawlessness in the country and also to pre-empt the French who were considering New Zealand as a potential colony.
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