The History of New Zealand begins in the Middle Ages, when humans first arrived in the form of the Polynesian explorer Kupe. New Zealand was the last significant land mass on Earth to be settled by humans. The following five centuries saw the development of what became the Maori culture. The first European to sight the islands was Abel Tasman in 1642, but it was Cook in 1769 that thoroughly mapped the islands, leading the way for the first European settlers in the following decades.
The History of New Zealand
