New Zealand
New Zealand
Introduction
This monicker belongs to island lying in South Pacific Ocean
– New Zealand. However, I have never been to New Zealand, I think, New Zealand is one of the most beautifull places in the world (consider to
photos). New Zealand is one of the loneliest civilized countries, is a country of islands , small and big, all scattered in South Pacific Ocean. The
enormous Pacific Ocean separates it from the coast of Chile and the empty ocean stretches to the Antarctic and Polynesia.
Location
New Zealand is an island country lying in the Pacific Ocean, situated southeast of Australia. It consists of two
principal islands, North Island and South Island. The country's population is over 3 million people. Cook Islands, Niue, Tokelau are Self-Governing
Territory Overseas and Karmadec Island., Chatham Island, Bounty Island, Auckland Island belong to New Zealand too.
North Island contains
more than half the whole country’s population. The northern part of the island has rolling hills and low mountains. The southern half rises from
fertile plains along the coast to volcanic mountain peaks in the centre. The town of Rotorna is visited by thousands of tourists each year for its
hot springs and geysers. South Island is narrow and contains a third of the population. Southern Alps mountains extend the entire length of the
island and include New Zealand’s highest peak, Mount Cook. There are glaciers on South Island.
Some
geographical attractions:
The highest point: Mount Cook (3764 m)
The lowest point: oceanic level (0 m)
The deepest lake:
Manapouri (-263m)
The largest lake: L.Taupo.
Economy
New Zealand is the world’s third largest producer
of wool and the exporter of meat, skins, butter, cheese and other dairy products. The currency of New Zealand is New Zealand´s dollar, which has
hundred cents. New Zealand is a comparatively wealthy country. The most important sources of income are industry and agriculture. The chief
industries are food processing (meat and dairy product), transport equipment, textiles, cement and oil refining. Wool, meat and dairy products are
the main agricultural products. They breed cows and some sheep; they cultivate potatoes, corn, oats, fruits and vegetables.Coal is sufficient for
domestic use and a small amount is exported. There are also substantial amounts of producer of wool and the exported of meat esp. mutton and lamb,
skins, butter, cheese and other dairy products. But tourism makes a lot of money too. Tourists travel to Maori land to see beautiful nature, culture
of Maori and for unique animals: platypus and Little Penguin. It is the world’s smallest species and is found only in New Zealand. New Zealand´s
inhabitants are of British origin and original residents are Maori. Most immigrants have come from Ireland, Poland and other parts of Europe.
Amplitudes of temperatures are reduced by Pacific Ocean. Because of this the climate of NZ is mild oceanic, it means that winters are wet and
summers are cold. North Island has subtropical oceanic climate but South Is. has mild oceanic.
Dominion of New
Zealand
The Maoris migrated there from Polynesia during the 8th century. European settlement dates only from the end of the 18th
century when James Cook circumnavigated both main islands and his descriptions encoraged colonization. New Zealand became a territory of Great
Britain, although there has always been a strong Maori resistance against it. Recently the 97- member House of Representatives is elected by
universal adult suffrage for three years to represent constituencies, four of which have a Maori electorate. The Governor General-appoints a Prime
Minister who commands a majority in the hose. In turn, the Prime Minister appoints a Cabinet, which is resposible to the House.
History
The islands has been inhabited long before europeans visited these far place. The aboriginal
inhabitants were ther Maoris, a branch of the Polynesian race living in Hawai, Samoa and other Pacific islands east of Fiji. Today they number of
population is only 220000, which is less than 6 % of the total population. They live mostly in Auckland area af North Island. When the European
discover the islands they were divided in the small tribes. The first European, which land in New Zealand was Abel Tasman – a famous Dutch
navigator. Captain James Cook, an englishman, was the next visitor. His relations with Maoris were peacefull and friendly. In 1777 he published his
journal “A voyage toward the South Pole and Round the world“, which bottom a new lands to Europeans. He pre-loaded, that country was suitable for
colonization. The white colonization had a destructive effect upon Maori life. Wars and diseases reduced their numbers.
Wellington: The Windy Capital
Wellington the capital of New Zealan, is notone of the biggest capital cities in the world,
nor is it one of the most exciting. The climate isn´t very good, and it´s built in a major earthquake zone. But Wellingtonianslove their city
anyway, because of its special character, its relaxed lifestyle and its wonderful natural setting, which must make it one of the most picturesque
capitals in the world. Wellington is situated at the southern end of the North Island, in the geographical centre of the counry. It has been the
seat of New Zealand´s government since 1860s, when it replaced Auckland because the South complained that their politicians were too far away.
Wellington has a popoulation of about 330 000 making it the second largest city in New Zealand ( Aukland, with almoust one million people, is the
largest). The city is built on the steep hillsides surrounding Wellington Harbour, which protects ships from the stormy seas that separate the
North and South Islands. These bush-clad hills that descend right to the water's edge give Wellington its special character and rugged beauty, but
also make it a difficult place to build a city. Flat land is so scarce that Wellington must be one of the few capital cities that does not have an
international airport: there simply isn't room to build a runway long enough to land a large jet. Passengers arriving from overseas have to land
first at Auckland, 700 kilometres to the north, change to a smaller plane, and then hope it will be able to stop before falling off the end of the
runway. Like all New Zealand's cities, Wellington's climate is very mild. In summer the temperature rarely rises above 25 degrees, and in winter
the temperature is usually between 10 and 15 degrees. Frosts are rare and snow is almost unknown. Wellington's wind, on the other hand, cannot be
described as mild. It is famous (or infamous) for being one of the windiest places in the country, something it celebrates with an annual wind
festival. Not surprisingly, the most popular part of the festival is the kite flying competition. Even the local radio station is called Radio Windy.
Another special feature of Wellington, but one that worries the city's inhabitants more than the fairly harmless wind, is its location in a major
earthquake zone. The city is built right on top of a fault line, part of the Rim of Fire, a ring of volcanoes and faults which encircles the Pacific
Ocean. The last earthquake was a long time ago, and even had some positive results (part of the seabed was lifted, creating valuable new land near
the city centre), but another, more destructive quake could strike the city a-nytime. This danger has had a great effect on the appearance of the
city, as one by one the old stone Victorian buildings have been pulled down and replaced by new "e-arthquake-proof" buildings. As a
result, today most of the city centre consists of concrete and steel tower blocks that house banks and government offices. Fortunately
traditional colonial architecture still survives in the suburbs. Wellington is famous for its beautifully restored wooden villas, mostly built around
the turn of the century, which cling to the hills around the harbour. Some of these houses are built on land so steep that instead of a path or steps
from the street, some Wellingtonians need a lift or their own miniature funicular railway to reach their front doors. These historic and brightly
painted houses give the capital much of its charm, and when visitors arrive in Wellington their first view of the city, and often their best
memory, is of the brightly coloured iron roofs scattered across the steep green hills. Wellington is different from other New Zealand cities not
only because it is the capital, because of its setting or its architecture. Like any capital, its streets are of course filled with
politicians and thousands of government bureaucrats16 who can be seen running around wearing suits and clutching briefcases. But it is also a very
young and "trendy" city, and has hundreds of cafes crowded with Wellingtonians dressed in black, sipping espressos and listening to the
latest music. By comparison, Auckland is much busier, has many more people and traffic jams and exists only to make money, while the cities of the
South Island are sleepier, more conservative and not as cosmopolitan as the capital. The major of the country population’s reside in the towns of
Auclanland and Wellington in the North Island and two major cities in the South Island are Cristchurch and Dunedin
The feeling that many New
Zealanders have for their capital are perfectly expressed in the words of a song by the Muttonbirds, an Auckland band which is finding some
success in Britain:
I wish I was in Wellington
Though the weather´snot so good
The wind it cuts right through
you
And rains more than it should
But I'd be there tomorrow
If I only could
Oh, I wish I
was in Wellington...
Politically and geographically is Wellington the most important city in the country. Its harbour is one of
the finest in the world. Wellington is seat of many principal public buildings including the Houses of parliament, the National art gallery and
Dominion museum, its also seat of one of the finest educational institutions – Victoria University.
Politics
New Zealand is a constitutional monarchy. It is an independent parliamentary democracy within the British Commonwealth. New Zealand is a dominium
of Great Britain. Its sovereign is Elizabeth II, Queen of the Great Britain and also of New Zealand. Her representative is the governorgeneral who
acts as chief of state when she is not in New Zealand. He doesn’t govern and his functions are normal. New Zealand’s flag has “union jack“ in
upper left corner and four star southcross in the right half. The anthem of New Zealand is God save the Queen and the official language is english.
The population is most of British (93%) origin, but there are also Maoris (7%), the original inhabitants of New Zealand and a Polynesian people
The Maoris are the original inhabitants of New Zealand who nearly all live in North Island.. English is the official language, the Maoris speak
Maori, a Malayo-Polynesian language..
The fish of maui
How far has the English language travelled from its country
or origin? The answer to that question is 'As far as it possibly could have gone.' On the opposite side of the globe from the Small Island' of Great
Britain, is another small island where tea with milk is drunk in the afternoon and that most 'English' of all sports, cricket, is enjoyed by a large
number of the population. Like Britain, this country is culturally mixed but this country is not troubled by the problems one finds in the heavily
industrialised Europe. It is tucked away' in the South Pacific, far, far away from the rest of the world. This country is New Zealand. It took a
long time for Europeans to discover New Zealand. The first European to sight the country was the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman in
1642 but his attempts at weighing anchor and coming ashore failed because of the hostility of the natives. It was more than a hundred years later
that the British explorer James Cook, came to this part of the world and discovered the country in 1769. The native people who
scared off Tasman and with whom Cook was able to make friends are known as Maoris and are a Polynesian people who
are believed to have settled the islands approximately 1000 years ago. Since Cook's discovery, Europeans have travelled across the entire globe to
settle the country and today New Zealand has a population of around 3.5 million people. Only about 12 % of the population today are Maoris and
there are very few pure-blooded Maoris. New Zealand actually consists of a number of islands just to the west of the international dateline so it
is one of the first countries to see the sun at the beginning of each new day. There are two main islands which are far larger than any of the rest
and these are quite simply called the North Island and the South Island. Almost 80 per cent of the population
live on the North Island which is actually the smaller of the two. It is of an unusual diamond shape and has both the country's capital and its
largest city. The capital is Wellington situated on the south coast of the island, its bay lying on Cook
Strait which is the body of water separating the two islands. In the north, between two bays is
Auckland, easily the largest city in the country with almost a third of the country's inhabitants. The beautiful
setting of this city, with large expanses of water on both sides of it, makes water sports one of the most favoured activities for Aucklanders. It
is amazing statistics that more than one in ten Aucklanders is the owner of a yacht. The island finds itself close to the world's earthquake fault
line and there is a lot of volcanic activity on the island. The most active volcano is on White Island
just off the northern coast. The volcano can be seen steaming continuously and occasionally erupts. In the centre of the country is the
small area of Rotorua full of thermal lakes, exploding geysers and hot mud pools. Houses in the town of Rotorua actually get some of
their heating energy from the natural gasses from the area, though this reduces active thermal activity and is bad for tourism. Further south is a
chain of volcanoes known as the Pacific Ring of Fire. In the very centre of the island is the gigantic lake Taupo the area of
which is 606 square kilometers. It is actually the crater of what may have been the biggest volcanic eruption ever.As much as the North Island.
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