1Whanganui River
As of 2017, Whanganui River, New Zealand's third-largest river is legally a person.
2Bob Semple tank
New Zealand's first tank was the Bob Semple tank. It used corrugated iron armor on a tractor base, with 6 machine guns as armament. After public ridicule, Bob Semple stood by his design, saying "I don’t see anyone else coming up with any better ideas."
3Jedi
On the 2001 New Zealand census, 53,715 people listed their religion as “Jedi.”
4Gisborne Airport
Gisborne Airport in New Zealand is one of the very few airports in the world that has an active railway line intersecting the runway.
5Marmageddon
The 2011 Christchurch earthquake caused a shortage of Marmite sandwich spread in New Zealand for more than a year. The crisis was named "Marmageddon."
6Baldwin Street
The world's steepest street is Baldwin Street in Dunedin, New Zealand. At its maximum slope, it measures 19° or 35%.
7Dawn Raids
The Dawn Raids in Auckland, New Zealand back in the mid-'70s to early 1980s involved special police squads conducting raids on the homes and workplaces of overstayers throughout New Zealand usually at dawn. Overstayers and their families were often prosecuted.
Latest FactRepublic Video:
15 Most Controversial & Costly Blunders in History
8Rivers and lakes
In Auckland, New Zealand, 62% of the rivers and lakes are graded as poor by the Ministry for the Environment for swimming, and 0% of the rivers and lakes are graded as good.
9Cromwell Chafer
On a small field outside of the town of Cromwell in the South Island of New Zealand is a beetle called the Cromwell Chafer (Prodontria lewisi). The beetle is found nowhere else on the planet. The entire species can be found on an 81-hectare nature reserve.
10Shark
A shark at a New Zealand aquarium was discovered to be pregnant when another shark attacked her and 4 baby sharks emerged from the open wound. Staff were surprised and found 4 more babies in her. If she’d given birth at night, then her babies would have been eaten alive by other sharks.
