australia

The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II., but the Governor General performs all functions in the Queens absence.

Head of the government is Prime Minister.

Legislature is parliament. It is divided into 2 houses – Senate (76 members) and House of representatives (148 members).

Executive is Prime minister and Cabinet.

Flag: The Union Jack with five stars that represent the constellation of the Southern Cross and a large seven-pointed star for 6 states and 1 territory.

Economy

Currency used in Australia is Australian dollar.

Typical agriculture products are cattle, wheat, wool, milk, barley, eucalyptus and pine timber.

Australia has rich natural resources, they have lot of coal, oil, natural gas, iron and much more.

New Zealand

New Zealand is situated southeast of Australia in the South Pacific. It consists of two large islands: North and South.

The majority of the people live on the North island, mainly for its mild climate and capital city Wellington and the largest city Auckland are also situated here.

Taupo is the largest New Zealand lake and it is situated on the North Island too.

We can find Southern Alps on the South Island. There is the highest top of New Zealand called Mount Cook (3,7 m)

History:

First people came from Eastern Polynesia.

Native New Zealanders are called Maoris.

Abel Tasman, Dutch sailor, was the first European here, but the first colonists were British.

The treaty of Waitangi was signed by British and Maoris. The Maori were promised protection. But it didn’t work, and New Zealand become independent in 1947.

Political system:

It is part of British Commonwealth. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II., but the Governor General performs all functions in the Queens absence.

House of representative (Parliament) has legislative power.

Government and prime minister have executive power.

People:

The population is about 4 million. People are mostly European descents. Maoris form the second largest group.

New Zealanders celebrate Waitangi Day and Anzac Day.