English-Speaking Countries (Australia, Canada, New Zeland)

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Content

1. Australia

2. Canada

3. New Zealand

1. Australia

Geographical position

Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent (the world's smallest), the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.N4 Neighbouring countries include Indonesia, East Timor and Papua New Guinea to the north, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia to the northeast and New Zealand to the southeast.

For at least 40,000 years before European settlement in the late 18th century, Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians, who belonged to one or more of the roughly 250 language groups. After sporadic visits by fishermen from the immediate north and discovery by Dutch explorers in 1606,Australia's eastern half was claimed by the British in 1770 and initially settled through penal transportation to the colony of New South Wales, founded on 26 January 1788. The population grew steadily in the following years; the continent was explored and an additional five largely self-governing Crown Colonies were established during the 19th century.

On 1 January 1901, the six colonies became a federation and the Commonwealth of Australia was formed. Since Federation, Australia has maintained a stable liberal democratic political system and remains a Commonwealth realm. The population is 22 million, with approximately 60% concentrated in and around the mainland state capitals of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide. The nation's capital city is Canberra, in the Australian Capital Territory.

A prosperous developed country with a multicultural society, Australia ranks highly in many international comparisons of national performance such as human development, quality of life, health care, life expectancy, public education, economic freedom and the protection of civil liberties and political rights.[16] Australia is a member of the United Nations, G20, Commonwealth of Nations, ANZUS, OECD, APEC, Pacific Islands Forum and the World Trade Organization.

Politics

The Commonwealth of Australia is a constitutional democracy based on a federal division of powers. The form of government used in Australia is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of government. Queen Elizabeth II is the Queen of Australia, a role that is distinct from her position as monarch of the other Commonwealth realms. The Queen is represented by the Governor-General at the federal level and by the Governors at the state level. Although the Constitution gives extensive executive powers to the Governor-General, these are normally exercised only on the advice of the Prime Minister.The most notable exercise of the Governor-General's reserve powers outside the Prime Minister's direction was the dismissal of the Whitlam Government in the constitutional crisis of 1975.

There are three branches of government, known as the separation of powers:

The legislature: the Commonwealth Parliament, comprising the Queen, the Senate, and the House of Representatives; the Queen is represented by the Governor-General, who by convention acts on the advice of his or her Ministers.

The executive: the Federal Executive Council (the Governor-General as advised by the Executive Councillors); in practice, the councillors are the Prime Minister and Ministers of State.

The judiciary: the High Court of Australia and other federal courts. Appeals from Australian courts to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in the United Kingdom ceased when the Australia Act of 1986 was passed.

The bicameral Commonwealth Parliament consists of the Queen, the Senate (the upper house) of 76 senators, and a House of Representatives (the lower house) of 150 members. Members of the lower house are elected from single-member electoral divisions, commonly known as "electorates" or "seats", allocated to states on the basis of population, with each original state guaranteed a minimum of five seats. In the Senate, each state is represented by twelve senators, and each of the mainland territories (the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory) by two.

Elections for both chambers are normally held every three years, simultaneously; senators have overlapping six-year terms except for those from the territories, who only have three-year terms; thus only 40 of the 76 places in the Senate are put to each election unless the cycle is interrupted by a double dissolution.Although the Prime Minister is appointed by the Governor-General, in practice the party with majority support in the House of Representatives forms government and its leader becomes Prime Minister.

There are two major political groups that form government, federally and in the states: the Australian Labor Party, and the Coalition which is a formal grouping of the Liberal Party and its minor partner, the National Party. Independent members and several minor parties--including the Greens and the Australian Democrats--have achieved representation in Australian parliaments, mostly in upper houses. The Labor Party came to office with Kevin Rudd as Prime Minister following the November 2007 election.In June 2010, Julia Gillard became the first female Prime Minister after she defeated Rudd in a partyroom leadership challenge.

Every Australian parliament (federal, state, and territory) then had a Labor government until September 2008 when the Liberal Party formed a minority government in association with the National Party in Western Australia.From 2005 to 2008 (a result of the 2004 election), the governing coalition led by John Howard won control of the Senate--the first time in more than 20 years that a party (or a coalition) has done so while in government. Voting is compulsory for all enrolled citizens 18 years and over, in each state and territory and at the federal level. Enrolment to vote is compulsory in all jurisdictions except South Australia.

Geography and climate

Australia's landmass of 7,617,930 square kilometres (2,941,300 sq mi) is on the Indo-Australian Plate. Surrounded by the IndianN4 and Pacific oceans, it is separated from Asia by the Arafura and Timor seas. The world's smallest continent and sixth largest country by total area,[10] Australia--owing to its size and isolation--is often dubbed the 'island continent and variably considered the world's largest island. Australia has 34,218 kilometres (21,262 mi) of coastline (excluding all offshore islands) and claims an extensive Exclusive Economic Zone of 8,148,250 square kilometres (3,146,060 sq mi). This exclusive economic zone does not include the Australian Antarctic Territory.

The Great Barrier Reef, the world's largest coral reef, lies a short distance off the north-east coast and extends for over 2,000 kilometres (1,240 mi). Mount Augustus, claimed to be the world's largest monolith, is located in Western Australia. At 2,228 metres (7,310 ft), Mount Kosciuszko on the Great Dividing Range is the highest mountain on the Australian mainland, although Mawson Peak on the remote Australian territory of Heard Island is taller at 2,745 metres (9,006 ft).

Australia is the flattest continent,[120] with the oldest and least fertile soils; desert or semi-arid land commonly known as the outback makes up by far the largest portion of land. The driest inhabited continent, only its south-east and south-west corners have a temperate climate.The population density, 2.8 inhabitants per square kilometre, is among the lowest in the world, although a large proportion of the population lives along the temperate south-eastern coastline.

Eastern Australia is marked by the Great Dividing Range that runs parallel to the coast of Queensland, New South Wales and much of Victoria - although the name is not strictly accurate, as in parts the range consists of low hills and the highlands are typically no more that 1,600 metres (5,249 ft) in height.The coastal uplands and a belt of Brigalow grasslands lie between the coast and the mountains while inland of the dividing range are large areas of grassland.These include the western plains of New South Wales and the Einasleigh Uplands, Barkly Tableland and the Mulga Lands of inland Queensland. The northern point of the east coast is the tropical rainforested Cape York Peninsula.The landscapes of the northern part of the country, the Top End and the Gulf Country behind the Gulf of Carpentaria, with their tropical climate, consist of woodland, grassland and desert.At the northwest corner of the continent is the sandstone cliffs and gorges of The Kimberley and below that the Pilbara while south and inland of these lie more areas of grassland, the Ord Victoria Plain and the Western Australian Mulga shrublands.The heart of the country is the uplands of central Australia while prominent features of the centre and south include the inland Simpson, Tirari and Sturt Stony, Gibson, Great Sandy, Tanami and Great Victoria Deserts with the famous Nullarbor Plain on the southern coast.

The climate of Australia is significantly influenced by ocean currents, including the Indian Ocean Dipole and the El Niсo-Southern Oscillation, which is correlated with periodic drought, and the seasonal tropical low pressure system that produces cyclones in northern Australia. These factors induce rainfall to vary markedly from year to year. Much of the northern part of the country has a tropical predominantly summer rainfall (monsoon) climate. Just under three quarters of Australia lies within a desert or semi-arid zone. The southwest corner of the state has a Mediterranean climate. Much of the southeast (including Tasmania) is temperate.

Demography

Most of the estimated 22 million Australians are descended from colonial-era settlers and post-Federation immigrants from Europe, with almost 90% of the population being of European descent. For generations, the vast majority of immigrants came from the British Isles, and the people of Australia are still mainly of British or Irish ethnic origin. In the 2006 Australian census, the most commonly nominated ancestry was Australian (37.13%), followed by English (31.65%), Irish (9.08%), Scottish (7.56%), Italian (4.29%), German (4.09%), Chinese (3.37%), and Greek (1.84%).

Australia's population has quadrupled since the end of World War I, spurred by an ambitious immigration program. Following World War II and through to 2000, almost 5.9 million of the total population settled in the country as new immigrants, meaning that nearly two out of every seven Australians were born overseas.Most immigrants are skilled, but the immigration quota includes categories for family members and refugees.The Federal Government estimates that cutting immigration from 280,000 to its target of 180,000 will result in a population of 36 million by 2050. In 2001, 23.1% of Australians were born overseas; the five largest immigrant groups were those from the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Italy, Vietnam, and China.Following the abolition of the White Australia policy in 1973, numerous government initiatives have been established to encourage and promote racial harmony based on a policy of multiculturalism.In 2005-06, more than 131,000 people emigrated to Australia, mainly from Asia and Oceania.The migration target for 2006-07 was 144,000. The total immigration quota for 2008-09 is around 300,000--its highest level since the Immigration Department was created after World War II. The Indigenous population--mainland Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders--was counted at 410,003 (2.2% of the total population) in 2001, a significant increase from 115,953 in the 1976 census. A large number of Indigenous people are not identified in the Census due to undercount and cases where their Indigenous status is not recorded on the form; after adjusting for these factors, the ABS estimated the true figure for 2001 to be around 460,140 (2.4% of the total population). Indigenous Australians experience higher than average rates of imprisonment and unemployment, lower levels of education, and life expectancies for males and females that are 11-17 years lower than those of non-indigenous Australians. Some remote Indigenous communities have been described as having "failed state"-like conditions. In common with many other developed countries, Australia is experiencing a demographic shift towards an older population, with more retirees and fewer people of working age. In 2004, the average age of the civilian population was 38.8 years. A large number of Australians (759,849 for the period 2002-03)[207] live outside their home country.

Language

Nearly three quarters of Australians live in metropolitan cities and coastal areas. The beach is an integral part of the Australian identity.

English is the national language. Australian English has a unique accent and a small number of unique terms, some of which have found their way into other dialects of the English-speaking world. It has less internal dialectal variation than either British or American English. Grammar and spelling are largely based on those of British English. According to the 2006 census, English is the only language spoken in the home for close to 79% of the population. The next most common languages spoken at home are Italian (1.6%), Greek (1.3%) and Cantonese (1.2%). A considerable proportion of first- and second-generation migrants are bilingual. Between 200 and 300 Indigenous Australian languages are thought to have existed at the time of first European contact, of which only about 70 have survived. Many of these are exclusively spoken by older people; only 18 Indigenous languages are still spoken by all age groups. At the time of the 2006 Census, 52,000 Indigenous Australians, representing 12% of the Indigenous population, reported that they spoke an Indigenous language at home.Australia has a sign language known as Auslan, which is the main language of about 5,500 deaf people.

Religion

Australia has no state religion. In the 2006 census, 64% of Australians listed themselves as Christian, including 26% as Roman Catholic and 19% as Anglican.

About 19% of the population cited "No religion" (which includes humanism, atheism, agnosticism, and rationalism), which was the fastest-growing group from 2001 to 2006, and a further 12% did not answer (the question is optional) or did not give a response adequate for interpretation.

The second-largest religion in Australia is Buddhism (2.1%), followed by Islam (1.7%), Hinduism (0.8%), and Judaism (0.5%). Overall, fewer than 6% of Australians identify with non-Christian religions. Weekly attendance at church services in 2004 was about 1.5 million: about 7.5% of the population. Religion does not play a central role in the lives of much of the population.

Education

School attendance is compulsory throughout Australia. All children receive 11 years of compulsory education from the age of 6 to 16 (Year 1 to 10), before they can undertake two more years (Years 11 and 12), contributing to an adult literacy rate that is assumed to be 99%. A preparatory year prior to Year 1, although not compulsory, is almost universally undertaken. In the Programme for International Student Assessment, Australia regularly scores among the top five of thirty major developed countries (member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development). Government grants have supported the establishment of Australia's 38 universities; all but one is public. There is a state-based system of vocational training, known as TAFE Institutes, and many trades conduct apprenticeships for training new tradespeople. Approximately 58% of Australians aged from 25 to 64 have vocational or tertiary qualifications, and the tertiary graduation rate of 49% is the highest among OECD countries. The ratio of international to local students in tertiary education in Australia is the highest in the OECD countries.

2.Canada

GEOGRAPHY

From Sea to Sea and Farther to the North

Canadians, of whom there are more tnan 30 million, become accustomed to the disproportional size of the country by the time they have studied its geography at school. Newcomers to Canada - if they know nothing else about it - know that it is capacious. But most cannot help but be impressed with even the most basik statistics on our planet`s second biggest nation, which is exceeded in area only by Russia. Occupying over 9,976,000 square kilometres, Canada extends from the Northwest Territories` Cape Columbia on Ellesmere Island - a relative hop and skip from the North Pole - to Pelee Island in Ontario`s portion of Lake Erie - and with the same latitude as central Spain. Canada`s neighbour across the Arctic Ocean is Russia. That is a north-south distance of 2,850 miles. The east to west span is 5,780 miles - from Cape Spear, Newfoundland, to Mount St. Elias, the Yukon Territory - six distinct time zones. Canada`s border with the United States is one of the longest: it extends 8,892 km and is broken by scores of entry-exit points between the two nations. It is near this frontier that some 85 per cent of the Canada`s populace is clustered.

In between these points there are thirteen principal subdivisions - ten provinces and three territiries that embrace most of the vast north, accounting for 38 per cent of Canada`s area and an infinitesimal fraction of its population (about 0,3 per cent).

Water Expanse and Water Ways

Three great oceans - the Atlantic, the Pacific and the Arctic, wash Canada`s shores. It has estimated that Canada has 1/7 of the world fresh water. All but one of the Great Lakes (Michigan) are partially Canadian. Enormous Hudson Bay is exlusively Canadian, as there are rich massive but relatively little known inland seas as the Great Bear Lake (31,326 sq km), the Great Slave Lake - just a bit smaller - and Lake Winni peg, which is bigger than Lake Ontario.

It is through Canada that the St. Lawrence Seaway flows some 3,058 km - making possible big-scale shipping from Atlantic ports all the way to harbours on the Great Lakes, in the heart of the continent.

Canada`s longest river, the Mackenzie, which flows 4,241 kilometres, drains into the Arctic Ocean; the Columbia and the Fraser rivers flow into the Pacific; the Nelson and the Churchill connect with Hudson Bay; The Yukon drains into the Bering Sea; and the Saskatchewan empties into Lake Winni peg.

Geographical Regions

Geographically there are seven principal Canadian regions. The Appalachians, in the east, takes in relatively small Atlantic provinces and a portion of south-eastern Quebek; this is a land of lovely hills and gentle plains, much of it is devoted to farming and forestry.

The St. Lawrence Lowlands, between the St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes, is a fertile area of dairy farms, fruit orchards, and tobacco plantations, rich in industry, which is made possible by extensive and inexpensive hydroelectric power.

The Canadian Shield is the country`s largest geographic unit - covering almost half of Canada. This horseshoe shaped area of ancient terrain is a mass of rocks, of many lakes and of endless swamplands. It is sparsely populated but exceedingly rich not only in timber but in nickel, gold, platinum, cobalt, uranium, silver, copper, and iron ore.

Still other riches come from the Interior Plains, which sweep across Prairie provinces north through the Mackenzie River Valley, to the Arctic Coast. The southern part of the Plains is as flat as a pancake, but fertile and constitutes Canada`s magnificent wheat lands. In recent decades they have yielded, besides the golden wheat, liquid gold - oil from beneath the surface, and natural gas as well.They are bordered on the north by thick forest lands.

To the West of the Plains lies the Canadian Cordillera. This is the region of Western Alberta, British Columbia and the Yukon, which comprise the glorious Canadian Rockies as well as the Mackenzie and the Stikine Mountains and the peaks of St. Elias and the Coast Ranges. It is in this area that one finds Mount Logan, in the Yukon - Canada`s highest peak climbing some 19,850 feet skywards. Not the entire region is mountainous, though. The interior of British Columbia is a land of plateaus and valleys prosperous with orchards and cattle ranches.

The Pacific Coast bathed by warm, moist Pacific air currents, the British Columbia coast, indented by deep fjords and shielded from Pacific storms by Vancouver Island, has the most moderate climate of Canada`s regions. Vancouver Island`s West Coast receives an exceptional amount of rain, giving it a temperate rain forest climate. Although it does not contain the diversity of species of a tropical rain forest, the island`s west coast does have the oldest and tallest trees in Canada: western red cedars 1.300 years old and Douglas firs 90 metres high.

The Arctic North of the tree-line is a land of harsh beauty. During the short summer, when daylight is nearly continuous and a profusion of flowers blooms in the tundra, the temperature can reach 30 C. Yet the winters are long, bitterly cold and dark. North of the mainland is a maze of islands separated by convoluted straits and sounds, the most famous of which link together to form the fabled Northwest Passage, the route to the Orient sought by so many early explorers.

Climate and Weather

There are many climatic variations in this huge country, ranging from the permanently frozen icecaps north of the 70^th parallel to the luxuriant vegetation of the British Columbia`s West Coast. Canada`s most populous regions, which lie in the country`s south along the U.S. border, enjoy four distinct seasons. Here daytime summer temperatures can rise to 35C and higher, while lows of - 25 C are not uncommon in winter. More moderate temperatures are norm in spring and fall.

The seasons dictate the look of the land: according to whether the natural environment is in a state of dormancy or growth, Canadians may go alpine skiing or water skiing. While seasonal change signals fluctuations in temperature and the number of hours of sunshine, the shifting position of air masses also plays a part. The usual air flow from west to east is disrupted in winter when cold, dry air moves down from the Arctic and in summer when warm, tropical air moves up from the south-east. Added to these factors are the effect of mountain ranges, plains and large bodies of water.

Forests

Stretching over nearly half of Canada`s land area are dense forests of spruce and hemlock, pine, cedar, birch, maple, ash, elm and fir. Once an obstacle to settlement, now the forests are a chief source of Canada`s wealth. The industries based on forest products employ hundreds of thousands of men and women. Thousands of sawmills are in use. The production of pulp and its conversion to newsprint is the leading single industry. Forests provide lumber for a growing country`s homes and schools and factories, railway ties, poles and fence posts for its spreading settlement. They supply the furniture factories and publishing houses. A resource both valuable and beautiful, the forests are protected and cherished by people and the state.

Wildlife

In the Arctic zone the polar bear, the musk-ox, the caribou, the Arctic fox, the lemming are still in abundance.

To the South in the area stretching from Alaska to the Gulf of St. Lawrence is the home of the woodland caribou and a few distinctive species of birds.

In the Canadian zone, corresponding in the main with the coniferous-forest belt, are found nearly all the species of mammals and birds that are recognized as distinctively Canadian. These include the moose, the Canada lynx, the beaver and the Canada jay.

In the agricultural areas of the Prairie Provinces and most of the southern Ontario varieties of birds overlap. Typical summer birds are the bluebird, the Baltimore oriole and the catbird, the prairie chicken and the sharp-tailed grouse. Typical mammals are the grey and red squirrels, the mink and the skunk. Certain mammals are peculiar to the prairies: the pronghorn antelope, the jack rabbit and the ground squirrels or gophers. In a small area along the north side of Lake Erie are found the opossum, birds - the mocking-bird and the cardinal.

3. New Zealand

Geography Location

New Zealand stretches 1600 km from north to south it consists of two large islands around which are scattered a number of smaller islands, plus a few far-flung islands hundreds of km away. New Zealand's territorial jurisdiction extends to the islands of Chatham, Kermadec, Tokelau, Auckland, Antipodes, Snares, Solander and Bounty (most of them uninhabited) and to the Ross Dependency in Antarctica.

The North Island (115,000 sq km) and the South Island (151,000 sq km) are the two major land masses. Stewart Island, with an area of 1700 sq km, lies directly south of the South Island. The country is 10,400 km south-west of the USA, 1700 km south of Fiji and 2250 km east of Australia, its nearest large neighbor. Its western coastline faces the Tasman Sea, the part of the Pacific Ocean which separates New Zealand and Australia. With a total land mass of 268,000 sq km, altogether New Zealand's land area is greater than that of the UK (244,800 sq km), smaller than that of Japan (377,800 sq km), and just a little smaller than that of Colorado in the USA (270,000 sq km). With only 3,540,000 people, and almost 70% of those living in the five major cities, that leaves a lot of wide open spaces. The coastline, with many bays, harbors and fiords, is very Ion relative to the land mass of the country.

A notable feature of New Zealand's geography is the country's great number of rivers. There's a lot of rainfall In New Zealand and all that rain has to go somewhere. The Waikato River in the North Island is New Zealand's longest river, measuring in at 425 km. Also in the North Island, the Whanganui River is the country's longest navigable river, which has made it an important water-way from historic times down to the present. New Zealand also has a number of beautiful lakes; Lake Taupo is the largest and lakes Waikaremoana and Wanaka are two of the most beautiful.

Flora and Fauna

As is the case for most Pacific islands, New Zealand's native flora & fauna are, for the most part, not found anywhere else in the world. And, like other Pacific islands, NZ's native ecosystem has been dramatically affected and changed by plants and animals brought by settlers, mostly in the last 200 years. Wild pigs, goats, possums, wallabies, rabbits, dogs, cats and deer have all made their mark on the native' wildlife, and blackberries, gorse, broom and agricultural weeds have infested huge areas of land.

New Zealand is believed to be a fragment of the ancient southern continent of Gondwanaland which became detached over 100 million years ago allowing many ancient plants and animals to survive and evolve in isolation. As a result, most of the NZ flora & fauna is indigenous/endemic. It has the worlds largest flightless parrot (kakapo), the only truly alpine parrot (kea), the oldest reptile (tuatara), some of the biggest earthworms, the smallest bats, so me of the oldest trees, and many of the rarest birds, insects, and plants in the world. The first Maoris brought some rats and the now extinct Maori dog (kuri) with them but the only indigenous mammals at that time were bats.

Much of New Zealand's unique flora & fauna has survived, but today over 150 native plants -10% of the total number of native species - and many native birds are threatened with extinction.

Government and Politics

The governmental structure of New Zealand is modeled on the British parliamentary system, elections being based on universal adult suffrage. The minimum voting age is 18 and candidates are elected by secret ballot. The maximum period between elections is three years, but the interval can be shorter for various reasons, and the government of the day can call an early election. Voting is not compulsory, although on average more than 80% of those eligible to vote do so.

The difference between the UK's Westminster system and the NZ model is that New Zealand has abolished the upper house and governs solely through the lower house. Known as the House of Representatives, it has 120 member's seats. The government runs on a party system. The party that wins a majority of seats in an election automatically becomes the government and its leader. The prime minister. The two main parties are the National (conservative) and Labor parties.

Like the UK, New Zealand is a constitutional monarchy. The traditional head of state, the reigning British king or queen, is represented by a resident governor-general, who is appointed for a five-year term. An independent judiciary makes up another tier of government.

The two-party system has traditionally made it difficult for other parties to gain much power. Nevertheless, in the 1993 election the Alliance party, composed of the Greens and other groups including Labor groups and former National Party MPs, gained 18% of the vote. Election results in 1993 were so close that the National Party was only voted in by a majority of one seat, ahead of the Labour Party, and the smaller Alliance and NZ First parties, which both had two seats.

After a referendum in 1993 to assess the public's ideas on a number of electoral reforms, New Zealanders voted overwhelmingly for proportional representation. The government has introduced the MMP (Mixed Member Proportional) electoral system, which is a limited form of proportional voting based on the German electoral system.

Under MMP, electors have two votes: an electorate vote and a party vote. Of the 120 parliamentary seats, 60 are general electorates, where the candidate who receives the most electorate votes in an electorate is voted in direct1y as the member of parliament. A further five MPs represent five Maori electorates, chosen by Maori voters using their electorate votes. The remaining 55 'list' seats are allocated according to the percentage of the party vote received from a list of candidates nominated by political parties. A party must have at least 5% of the party vote or win an electorate seat to get its allocation of proportional list seats

It remains to be seen how the new system will affect the existing political power base. The big winners from the changes are the largest minor parties, such as the Alliance, but small parties will still have difficulty gaining seats. The two main parties will continue to dominate parliament, but majority governments may become a thing of the past.

Flag

The New Zealand and Australian flags are very much alike. With the British flag in the top left-hand corner, the New Zealanders show the stars of the Southern Cross in red on a blue field.

Population and People

New Zealand's population of around 3,5 million is comprised of 78.3% New Zealand Pakeha, 13% New Zealand Maori and 5% Pacific Island Polynesian, while 1.3% are Chinese, 0.9% are Indian and 1.5% are 'Other'. Europeans are the only group declining, percentage-wise, while Maori, Polynesian, Chinese, Indian and 'Other' peoples are on the rise.

Many of the islands of the Pacific are currently experiencing a rapid population shift from remote and undeveloped islands to the 'big city' and Auckland is very much the big city of the South Pacific, with the greatest concentration of Polynesians on earth. It sometimes causes a great deal of argument, discussion and tension and much of it is not between the recent Pacific immigrants and the Pakeha population but between the islanders and the Maori, or among the various island groups themselves.

Asian migration is also increasing. As well as a sizeable Indian community, mostly from Fiji, New Zealand has been attracting migrants from East Asia, many of whom have migrated under New Zealand's recent immigration incentives to attract skilled people and especially finance to the country. Over the last 15 years or so the economic situation has led to a mass exodus to Australia and further a field, though improving economic conditions has seen a slowing of emigration.

With only about 12.6 people per sq km, New Zealand is lightly· populated by many countries' standards but it is much more densely populated than Australia with its stretches of empty country and 2.2 persons per sq km. The South Island once had a greater population than the North Island but now the South Island is the place to go for elbow room-the entire population of the South Island is barely more than that of Auckland. The nation's capital is Wellington but Auckland is the largest city. Altogether the population of the 15 largest 'urban areas' comes to nearly 70% of NZ's population-Auckland alone has 28% of the entire population. Despite its rural base, New Zealand is in fact very much an urban country.

Religion

The most common religion in New Zealand is Christianity. The 'big three' denominations are Anglican (Church of England) with 25% of the population, Presbyterian with 18% and Roman Catholic with 16%. Many other denominations also have followings, with Methodists, Baptists. Mormons, Brethren, Jehovah's Witnesses, Pentecostals, Assemblies of God and Seventh Day Adventists all well represented, along with various other faiths including Hindus, Jews, Muslims and Baha'is. The Ratana and Ringatu faiths, also with significant followings, are Maori adaptations of Christianity.

There are also a significant number of people (16.7%) who have no religion.

Education

New Zealanders place a high value on education, and virtually the entire population is literate. By law, education is mandatory and free for all children between the ages of six and 15; in fact most children enter school by the age of five, and many also have attended preschools before that, all subsidized by the state. Correspondence school is available for children who live in remote places.

New Zealand has seven universities, a number of teachers' colleges and polytechnics and one agricultural college. A new and growing facet of education in New Zealand is that it is gaining a reputation, especially in Asian countries, as a good place to learn English. There are numerous language schools throughout New Zealand (but most are in Auckland) and student visas are available which permit foreign students to study in New Zealand for up to foul' years.

Language

New Zealand has two official languages: English and Maori. English is the language that you usually hear spoken. The Maori language, long on the decline, is now making a comeback. You can use English to speak to anyone in New Zealand, as Maori people speak English. There are some occasions, though, when knowing a little Maori would be very useful, such as if you visit a mare, where often only Maori is spoken. It's also useful to know since many places in New Zealand have Maori names.