New Zeland – the lost paradise.

The main information about New Zeland:

• The whole are of country with islands is 270986 square km.
• There is only 3 570 000 people living what makes only 13 people per 1 square km.
• The capital of New Zeland is Wellington
• The political system is Constitutional Monarchy
• The currency is New Zeland dolar with 100 cents as monetary units
• The inhabitants of New Zeland speak English and Maorish language
• The main religions of the country are Christianity and Protestants
• The climate is marine with big rainfall but moderate. Very specific is fact that on the North Island rain falls only in winter. The average temperature in the capital city is from 8,1°C in July to 16,2°C in January
• There is about 50% of pasturage, 27% of forests, 1.4% of growings and about 21.6% of other land development
• The main products of New Zeland are: cattle, fruits, vegetables, fish, coal, iron, sand, wood, gas
• The various branches of industry are: farm and food industry, heavy industry, light industry, maritime industry, mining industry
• The main products for the export market are: meat, fruits and vegetables, dairy products, fish, wool, paper, leather, aluminium
• The average earnings per one person in New Zeland is 14 649 USD
• The average birth rate per 1000 inhabitants is 10 babies
• The average living length is 78 years for women and 72 years for men
• The New Zeland flag is the same as British but it has got grenade rectangle with four red stars added.

GENERAL FACTS ABOUT NEW ZELAND

New Zeland is a beautiful land which consists of island, too. The main and the bigger islands are North Island which is inhabited by almost all people who live in New Zeland and South Island which is rather used as agricultural and turist area. There are also many smaller islands like Stewart Island and Chathan Island. Like I wrote earlier the language of people is mainly english and that is beacause the country was usually settled by the english emigrants. What is interesting is the fact that New Zeland is placed directly on the other side of Earth to Great Britain. The population in New Zeland is very low and most of people live in cities. There are just about 3.5 million of people living.

The main industry is connected with agriculture. The biggest part of it is dominated by the flocks of sheep. There is about 55 millions sheep in that country. Next to the sheep there is a large number of cattle - about 8 millions. However, agriculture is the main source of wealth and export there are only 10% of inhabitants working in that branch of industry. The most of people are working in offices and are connected with education, economy, banking.

As it comes to climate it is rather moderated and the rainfalls are very regular during the whole year. There are no temperature jumps like big heats and than freezing cold. It has to be mentioned that the weather is good but there are some volcanos. The biggest and the most important are Egmont which is located on the west coast, Ruapehu which is also a famous sport center and Ngauruhoe, which is located upon the Tampo lake.

The landscape of New Zeland is breath taking. To see the places which wre not inhabited it is good to go and visit South Island. You can see there vast plains of cereal and the flocks of sheep grazing at the mountain edge. You can also see there thousands of fruit trees. All the Island is coverd by the South Alps which are over 3000 meters high. Very often there is a snow lying round year. The most famous glaciers are Fox and Franz Josefen. On the west coast you can admire the remnants of ice age, the beautiful fjords. The best known is called Milford Sound.

MAORISH INHABITANTS

The first inhabitants of New Zeland came to the Islands long before white people. They were the Plynesian emigrants. The legend says that the first people came to settle there in seven boats. It was about 700 years before the white men came there. The Maorish people had created their culture and lifestyle and than the white people appeared. The first mention of Maorish people come from the memoirs of Dutch traveller Abel Tosman from 1642. After the white people started to settle there the number of Maorshians started to diminish. They were killed by the new diseases. White people started to take away their lands and animals. Their lifestyle was being destroyed. On the other hand white people gave them weapon so they could fight amond their tribes. This was also a cause of disappearing their population. Nowadays the situation looks much better. Children are being thought Maorish language and traditions in schools, a large number of museums are being opend and the land is being given to them. Their lifestyle is being revived. This program is called kohanga reo. So, nowadays there is about 15% of Maorishians living in New Zeland. The revival of Maorish culture and language was able because there were hundreds of new emigrants coming from West Samoa, Fiji and Cooks Islands. The main number of people settled down in Auckland and their culture and language were very similar to the Maorish so the assimilation was very easy.

NATURE AND ENVIRONMENT

The climate of New Zeland and its geagraphical location makes it amazing place with beautiful fauna and flora. This country of mountains and breath taking landscapes has also got many animals and plants which are the only species in the world. One of the examples are parrots which are so big and heavy that they are not able to fly. Their name is Kakapo. There are about 86 kakapos living on the one of islands called Whenna Hou.

The Kakapos were famous of singing for all day, from down till dusk during their nuptial - period, it lasted for about three months in a summer time. Unfortunately, today they only live in Whenna Hou island. The reason of their removal to that island were "palanki kurzu" who were brought to New Zeland from Australia by white man. They were preying on Kakapos among the trees and so many of them were killed. There is only few island free form the Palanki kurzu and Kakapos can exist there. All Kakapos are equipped with small radio transmitters which can tell everything about each bird. The parrots have got names and all are being watched all the time. Thanks to the transmitters the scientist can watch the habbits and skills of Kakapos. For example, one of the parrots called Aranga, what means ressurection, showed to the scientist how it is possible that some of the birds could climb to the trees. She was found over 10 meters above the land. It turned out that although they are not able to fly they can use their beaks and claws during climbing.

But kakapos are not the only one animals which may be strange to us. Another funny creature is Kwi - this is a bird but it cannot fly because it doesn't have wings. It is a cousin of ostrich but it is much smaller. It rather looks like a hen. Its otherness is also caused by the noses. Kiwi has got a nose on the top of his beak. Kiwi cannot fly but it is very quick and it can run very quickly. They know their area very well. Kiwi is something between mammal as the temperature of its body is more like mammal than bird. The most amazing thing is that their eggs are very big as their weight is something like 20% of mother's weight.

Unfortuantely, Kakapos and Kiwis are the next to extinct so they are protected. It is very sad that most of them are already dead and there is so few left. We need to take care of them because they are amazing and they are part of our world, too.

Although I was writing here about kiwi and kakapo there are much more interesting animals and birds and plants and insects living in New Zeland, not mention the strangest one like a bird with a twisted beak or keia - a large parrot who is so strong that it can kill a sheep. There are also some creatures called cricket weta. They are a kind of insects which are equipped with the prickles. The prickles are placed on their legs. When the insects feel endangered they put the legs on their heads. The female insects have got also a kind of fang to protect themselves. There are over 150 species of warms in New Zeland. They may be very small and they may be even 1 meter long. They are surprising and amazing. It is really worth to see all of this creatures.

You can ask a question why New Zeland is a place were so many different species live? Well, this is a good question. The scientist say that New Zeland has got perfect conditions for creating new species. First of all it is an isldnd, a very big island which are also isolated from the lands and continents. On the other hand there are also very good and diversified natural conditions. The climate, ocean, mountains, volcanos, forests, it all makes New Zeland different from other parts of Earth. That is reason why during ages so many species had been created.

In the times when instead of present continents there was a supercontinent called Gondwana the part of its land had separated. It was over 80 millions years ago. That land went adrift and it is still drifting. During the great journey it was being changed by the climate, ice, water, volcanos. On the other hand its separation made unusual conditions for flora and fauna. The creatures which we can still admire in New Zeland are sometimes concidered as prehistoric. For example Hatteria. It is a kind af a reptile, which is abut 50 - 60 cm long and it weights about 1 kg. It is only living around the New Zeland and the rest of it had died about 100 millions years ago. It is believed to be living fossil. There are some other species which survived through all the changes and today are the only one alive. There are only few kinds of creatures which are the same as in the other parts of the Earth. But those are only that creatures which were able to fly or swim across the ocean.

Unfortunately, this pradise was hit by human beings in about 1300. This meant beginning of disaster for New Zeland environment. Although there was no contamination yet, people started to change the natural environment by cutting down the trees, killing animals and eating them and by bringing such creatures like rats, dogs, and so on. This changes were so radical that the natural world had no chanches to defend itself. The species which were the only on the world started to extinct. Moa deers, eagle Haasta (his wings were 3 meters long), and many, many others. Nowadays a lot of species are endangered so they are protected against people, poachers and predators.

It is sad that human being cannot live with animal world in peace and that so many damages were caused. On the other hand, there are still some isles which surround New Zeland on which the natural world is developing and it has been intacted since the beginning. It is easy to find there those animals which don't exist anywhere else. You can meet there penguins or even sea lions.

Another amazing thing about New Zeland is that not only can you find there endemic species of creatures, beautiful landscapes but also you will meet there over 84 species of birds. It is one of the biggest center of the birds. Of course you can also meet there endangered species. One of the most interesting bird is one called "burzyk". They live on one of the isles called Snares. The birds are rather small and not very beautiful but they are amazing. Every year they are migrating to the Japan or Alaska what make them fly over 24000 km. If it was not enough, the birds are known as perfect divers. They can dive about 40 meters underwater to catch their food, that is small fish. What is also great is their sense of direction. They can fly through the ocean and find their island and even their nest.

New Zeland government is aware of the environmental responsibility that lays on the country. There is a lot of species which are already extincted in some other parts of the world or they had never existed anywhere else. That is why the isles are protected against human beings and on the South and North Island the national parks are being opened. The biggest one is called Te Unewere and its area is about 212 672 ha. Thanks to the national parks people and the scientist can protect endangered species against predators and poachers.

Maybe, after some time it will be able to see all those endangered species in great number and absolutely safe? Even if not, we can be sure that flora and fauna are really well protected in New Zeland.

POLITICS, ECONOMY, HISTORY

New Zeland is the country of education. There is a high number of people who are very well educated. Thanks to the education it is much easier to face the problems connected with economics or politics. The proof was given in the 80' when the problems with unemployment began. The increased number of births in early 60' caused the mounting of unemplayment in 80'. This was the beginning of reforms connected with society. The crisis was resolved by the government in a very quick way. Nowadays, the number of unemployed is about 6% and is decreasing with every hour. Thanks to the good government the new branches of industry were opened and more people could find their jobs. On the other hand thanks to the reforms a new export way with Australia had been opened and the profits were made.

From 1852 New Zeland was guaranteed an autonomy from Great Britain. After that fact the country was able to establish constitution. This was the beginning of forming the Government and the Parliament. The independence was achieved in 1931 and from that time New Zeland has got a status of member of British Commonwealth of Nations. From that time the country gained very good relationship with USA and later with Australia. In 1994 the Prime Minister of New Zeland - J. Bolger was trying to change New Zeland into republic. But, after all, New Zeland is still multipartial, costitutional monarchy with unicameral Parliament - House of Deputes with only 120 chairs.

AGRICULTURE AND INDUSTRY

New Zeland is agricultural country. The fields, plantations, grazing lands occupy more than 50% of the land. The most important sources of wealth of the country are sheep and cattle. They are producing large amounts of dairy products which are mostly exported. It is New Zeland which supplies other countries on the first place with lambs and milk. But dairy products are not the only one exported. There are also huge plantations of fruits and vegetables in New Zeland. The most popular are oranges, lemons, grapefruits, kiwi, apples. On the other hand New Zeland is the exporter od large amounts of seafood. It is and island which is far away from any other land so it is easy to catch good fish and scallops, shrimps, clams, lobsters. The industry is developing very quicly as fourty years ago there were only 4% of its products which were exported. Nowadays it is 29% and the number is still increasing.

However, the food export is one of the biggest there are also some industry branches developing. There is a big metallurgical industry developing and coal is output. Although, the country hasn't got oil it has got many sources of energy. The most important sources are hydroelectric power plants and the solar power. A large source of energy is also drawed from the hot springs.

Thanks to this ecological sources of energy it is much easier to protect the environment.

CITIES OF NEW ZELAND

One of the biggest cities is Auckland but the capital city is Wellington. The towns are very similar to American style. The houses are wooden and not very big and they have got roofs made of brass. The houses cannot be big or tall because of the earthquakes which often take place in New Zeland. There are almost no block of flats. Houses are very often placed on the hillsides. Wellington, which is the capital city is also the seat of government.

Christchurch in Canterbury is the main city of South Island. The amazing landscape of this city is caused by the views on the hardened lava which came from the extinct volcano. Moreover, the city is full of flowers, trees and greenery. That makes the city look like old and causy. Another town of South island is Dnedin. This town was established in XIX th century by Scots. It was a famous town because a lot of gold prospectors came there hoping to find the treasure.

The cities are all situated in a beautiful scenery of pines, cypress, woods, mountains, ocean, beaches and fresh air. It makes them so beautiful that it is hard to come back to the normal cities. The most frequent sport activities are connected with the sea and water: swimming, sailing, surfing, wind - surfing, etc. The interesting fact is that the most outlying point in the Island is placed 110 km away from the ocean. So, by car you need about an hour to get to the sea.

New Zeland cannot be compared with any other country. Its amazing landscapes, environment and even cities are worth seeing. I absolutely agree with the words of Prime Minister of New Zeland who once said that this is a land of God. I would even say that it is the lost paradise.

INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT NEW ZELAND

• New Zeland was first country which gave the right to vote to women in 1893
• This is the country with the biggest number of golf courses in the world (over 400 for 3.7 million people)
• Almost all inhabitants of Auckland have got a boat - it is the biggest number of boats per one person
• Ernest Ruthenford was the first person to split atom in 1919, he was given a Nobel Prize and he was from New Zeland
• The sun rises first always above New Zeland
• In Curio Bay we can see the fossil forest which is about 180 million years old
• From 1901 there was a Ministry of Turism established
• There is about 12.6 sheep to every inhabitant of New Zeland
• Hectors - the smallest dolphins are also inhabitants of the waters around New Zeland
• There is a biggest hot spring in the world, Frying Pan, where water temperature can have even 200°C