New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the Pacific Ocean. It lies about 1600 km southeast of Australia and about 10 500 km southwest of California. New Zealand belongs to a large island group called Polynesia. The country is situated on two main islands – the North Island and the South Island – and a number of smaller islands.

The population of New Zealand is approximately 4.4 million. New Zealand is a predominantly urban country, with 72 percent of the population living in 16 main urban areas and 53 percent living in the four largest cities of Auckland, Christchurch, Wellington, and Hamilton.

Wellington is the capital of New Zealand and Auckland is the largest city. The country has three official languages: English, Maori and New Zealand Sign Language. New Zealand adopted sign language (New Zealand Sign Language or NZSL) as an official language on 10 April 2006. It is now legal for use and access in legal proceedings including in court and access to government services.

The country once belonged to the British Empire. Today it is an independent member of the Commonwealth of Nations, an association of Britain and a number of its former colonies. New Zealand is a constitutional monarchy. The British Monarch, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, is the monarch of New Zealand. She appoints a governor general to represent her, but the governor-general has little power. The Prime Minister and the Cabinet run the national government.

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

New Zealand has a modern, prosperous and developed market economy. The currency is the New Zealand dollar, informally known as the "Kiwi dollar". Historically, extractive industries have contributed strongly to New Zealand's economy, focusing at different times on sealing, whaling, flax, gold, kauri gum, and native timber. For many years, the economy of the country depended largely on agriculture.

Nowadays New Zealand has one of the highest standards of living in the world. Today agriculture, manufacturing, and service industries are all important to the economy. New Zealand's economy depends on trade with many countries – Australia, Britain, Japan and the United States.

1. Where is the country situated?

2. What is the capital of New Zealand?

3. What is the official language of New Zealand?

4. Who is the monarch of New Zealand?

5. What industries are important to the economy today?

4. Guess the country.

1. Because of a comparatively long coastline of this country no place, like in Britain, is more than 120 kilometres from the sea.

2. What first strikes the traveler is the size of this country.

3. This country is surrounded by water, like an island, but geographers classify it as a continent because of its great size. Sometimes it is referred to as an island continent.

4. This country is about half the size of Russia; about three-tenths the size of Africa; slightly larger than Brazil; slightly smaller than China; about two and a half times the size of Western Europe.

5. In this country there are nearly 105 females to every 100 males. The average life expectancy is 72 years for men and 78 – for women.