<P> When World War II broke out in 1939, New Zealanders contributed to the defence of the British Empire; the country contributed some 120,000 troops . From the 1930s the economy was highly regulated and an extensive welfare state was developed . Meanwhile, Māori culture underwent a renaissance, and from the 1950s Māori began moving to the cities in large numbers . This led to the development of a Māori protest movement which in turn led to greater recognition of the Treaty of Waitangi in the late 20th century . </P> <P> The country's economy suffered in the aftermath of the 1973 global energy crisis, the loss of New Zealand's biggest export market upon Britain's entry to the European Economic Community, and rampant inflation . In 1984, the Fourth Labour Government was elected amid a constitutional and economic crisis . The interventionist policies of the Third National Government were replaced by "Rogernomics", a commitment to a free market economy . Foreign policy after 1980 became more independent especially in pushing for a nuclear - free zone . Subsequent governments have generally maintained these policies, although tempering the free market ethos somewhat . </P> <P> New Zealand was originally settled by Polynesians from Eastern Polynesia . Genetic and archaeological evidence suggests that humans emigrated from Taiwan to Melanesia and then travelled east through to the Society Islands; after a pause of 70 to 265 years, a new wave of exploration led to the discovery and settlement of New Zealand . The most current reliable evidence strongly indicates that initial settlement of New Zealand occurred around 1280 CE . Previous dating of some Kiore (Polynesian rat) bones at 50--150 CE has now been shown to have been unreliable; new samples of bone (and now also of unequivocally rat - gnawed woody seed cases) match the 1280 CE date of the earliest archaeological sites and the beginning of sustained, anthropogenic deforestation . </P> <P> The descendants of these settlers became known as the Māori, forming a distinct culture of their own . The separate settlement of the tiny Chatham Islands in the east of New Zealand about 1500 CE produced the Moriori; linguistic evidence indicates that the Moriori were mainland Māori who ventured eastward . </P>

When was new zealand first settled by humans