North Island, with its active volcanoes and hot springs around Lake Taupo, is subtropical in the north and temperate in the south. It contains New Zealand's major river, the Waikato. Food processing dominates the industrial sector, which also produces wood, paper products, and textiles.
Tourism is of increasing importance.
Most of the people are of British descent. The Maori are thought to have migrated to the islands prior to A.D. 1400. James COOK, who visited them four times between 1769 and 1777. The same year the Maori signed the Treaty of Waitangi, by which they recognized British sovereignty in exchange for guaranteed possession of their land. Nevertheless, wars over land between the Maori and white settlers were waged until 1870.