17. AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND

Places of interest

Canberra is the capital of Australia since 1997. It is also the seat of the Australian parliament. Thanks to its natural scenery and architecture Canberra is sometimes said to be one of the most beautiful capitals in the world.

Sydney is the largest city in Australia. It has ideal natural conditions. Among important places there is for example Opera house with its fascinating roof construction, skyscrapers, hotels, offices and restaurants. There are also many parks and botanical gardens in Sydney.

Melbourne is the capital of the state of Victoria and the second largest city in the Australia. Now it is a modern city with a well developed industry. You can see there a lot of modern skyscrapers, parks and botanical gardens.

Would you like to visit Australia and why?

I’d like to visit Australia, because it is very intresting continent. It is very differed from Europe. There are another animals, plants and so on. It must be very intresting to visit it.

NEW ZEALAND:

Geography

New Zealand consists of two large islands (North and South Island) in south-west Pacific Ocean Nearest are Australia (on west), Fiji, Tonga on north. Its area is about 269 000 sq. km. A volcanic plateau is in the centre of North Island. South Island has glaciers and 15% peaks over 3 000 m. The climate is quite pleasant. There is a lot of sun and it often rains there. Summers are not too hot and the winters are mild.

Landscape

Each of the two main islands is mainly hilly and mountainous. The east coast consists of fertile plains, especially the large Canterbury Plains on South Island. A volcanic plateau is in the centre of North Island.

Population

Population is about 3.3 million people. 83% of the whole population live in urban areas. 85% of people are of European (above all British) origin and about 9% are Polynesian. Officially English is spoken here but some people still speak Maori.

History - The Maoris, a Polynesian group from the eastern Pacific, reached New Zealand before and during the 14th century. Captain James Cook explored the coasts in about 18th century. British sovereignty was proclaimed in 1840 and the colony became a dominion in 1907. Now it is an independent member of the Commonwealth.

Government

New Zealand has a parliamentary system where the head of state is Queen Elizabeth II represented by the Governor – General. The head of government is the Prime Minister. Elections take place every three years. The country is divided into counties. The capital city is Wellington, other big cities are Manukau, Christchurch and Auckland. New Zealand is member of UN, OECD and the Commonwealth.

The flag consists of the British Union Jack in the left upper corner and four red stars in the Southern Cross constellation.

Economy

Food processing, textiles, machinery and forest industry are the main industries. Only 2% of land is arable and the main crop is grain. New Zealand is rich in oil, gas, iron ore and coal. The main trading partners of New Zealand are the USA, Australia, Japan and Great Britain.