Timeline: New Zealand

A chronology of key events:

c.1000 AD - Maori arrive from other parts of Polynesia.

Auckland: New Zealand's largest city and a major port Population: 1 million Colonial capital 1840-65

1642 - Dutch explorer Abel Tasman visits New Zealand.

1769 - British captain James Cook explores coastline, also in 1773 and 1777.

1815 - First British missionaries arrive.

1840 - Treaty of Waitangi between British and several Maori tribes pledges protection of Maori land and establishes British law in New Zealand.

1845-72 - The New Zealand Wars, also referred to as the Land Wars. Maori put up resistance to British colonial rule.

1893 - New Zealand becomes world's first country to give women the vote.

1898 - Government introduces old-age pensions.

1907 - New Zealand becomes dominion within British Empire.

1914 - Outbreak of World War I. New Zealand commits thousands of troops to the British war effort. They suffer heavy casualties in the Gallipoli campaign in Turkey in 1915.

1939-45 - Troops from New Zealand see action in Europe, North Africa and the Pacific during World War II.

Independence

1947 - New Zealand gains full independence from Britain.

Plans to nationalise coastline sparked Maori protests BBC History: Cook, Tupaia and Maori 2004: NZ launches first Maori TV station 2004: In pictures - Maori protest march

1950 - Troops from New Zealand serve with UN forces in the 1950-53 Korean War.

1951 - Anzus Pacific security treaty signed between New Zealand, Australia and USA.

1960s - New Zealand sends a small combat force to support US troops in Vietnam. The move sparks a lively public debate.

1984 - Labour government elected, Prime Minister David Lange begins radical economic reforms.

Rainbow Warrior

1985 - New Zealand refuses to allow US nuclear-powered or nuclear-armed ships to enter its ports.

French secret service agents blow up Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior in Auckland Harbour. One person killed.

1986 - US suspends its Anzus obligations towards New Zealand.

Jonah Lomu, a powerful figure in Rugby Union, the national sport BBC Sport: Profile - Jonah Lomu

1989 - Prime Minister Lange resigns, replaced by Geoffrey Palmer.

1990 - Palmer resigns just before the general election, which is won by the opposition National Party. James Bolger becomes prime minister.

1993 - National Party narrowly wins election. Referendum introduces proportional representation.

1996 - Under new electoral system, number of Maori MPs rises from six to 15.

1997 - After leadership challenge, Bolger resigns and Jenny Shipley becomes New Zealand's first woman prime minister.

National Party forms coalition with centrist New Zealand First (NZF).

1998 - Waitangi Tribunal orders government to return confiscated land in Turangi Township to its Maori owners.

Coalition with NZF collapses.

1999 - New Zealand troops join a UN peacekeeping force in East Timor.

Labour Party victory

1999 - Labour Party wins election. Helen Clark becomes prime minister.

Former PM David Lange: Anti-nuclear stance drew US ire 2005: Lange's impact on NZ and world

2001 October - Government rescues Air New Zealand 12 years after it was privatised and takes an 83% stake in the carrier.

2002 June - Prime Minister Helen Clark apologises to Samoa for New Zealand's poor treatment of its citizens in colonial times. The apology is made at a ceremony in Samoa marking 40 years of independence.

2002 July - Labour Party's Helen Clark wins a second term in a general election. The rival conservative National Party records its worst result in 70 years.

2004 May - Intense debate over proposed bill to nationalise sea bed. Maori protesters say bill would infringe ancestral rights. Government survives no-confidence vote.

2004 July - New Zealand suspends high-level contacts with Israel, alleging that two Israelis jailed for trying illegally to obtain New Zealand passports were Mossad agents. The suspected spies are deported in September.

2004 December - New Zealand and China begin talks on a potentially-lucrative free trade agreement.

Parliament passes bill which recognises civil unions between gay couples.

EDMUND HILLARY 1919-2008 New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary (right) and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay were the first to climb Everest Everest hero dies Obituary: Sir Edmund Hillary

2005 August - Death is announced of David Lange, the 1980s prime minister who spearheaded pivotal reforms.

2005 September - Incumbent PM Helen Clark secures a narrow election win over the resurgent National Party.

2006 May - New Zealand troops join an intervention force in East Timor, intended to quell unrest.

2006 August - Queen of the indigenous Maori population, Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu, dies aged 75 after a reign of 40 years. A week of mourning is declared.

2007 October - Police arrest 17 people in anti-terror raids. Prosecutors accuse Maori activists of planning a violent campaign against the country's white majority.

2008 September - New Zealand's economy goes into recession for the first time since 1998.

2008 November - John Key leads the centre-right National Party to victory in a general election, ending nine years of Labour-led government.

2008 December - New Zealand and Fiji expel each other's top diplomats in a deepening political row. The row stems from a decision by Fiji's military leader, Frank Bainimarama, to delay plans for democratic elections.

2009 March - Official figures show the New Zealand economy shrank at its fastest rate in 17 years in the last three months of 2008.

2009 June - New Zealand's economy shrinks for the fifth consecutive quarter, making it officially the longest recession in the country's history.