English-speaking Countries

МОУ Восточно-Европейский лицей

English-speaking Countries

New Zealand

Англоязычные страны

Новая Зеландия

Работа выполнена

ученицей 11 гуманитарного класса

Одинцовой Ириной

Руководитель: Блинова Е. Г.,

учитель английского языка

Саратов 2008

Contents

Introduction …………………………………………………………………………..…3

Chapter 1. Geographically Speaking ……………………………………………………4

Chapter 2. Climate and Wild Life……………………………………………………….6

Chapter 3. Population and Cities……………………………………………………….. 9

Chapter 4. Education and Welfare……………………………………………………..11

Chapter 5. Trade and Industry, Transportation and Communications…………………12

Chapter 6. Sport and the Arts…………………………………………………………..14

Chapter 7. History of New Zealand in Short…………………………………………...16

1. Discovery……………………………………………………………………………………………16

2. Early Explorers and Settlers………………………………………………………………………16

3. Missionaries………………………………………………………………………………………...17

4. The British Takeover………………………………………………………………………………18

5. Wakefield and the NZ Company………………………………………………………………….18

6. Land Disputes and Gold-Rushes………………………………………………………………….19

7. Economic and Social Changes…………………………………………………………………….20

Chapter 8. Modern History……………………………………………………………..21

Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………...24

Introduction

In the general English course at school students read and learn a lot about Great Britain, the United States of America and Canada. Course books include much less material about Australia and New Zealand. Though, all the mentioned countries are world known as English-speaking countries and members of Commonwealth.  

I would like to know more about New Zealand, this mysterious country which lies in the southern Pacific Ocean, midway between the equator and the South Pole. I feel enthusiastic to find the material presenting this country from different sides.

I find it useful to begin this paper with some facts about New Zealand.

AREA: 267,515 square kilometers (103,288 square miles).

POPULATION: 3,366,000 (1988).

GOVERNMENT: Constitutional monarchy.

CAPITAL: Wellington, 136,000.

       GEOGRAPHY: The two main islands are both mountain ous in parts. The central area of North Island is volcanic with many hot springs and geysers.

CITIES: Manukau, 181,000; Christchurch, 167,700; Auck land, 148,400; Waitemata, 98,500; Hamilton, 94,000; Dunedin, 78,000.

ECONOMY. Products and exports. Agriculture: Barley, fruits, wheat, potatoes, corn, oats, sheep, cattle, pigs.

Mining: Limestone, aluminum, serpentine, lead, gold. Manufacturing: Meat and dairy products, machinery, wood   and   paper   products,   textiles,   chemicals, rubbers and plastics. Exports: Meat, dairy products, wool.

EDUCATION: Children must attend school between the ages of 6 and 15.

Chapter 1

Geographically Speaking  

New Zealand lies in the southern Pacific Ocean, midway between the equator and the South Pole. Its nearest continental neighbor is Australia, 1,500 kilometers (932 miles) to the northwest, although several outlying island groups are closer. To the east 10,600 kilometers (6,586 miles) of ocean separate New Zealand from South America, and 2,300 kilometers (1,430 miles) to the south lie the icy expanses of Antarctica.

The country has two main islands, the North Island, with an area of 111,450 square kilometers (43,031 square miles) and the South Island, 150,700 square kilometers (58,185 square miles). Both islands are long and narrow, with 1,770 kilometers (1,100 miles) separating the farthest point south from the slim tip of  the North Island. No place is more than 110 kilometers (68 miles) from the sea.

Mountain ranges from the backbone of both main islands. Over three-quarters of the land is more than 200 meters (650 feet) above sea-level and much is hilly. The four highest mountains in the North Island are all vol canoes. Ruapehu, 2,797 meters (9,176 feet), and Ngauruhoe, 2,290 meters (7,513 feet), are active and given to occasional eruptions of steam or steam and ash. The third of this group, Tongariro, 1,968 meters (6,457 feet), is dormant. In Taranaki is the dormant (but not extinct) peak of Mount Egmont, 2,518 meters (8,261 feet). Volcanic and geothermal areas lie mainly along a belt running from the central North Island to White Island off the Bay of Plenty.

The most spectacular mountains are in the South Island, where the Southern Alps run almost the entire length. Mount Cook, 3,764 meters (12,349 feet) is New Zealand's highest peak and there are 26 other peaks over 3,000 meters (10,000 feet). Creeping down from the Southern Alps are many glaciers, including the Tasman Glacier, 29 kilometers (18 miles) long and more than 1,500 meters (4,920 feet) wide.

Although the landscape is mostly hilly, there are fertile valleys and plains, of which the largest are the Canterbury Plains, on the east coast of the South Island; the Waikato Basin, south of Auckland; the Southland plains, at the southern end of the South Island; and the Manawatu area, north of Wellington, on the west coast of the North Island.

Because of the mountainous nature of the country, New Zealand’s rivers are mostly swift-flowing and difficult to navigate. The longest river is the Waikato in the North Island, which flows into the Tasman Sea. The South Island’s longest river is the Clutha, which flows into the Pacific.

Of New Zealand’s 52 lakes, 18 are artificial and have been created to supply water for hydroelectric power plants. Many of the lakes, especially those in the South Island, have a grand setting. The largest is Lake Taupo in the center of the North Island and the South Island’s largest lake is Te Anau. In the extreme southwest of New Zealand is Fiord-land where there are deep, narrow inlets of the sea between immensely high cliffs from which drop many waterfalls. The Sutherland Falls, 580 meters (1,903 feet), is one of the highest in the world.

Chapter 2

Climate and Wild Life

New Zealand has a temperate climate with few extremes of heat and cold. Winter falls during the months of June, July, and August. The weather, although it is sunny, is change able and often windy. The warmest part of the country is the far north, where the average temperature is about 15°C (60°F), while the climate gets gradually cooler towards the south, with an average temperature of 9°C (48°F) in the south of the South Island. The western side of both islands is the wettest, with an annual rainfall as high as 6,300 millimeters (about 250 inches) per year at Milford Sound in the southwest of the South Island, but for most of the country the average is between 700 and 1,500 millimeters (28 to 60 inches) per year.

New Zealand is in an active earthquake zone and many earth tremors are felt each year.

According to the theory of "continental drift", New Zealand split away from the ancient continent called Gondwanaland more than 135 million years ago. Because it has been isolated from other land masses for so long, it has a very special plant life.

Many of New Zealand's native flowering plants are found nowhere else in the world and it has some of the oldest known plant forms. These are mostly found in the native forest. Much of this forest has been cut down but large areas remain, particularly on the west coast of the South Island where a rich variety of trees, tree ferns, ground ferns, mosses, and other plants all make up the "bush" (as New Zealand's temperate-climate forests are known).

Evergreen giants include rimu, totara, and kauri trees. The kauri, noted for its fine timber, can reach a height of 40 meters (131 feet) with a trunk 5 meters (16 feet) in dia meter. The largest kauris are almost 2,000 years old.

Along the coasts and valleys large flax plants and toi-toi pampas grow in clumps. Blooms of the golden kowhai, the red pohutu-kawa (New Zealand's "Christmas Tree"), and the crimson rata provide vivid patches of color in the mostly deep green of the bush-clad hills.

New Zealand became isolated from the rest of the world before the mammals had spread over all the Earth. Only in a land without mammals could the several kinds of flightless birds have survived. There are only two land mammals native to New Zea land, both bats, which reached New Zealand through the air. The largest of the flightless birds was the moa, hunted to extinction by the Maori. It stood 3 meters (10 feet) high and grazed on open grasslands. The last moas probably died out in the 1800s.

New Zealanders are referred to as "kiwis", for another flightless native bird, the kiwi, has been adopted as a national emblem. Other flightless birds include the weka and the pukeko, or swamp-hen. New Zealand has about 250 native birds. In the forests are to be found songbirds such as the bellbird and tui; the forest and mountain parrots, called the kaka and kea; and the morepork, or native owl. New Zealand has a number of rare birds, among them the white heron, takahe, and the ground parrot or kakapo.

The lizard-like tuatara can be said to be a "living fossil", for this reptile is the only survivor of a family that lived some 200 million years ago. New Zealand has three species of native frog, one of which, the Hochstetter, is among the world's most curi ous. Its young develop in a survivor egg inside a jelly-like capsule and hatch as froglets, with out going through a free-living tadpole stage like other amphibians.

The New Zealand bush has in the last 200 years become the home of several foreign ani mals, introduced by settlers. Some, particu larly opossums, rabbits, goats, and deer, have become so numerous that they now pose problems. Several introduced plants, notably broom, gorse, and blackberry, also thrive to an unwelcome extent. New Zealand's native plants and animals have suffered from the invasion of foreign species. The flightless birds in particular are threatened by predators such as rats.

On the other hand, many useful domestic animals and plants thrive in New Zealand and play an important part in its economy - live stock such as sheep, cattle, and poultry, and crops such as corn, wheat, and barley. In addition there are large forests of introduced conifers.

In the past, unwise use of mountain areas and tussock grassland caused problems such as soil erosion. During the last 50 years, great efforts have been made to preserve the natural landscapes. There are now 12 national parks as well as three large maritime parks, and numerous other nature reserves.

Chapter 3

Population and Cities

Although New Zealand is heavily dependent on agriculture, its people mostly live in towns and cities. More than half the total population live in or around the five main cities of Auck land, Wellington, Hamilton (in the North Island), and Christchurch and Dunedin (in the South Island). The largest urban area is that of Auckland (889,000), which includes the towns of Manukau and Waitemata, followed by the urban areas of Wellington (351,000) and Christchurch (333,000).

Roughly three-quarters of the population live in the North Island. This is largely because it has a warmer climate, more industry, and land more suitable for small-scale farming than the South Island has.

New Zealanders are mainly European (British stock) or Polynesian in origin. Of the people of New Zealand, about 86 per cent are European, 9 per cent are New Zealand Maori, and 3 per cent are Pacific Island Polynesian. About 90 per cent of the Maori and Polynesian people live in the North Island. Chinese, Indian, and others make up the remaining 2 per cent. Today, about 15 per cent of New Zealanders are immigrants, born outside the country. Most come from the United King dom, Australia, Ireland, and the Pacific Islands.

English is the main language of New Zea land. It is spoken with an accent somewhat similar to that of Australia, and it has built up its own stock of distinctively New Zealand words. More people are learning the Maori language as part of a renewed interest among Maoris in their own history and culture. Maori is now taught in schools and universities, usually as a part of Maoritanga, the Maori way of life.

Since the 1890s New Zealand has been known for progressive ideas; it was the first country to allow women to vote, in 1893, and to introduce old-age pensions, in 1898. The world's first comprehensive compensation sys tem for anyone injured by accident was started in New Zealand in 1974.

Christianity is the chief religion practiced in New Zealand. The main denominations are Anglican, Presbyterian, Roman Catholic, and Methodist, although there are more than 25 other religions represented.

New Zealand is a sovereign independent state and, like Britain, has an unwritten con stitution. Queen Elizabeth II, as queen of New Zealand, is head of state, and is represented by the Governor-General. New Zealand is a parliamentary democracy. Since 1950 its par liament has had only one house, or chamber, called the House of Representatives. Elections are held every three years, and since 1974 the voting age has been 18. The two main political parties are the National and Labour parties.

Tokelau, an island in the Pacific, and the Ross Dependency, a territory in Antarctica, are administered by New Zealand. New Zea land is also responsible for the defense and international relations of the Cook Islands and Niue, which are both self-governing in internal affairs.

Chapter 4

Education and Welfare

Education is free from nursery school to uni versity and is compulsory for all children between the ages of 6 and 15. Most schools are run by the state. The Correspondence School, established in 1922, provides full-time primary and secondary education by mail for chil dren living in outlying areas.

There are six universities: Auckland, Waikato (at Hamilton), Massey (at Palmerston North), Victoria (at Wellington), Canterbury (at Christchurch) and Otago (at Dunedin) Lincoln College, near Christchurch, is an agricultural college attached to Canterbury University.

Hospital treatment, most medicines, and maternity services are free. In addition every New Zealander is protected by a comprehen sive social security system which tries to ensure that all citizens have a reasonable standard of living.

Chapter 5

Trade and Industry, Transportation and Communications

New Zealand imports most of its oil, many of its metals, and many manufactured goods. To pay for these imports, New Zealand must export its own produce.

Wool, sheep meats, and dairy products have always been the main exports. New Zealand is the world's second largest exporter of wool, and the largest of butter, cheese, lamb, and mutton. There are over 60 million sheep in New Zealand, and 8 million dairy and beef cattle. However, in the last 20 years agri culture has become more varied, with trade growing not only in beef and other animal pro ducts such as skins and hides, but also in fruit and vegetables. New Zealand has always grown a great variety of food for the home mar ket, but now exports, especially of kiwifruit and other exotic products, have become quite important. There is also a growing wine industry.

Other expanding export industries are fish ing, concentrating on such deep water species as hoki and orange roughy; the timber, wood pulp, and paper industries; and the production of textiles and other manufactured goods using native materials. Mining, an important industry a hundred years ago is also increas ing again with new methods for the recovery of gold and other minerals.

Tourism is another growing industry. More than 700,000 overseas visitors come to New Zealand every year, mainly from the United States, Europe, Japan, and Australia. Resorts such as Rotorua in the North Island and Queenstown in the South Island have become important centers of tourism.

In the past almost all New Zealand exports went to the United Kingdom. The European Community, which includes the United King dom, is now the largest export customer, but trade has grown tremendously with Australia, the United States, Japan, Russia, China, Canada, and the countries of the Middle East.

New Zealand's major source of energy is elec tricity. Many rivers have been dammed and 30 hydroelectric power plants have been built, which produce 73 per cent of the country's elec tricity. Manapouri, which supplies the alumi num smelter industry at Bluff, and Benmore, on the Waitaki River, are the largest of these. Thermal stations burning coal and natural gas produce another 23 per cent. The largest are Huntly on the Waikato River, which burns coal, and New Plymouth, which burns natural gas. One of the world's largest geothermal power schemes at Wairakei in the North Island's volcanic belt, produces the remaining 4 per cent.

New Zealand has always had to import most of its petroleum products, but the discovery of natural gas fields onshore at Kapuni and McKee and off the Taranaki coast have allowed the country to move towards energy self-sufficiency. The world's first synthetic gasoline plant, which opened at Taranaki in 1986, provides a significant part of the country's requirements. There has also been an increase in the use of liquid petroleum gas and compressed natural gas for motor vehicles, which has further helped reduce New Zealand's need for imported gasoline. Natural gas is also used for heating and to make elec tricity and petrochemicals.

With a relatively small population scattered over two long, narrow islands, New Zealand needs effective transportation and communi cations systems. There is an excellent network of roads and bridges, varying from standard two-lane highways in the South Island to large superhighways around Auckland and Wel lington. There is one motor vehicle for every 2.3 people, one of the highest ratios in the world, and most New Zealanders drive their own cars to work. There are bus systems and an efficient suburban railroad system in Wellington.

There is a single national railroad system. Road transportation has taken over most of the functions of the branch railroads. The "main trunk" line between Auckland and Wellington is a major carrier of freight, as is the main South Island line from Invercargill to Picton. A ferry system from Picton to Wel lington links the two lines. There are still some rail passenger services, but buses and airlines are the main means of passenger travel. Two airlines link a network of 24 airports. The bus services are run by the railroads and private operators.

Chapter 6

Sport and the Arts

New Zealanders enjoy sport of all kinds. The national sport is rugby football, which is played at all levels throughout the country. The national team, the All Blacks, is among the best in the world. Cricket has gained rapidly as a popular sport. Field hockey, bowls, horse riding, soccer, rugby league, tennis, softball, netball, golf, squash, and rowing and canoeing are all sports in which there is enthusiastic support at all levels. Precision marching, a popular team sport for women, is a distinctive New Zealand pastime.

Although New Zealand has done well in sports from its earliest days, it has been slow to develop its own artistic expression. Early New Zealand artists, such as Frances Hodgkins, and writers such as Katherine Mans field, tended to leave New Zealand to develop their careers. However, since the 1930s New Zealand has increasingly developed its own writers,  artists,  and musicians,  who have remained in the country. Writers such as Frank Sargeson, Dan Davin, Janet Frame, Maurice Shadbolt, Maurice Gee, and Robin Hyde and С. К. Stead (who are also poets), have produced an impressive body of work in the last fifty years. R. A. K. Mason, Allen Cur-now, Denis Glover, and James K. Baxter are all New Zealand poets who are well-known internationally, and several children's writers led by Margaret Mahy have made a name for themselves. In recent years New Zealand drama has also come into its own, with such playwrights as Bruce Mason, Roger Hall, and Greg McGee. Another feature of recent litera ture has been the emergence of Maori writers such as fiction writers Witi Ihimaera and Patricia Grace, poet Hone Tuwhare, and poet-fiction writer Keri Hulme. Most of their work has been in English.

New Zealand painting also began to estab lish itself more strongly in the late 1930s, with painters such as Colin McCahon, Sir Tosswill Mountford Woollaston, and Rita Angus. Music also found its first major New Zealand com poser about the same time in Douglas Lilburn. There is a New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, run by the Broadcasting Corporation, and four regional orchestras, as well as regional pro fessional theaters and a national ballet com pany. Recent years have also seen some outstanding films from a growing New Zea land film industry.

Chapter 7

History of New Zealand in Short

1. Discovery

New Zea land was discovered and first settled over 1,000 years ago by Maori explorers, sailing great ocean-going canoes. They called their former home Hawaiki. It was probably in eastern Polynesia but no one now knows exactly where. Although it is known that New Zealand was settled around the year 700, and possibly earlier, modern Maori history dates from the "Great Migration" of the 13th and 14th centuries when it was said that a great fleet of canoes came to New Zealand. Some of their names are remembered in stories - Те Arawa, Tainui, Tokomaru. The great fleet, however, is a legend, not a proven fact.

 The Maoris called New Zealand Autorea meaning "the land of the long white cloud". Maori society was organized by tribal groups. Everyone was born into a family group (whanau) and each whanau was part of a tribe (iwi). The tribes were ruled by chiefs who were often great warriors. Chiefs who were successful in war won mana (power and prestige) for themselves and their tribes. As well as hunting and fishing, the Maoris grew crops for food. They were skilled wood carvers and made weapons and ornaments from stone and clothing from flax. They had a rich tradition of poetry, songs, and dances.

2. Early Explorers and Settlers

The first European to see New Zealand was a Dutch navigator, Abel Janszoon Tasman (1603-59), on whom there is a separate article. He sailed down much of the west coast but did not land. Tasman called the country he had discovered Staten Landt and thought it might be joined to the tip of South America. Europeans at that time believed there must be a large southern continent to "balance" the land masses of the northern hemisphere. Although Tasman's map of the western coastline became well known, no other European visited New Zealand until Captain James Cook in 1769. Cook made two more voyages to New Zealand in 1773 and 1777. He made good maps of the two main islands and traded with the Maoris for fresh food.

Cook's journal was full of admiration for New Zealand. He praised the stands of fine timber and the fertile soil. He described the Maoris as a handsome people, warlike but not treacherous, willing to trade with Euro peans. Cook also reported having seen whales to the south of New Zealand. Before long,  whaling  ships  were  hunting  in  the South Pacific, using bases in Australia. The first whaler to use a New Zealand harbor put in at Doubtless Bay on the northeast coast in 1791. Later, Kororareka (Russell) in the Bay of Islands became the main white settle ment in New Zealand. Some of the new comers were deserters, stowaways, and even convicts who had escaped from the penal colony in New South Wales. They traded firearms and spirits with the Maoris in return for food and timber. Sometimes Maoris were kidnapped and made to work in the whalers.

On the southern coasts, from 1790 to about 1810, sealers came to collect seal skins. Fur seals were plentiful and a gang could collect 14,800 skins in a season; but so many seals were slaughtered that the trade ceased to be profitable. Similarly, the deep-sea whalers who hunted the sperm whale, and the bay whalers who hunted the black whale quickly destroyed their own livelihood. The explorers, whalers, and sealers traded with the Maoris, but they were not interested in changing

 Maori ways of life. Some were adopted into Maori tribes and stayed in New Zealand as "Pakeha-Maoris". (The word "Pakeha" means European.)

3. Missionaries

The next group of European visitors were missionaries. They wanted to convert the Maoris to Christianity and teach them Euro pean ways of living. The first Christian church service in New Zealand was held on Christmas Day 1814 at Whangaroa. It was conducted by the Rev. Samuel Marsden, a Church of England clergyman from New South Wales. When Marsden returned to Sydney he left behind a schoolmaster, a carpenter, and a ropemaker. Their orders were to set up a mis sion in the Bay of Islands and to teach the Maoris Christianity and useful trades. A Wesleyan (Methodist) mission was founded at Kaeo by Samuel Leigh in 1822. The first Roman Catholic missionaries came in 1838 led by a French bishop, Jean Baptiste Pompallier.

The Maoris welcomed the trade the mission aries brought, but were not at first very inter ested in their religion. The great chief Hongi Hika said that Christianity was no religion for warriors. But when the missionaries trans lated the Bible, Prayer Book, and hymns into the Maori language, they were more success ful. The Maoris were avidly interested in read ing and writing their own language. The small printing press set up by William Colenso could scarcely keep up with the demand for Maori Bibles.

4. The British Takeover

In 1830 there were probably only about 300 Pakeha (Europeans) living in New Zealand, most of them in the north. There was little discipline among them and Kororareka was a wild port. In 1833 James Busby (1801-71) was sent to the Bay of Islands as British Resident to keep the peace. He had no power. The Maoris called him "the man-o'-war without guns". Between 1830 and 1840 hundreds more Europeans arrived. Most of these settlers bought land and planned to stay. Some speculators tried to grab vast areas of land for virtu ally nothing. One Australian group claimed to have bought the whole of the South Island for just a few hundred pounds.

The British government decided to take over New Zealand. On 6 February 1840 the treaty of Waitangi was signed by Britain and several northern Maori chiefs. Many chiefs refused to sign the treaty. Under it, Queen Victoria was given the sole right to buy land from the Maoris, and became the ruler of New Zealand. In return, the possession of Maori land and property was guaranteed and they were to have all the rights of British subjects. On 21 May 1840 William Hobson, the first Governor, issued a proclamation establishing British sovereignty over the whole of New Zealand. The anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi is still celebrated as New Zealand's national day.

5. Wakefield and the NZ Company

Planned settlement of New Zealand by emi grants from Britain began in 1840. The first settlers emigrated through the New Zealand Company, established by Edward Gibbon Wakefield (1796-1862). Wakefield was a dreamer and a schemer. He spent the years 1827 to 1830 in an English prison for fraud and while there he read about the system of sending prisoners to the Australian colonies. He concluded that prisoners did not make ideal colonists and that it was a mistake to let settlers have land too cheaply. If the land were too cheap, all the settlers would take up large areas and none would be willing to work for another. Wakefield planned that land should be first surveyed (measured) and sold at a "sufficient price": a price that would allow a settler to buy a fair-sized plot after about four years' work. Part of the profit from land sales would be used to attract more settlers and to build schools and churches. The settlers should be young married couples, preferably with skills. The first New Zealand Company settlers went to Welling ton in 1840. Except for Auckland, all the large towns founded in New Zealand before 1850 were settled on Wakefield principles.

6. Land Disputes and Gold-Rushes

In 1852 New Zealand was granted internal self-government. The country was divided into provinces until 1876, when the provin cial governments were abolished. The early years of British rule were marked by disputes between Maoris and settlers over land. The chiefs who signed the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840 could not possibly have imagined how many immigrants would flow into New Zea land in the next decades. Most of the new comers expected to own land, for which they were prepared to pay the Maori people very little. The Maoris decided to band together to protect their remaining land. Fighting broke out near Nelson in 1843 and there was also trouble at the Bay of Islands in the north, where the chief Hone Heke three times cut down the flagstaff carrying the Union Jack at Kororareka. During the subsequent fighting the town was burned to the ground. An uneasy peace resumed in 1846. A much more serious war between Maoris and Euro peans broke out in Taranaki in 1849. Fight ing went on over most of the central North Island until 1868. The Maori forces of about 4,000 were heavily outnumbered by 12,000 British and colonial troops and about 1,000 Maori allies.

While the North Island was at war, the South Island was experiencing a gold-rush. Gabriel Read found gold in Otago in 1861. Thousands  of miners  arrived in  1861-63, many from Australia, and moved on to the west coast when gold was found there in 1865-67. The last "rush" was to Thames and the Coromandel peninsula, in the North Island, in 1867-68. But in this area there was little alluvial or surface gold and expen sive machinery was needed to crush the quartz and extract the gold. Some miners stayed in New Zealand after the rushes, but most returned to Australia or went on to California in search of more gold and adventure.

7. Economic and Social Changes

In 1870 the Colonial Treasurer, Julius Vogel, announced a bold plan to borrow millions of pounds in Britain to bring more immigrants to New Zealand and to overcome internal transportation problems by building rail roads. Roads and railroads would draw the scattered settlements together and open up farmland to new settlers. Vogel's idea of bor rowing for economic development was taken up again by the Liberal government, which came to power in 1891. During the Liberal era (1891-1911) laws were passed to improve the lives of New Zealanders. Joseph Ward, the Colonial Treasurer, made cheap loans available to farmers. Large sheep stations were divided into small farms so that many families could make a living where only a few people had worked before. William Pember Reeves, the Minister of Labour, passed laws to encourage trade unions and to regulate working conditions. Women won the right to vote in 1893 and the first old-age pensions were granted in 1898. By 1900, New Zea landers claimed to have the highest standard of living in the world.

Chapter 8

Modern History

New Zealand adopted its own flag (the Union Jack and Southern Cross on a blue ground) in 1901. Although a fully independent country, close ties with Britain were maintained. New Zealand forces fought bravely in the Boer War (1899-1902) and in World Wars I and II. Anzac Day (25 April), the day in 1915 when the Aus tralian and New Zealand Army Corps landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula during World War I, is a public vacation in New Zealand and Australia. More than half the male population of New Zealand between the ages of 18 and 45 served in World War II and about 10,000 lost their lives.

Many changes to New Zealanders' lives took place after World War I. Electricity began to be widely used to drive machines. Electric stoves and water heaters made living easier. Radios and telephones reduced isolation, especially for country families. More than half the population of New Zealand lived in rural areas in the 1920s. After the end of the war in 1918, cars poured into the country. Cars and streetcars in the cities made suburban living possible and cities began to grow outwards. The sprawling nature of New Zealand's cities allows almost every household to have its own yard.

The Great Depression of the 1930s hit New Zealand hard. Official unemployment figures reached 81,000 in 1933, but it is certain that the actual numbers were much larger. In 1935 the first Labour government, led by Michael Joseph Savage, was elected on a promise to make life better for ordinary families. Labour set up a new Department of Housing in 1936 to build workers' homes. Public works projects were planned to employ New Zealanders on projects that would help with economic devel opment, such as hydroelectric power plants, airports, and forestry projects. In 1938 a social security program for health care and pensions was announced.

World War II (1939-45) made great demands on New Zealand and slowed down social change. In 1949 the conservative National Party was elected. They ruled for 29 of the next 35 years - a period of relative prosperity. Since 1945, New Zealand has recognized that she is a Pacific nation. Relationships with Australia and the United States have become closer than the link with Britain. In the 1920s, when 90 per cent of New Zealand's exports went to Britain, that market was of paramount importance. But from the 1960s Britain was no longer a safe market for New Zealand goods, particularly with that country's growing involvement with the Euro pean Economic Community. New Zealand rapidly developed new markets for a wider range of products.

Significant social changes have also taken place since 1945. New Zealand's cities, es pecially Auckland, have become multi-cultural. Before 1945 few Maoris lived in cities; but by 1976, 76 per cent of the Maori population did so. Dutch, Yugoslav, Polish, Hungarian, Indian, Vietnamese, and Chinese immigrants arrived, and there was a new wave of Polynesian migration. When a new Labour government, led by David Lange, came to power in 1984, social and economic change became even more. Lange resigned in 1989 and the National Party was returned to power in the following year under the leadership of Jim Bolger.

Polynesians, the ancestors of present – day Maoris, settled on these islands in the X-XIV centuries. In 1642 the islands were discovered by Abel Janszoon Tasman, the famous Dutch navigator, but Maoris refused to allow him to land and in 1796 they were explored by Captain James Cook. This was followed by British colonization. Maoris fought, desperately, but they were overwhelmed by a superior enemy. Maori Wars ended in 1870. The colony became domination in 1907, and is an independent member of the Commonwealth. New Zealand fought on the side of Allies in both world wars. New Zealand does not miss an opportunity to remind foreigners of a generally little known fact: in per capita terms, their country’s contribution to the fight against Nazi Germany was the greatest of all the former British dominions.  

 Head of state is Queen Elizabeth II represented by Governor - General. Head of government: Prime Minister. Legislative body: House of Representatives, a unicameral body consisting of 84 members elected by universal suffrage for 3 years. Four of the members of the House of Representatives are elected directly by the Maori people.

Religions. Anglicans 29%, Presbyterians 18%, Roman Catholics 15%.

Education (1987). Literacy: 99%. Compulsory ages: 6-15. Attendance: 100%

New Zealand went to war in 1939 and sent troops to Egypt to train for the European conflict. There they were directly involved by the enemy advance and saw action in Greece, Crete, North Africa, and Italy.

After 1941 New Zealand was directly threatened by Japan, and New Zealand forces were also engaged in the Pacific. The Pacific theatre was dominated by the U.S., and New Zealand’s British forces. This fact required a change in New Zealand’s attitudes and foreign relations in the postwar period, which was reflence between Australia, New Zealand and the U.S.

At home controls were extended over the whole economy: conscription and direction (directed allocation of the labor force to strategic industries) sent manpower into the military forces and essential occupations; heavy taxation, war loans, bulk purchase, and controlled marketing kept the economy in a firm grip. They also kept inflation in check, with price control and wage restraint.

After World War II, New Zealand began to play a relatively independent role in world affairs. None of political and economic changes weakened New Zealand’s close affinity with Great Britain, its loyalty to the Common Wealth, or its dependence upon the U.S. New Zealand became deeply involved in Southeast Asia.

Conclusion

The material I have studied makes it possible to imagine a place where the constellations of stars above your head are different from those that you have ever seen, where the night sky can glow with strange swirling lights, and where the cold of winter comes when summer arrives in Russia. The material gives you an idea of  the place where there are volcanoes, rivers of ice and hot lakes of extraordinary colours, and where forests are full of strange trees. This land is a place of earthquakes and living dinosaurs, where the people were once fierce warriors who worshipped mysterious spirits.

New Zealand has got it all - snow capped mountains, fast-flowing rivers, green forests and peaceful lakes with crystal clear water. You can spend a whole day by some lake or river and be the only person there. There are places in this beautiful land that have never felt a human footstep.

New Zealand is a land of volcanoes. Most of them are sleeping, but some are active and you can see steam and smoke coining from them!

No wonder, the famous Tolkien's trilogy, 'The Lord of the Rings', was filmed in New Zealand. Hobbiton, the village where some of the Hobbits lived, was created on a picturesque private sheep farm in the North Island. You can still see Hobbit holes and some structures from the film there. As for the sheep, there are lots and lots of them in New Zealand: for every person living in the country there are twenty sheep.

Rotorua is the centre of Maori legend and history and the place where traditions and culture are kept alive. Beautiful carvings, artwork, music, dance, and traditional buildings all form part of the Maori heritage. The Maori people had no written language until the Europeans arrived, so all traditions were handed down orally. They used songs and carvings to tell stories of the past that held lessons for the young.

In New Zealand you can find English and Maori things together, and this often seems funny or surprising to visitors. English is the main language, although Maori is an official language too. On Christmas Day, New Zealanders often have a traditional Maori hangi: they dig a hole in the ground and heat it with hot stones. Then they put meat and vegetables into this hole, cover it and let the food cook inside. The hangi is served in the afternoon or evening; after the delicious meal, people often sit around and sing Christmas carols.