Transcript New Zealand - Humble ISD

No one knows how many islands exist in the Pacific Ocean, but
some geographers estimate that there are more than 20,000.
As a group, the Pacific Islands are called Oceania.
Most Pacific islands fall into one of two categories: high islands
created by volcanoes or low islands made of coral reef build up
created by a submerged volcanoes. Most low islands are Atolls.
New Zealand has two main islands, North Island and South Island. Running down the
center of South Island is a 300-mile-long mountain range called the Southern Alps. North
Island is much less mountainous than South Island. North Island has fertile farmland and
forests that support the lumber industry. New Zealand’s swift-flowing rivers have allowed
it to build dams that generate electricity. Also, North Island has a volcanic area with
underground steam.
Australia is the smallest of the
continents, and the flattest.
Near the eastern coast is a
chain of highlands called the
Great Dividing Range. To the
west of this coastal range
stretches a vast expanse of
plains and plateaus, broken
only by low hills and scattered,
very low mountain ranges.
Australia has few rivers that
flow all the time. Among those
that do flow all year is the
Murray River, Australia’s
longest river, which flows into
the Southern Ocean. Along
Australia’s northeast coast lies
the Great Barrier Reef, a 1,250milelong chain of more than
2,500 reefs and islands.
Most of Oceania features a tropical rain forest climate. In general, Oceania does
not have diverse vegetation. The low islands have poor soil and small amounts of
rain, so plants do not grow well. Some high islands have rich, volcanic soil and
plentiful rain. These islands have abundant flowers and trees, such as the coconut
palm.
New Zealand and the southern part of Australia’s east coast share a marine west coast
climate. The seasons have mild temperatures because ocean breezes warm the land in
the winter and cool it in the summer. New Zealand receives rainfall year round. However,
the amount varies dramatically from one part of the country to the other.
Mountains influence Australia’s climate, with the Great Dividing Range forcing moisturebearing winds to rise and shed their rain before moving inland.
One-third of Australia is desert. The desert area lies in an oval in the center of the
continent. This region is known as the Outback. It receives less than ten inches of rain a
year. Encircling the desert is a band of semiarid climate. This area receives no more
than 20 inches of rain a year.
Antarctica is the 5th largest continent. It’s ice sheet is the largest supply of freshwater.
Antarctica is the Earth’s coldest and driest climate. It is often called a Polar Desert. The
only things that can survive there are lichens and mosses that can with stand cold and
periods of long darkness. It’s animals are mostly birds and sealife.
In 1859, Thomas Austin released 24 rabbits into Australia so he could hunt them. The
rabbit population grew faster than anyone could control it. A single pair of rabbits can
have up to 184 descendants in 18 months. Plus, rabbits have few natural enemies
among Australia’s wildlife. By 1900, Australia had more than a billion rabbits.
.
Rabbits wiped out native plants and
destroyed crops. They ruined pastures.
Some of Australia’s native animals
became endangered because of
competition for food.
Australians imported foxes to prey on
rabbits, but the growing fox population
endangered Australian wildlife. In the
early 1900s, the government built a
2,000-mile fence to keep rabbits from
spreading to the southwest. This fence
succeeded only temporarily before
rabbits broke through to the new region.
In the 1950s, the government infected
wild rabbits with a disease killing more
than 90 percent of the total rabbit
population. But rabbits became immune
to the disease and their numbers
boomed again. Now Australians are
using poison, introducing new diseases,
erecting fences, and destroying the
warrens and burrows where rabbits live.
During the arms race with the
Soviet Union, the United States
wanted to test nuclear bombs
without endangering American
citizens. In the 1940s and1950s,
the United States conducted 66
tests in the Pacific.
The U.S. government chose
Bikini Atoll for testing because it
lay far away from regular
shipping and air travel routes. In
1946, the government moved167
Bikini Islanders to another atoll
and conducted two atomicweapons tests.
From 1951 to 1958, the U.S.
government held several more
tests there. Bikini Islanders would
like to move back to Bikini Atoll. A
cleanup began in 1988. No one
knows when Bikini Atoll will be
suitable for human life.
Oceania is the groupings of
islands in the pacific that have
populations who share a
common cultural background.
The large island in South East
Asia are not part of Oceania,
since they have not
experienced the same amount
of isolation and as a result
share a closer bond with the
rest of Asia.
Oceania is divided into three
regions: Micronesia, meaning
“tiny islands,” Melanesia,
meaning “black islands,” and
Polynesia, meaning “many
islands.”
Various people from Asia settled the South Pacific region over 40,000 years ago. Some
may have crossed land bridges that are now submerged; others probably sailed in
voyaging canoes and rafts.
Those who settled in Australia were known as Aboriginies. They followed a nomadic way
of life in the hot, dry interior of Australia.
In Oceania, people settled in kinship groups on island coasts. They built outrigger
canoes that allowed them to travel and to trade with other islands. Between the A.D.
900s and 1300s, the Maori left Polynesia and settled New Zealand.
Beginning in the 1500s, many Europeans explored the Pacific. British sailor James
Cook was the most famous European explorer of the region. Between 1768 and 1779,
Cook claimed eastern Australia for Britain, visited Oceania, circled Antarctica, and
made accurate maps of the area.
In the 1800s, missionaries, traders, and sailors hunting whales began to arrive.
Settlers started plantations to grow coconuts, coffee, pineapples, or sugar.
When Europeans arrived in Australia, there were an estimated 500 Aboriginal groups.
In New Zealand the encountered the Maori, who migrated from Polynesia
In 1788, Britain founded Sydney, Australia as a penal colony, (Prison Colony). New
Zealand was colonized by hunters and whalers from Europe, America, and Australia.
Gold was discovered in Australia in 1851 and in New Zealand in 1861. People flocked to
these countries to seek gold.
European diseases and weapons greatly reduced the indigenous population. In Australia
British immigrants forced Aborigines off their ancestral lands and denied them basic
rights. In New Zealand, in 1840, the British and Maori signed the Treaty of Waitangi. This
gave Britain control over New Zealand.
During World War II, the Allies and the Japanese fought intense battles in Oceania to
gain control of the Pacific.
Gradually, the inhabitants of many of the islands moved toward self rule. Since 1962,
12 different nations have gained independence. Many other islands are still ruled by
foreigners.
In 1901, Australia’s colonies joined into a single, independent nation. New Zealand
became self-governing in 1907. Both Australia and New Zealand remained in the
British Commonwealth. Many Australians now want to cut ties to the British
monarchy and elect a president.
In 1893, New Zealand had become the first country to recognize women’s right
to vote; it was also among the first to provide government assistance to the elderly,
the sick, and the unemployed.
The Aborigines and Maori began regaining some of their rights, and immigrants
made populations more and more diverse.
Antarctica was discovered in 1820. Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen was the first to
reach the South Pole in 1911. Antarctica remains unsettled. Twelve countries have
scientific research stations there. In 1959, they drafted a treaty preserving the continent
for research. Antarctica is a part-time home to between 1,000 and 10,000 researchers
and scientists, depending on the season. The climate is too cold to support permanent
human habitation.
The first people in Oceania probably came from Asia more than 30,000 years
ago. Australia’s indigenous people are called Aborigines. New Zealand’s
indigenous people are called the Maori.
Most of the population of Australia and New Zealand is of European, mainly
British descent. Some of Oceania’s population is also of European descent.
Isolation led to the development of more than 1,200 languages in Oceania.
European languages were brought by colonization.
English is the chief language of Australia and New Zealand, although Australian
English features special local idioms and words.
Indigenous religions in the South Pacific region focus on the relationship between
human beings and nature. Followers of these religions believe that all natural
things have spirits and are interrelated. Christianity, brought by Europeans, is the
most widely practiced faith in the region today.
The region of Australia, Oceania, and Antarctica is home to only 0.5 percent of the
world’s population because much of the land is uninhabitable. Most people live near
the coast.
Literacy rates are high in Australia and New Zealand, where free education is
compulsory to age 15. Both countries provide quality medical care. People who
live in remote areas can take advantage of Australia’s Flying Doctor Service and
its mobile clinics.
Most Pacific Islanders still live in small villages. Generally, a chief leads each
village. Usually, each extended family has a house or cluster of houses in the
village. Village economies center on farming and fishing. Oceania has few cities,
but those that exist have been growing.
Most of Oceania has an economy in
which people work not for wages, but at
subsistence activities. These are
activities in which a family produces only
the food, clothing, and shelter they
themselves need. Agriculture and
Tourism are the regions main economic
activities.
New Zealand earns much of its income
by selling butter, cheese, meat, and wool
to other countries, and is the world’s
largest producer of kiwi fruit. Australia is
the largest exporter of wool in the world.
Much of Australia is arid, so only about
ten percent of the land is used to grow
crops. Australia earns much of its
income from mining. Many mineral
deposits lie in the outback. It is
expensive to build roads and equip
mines in these areas, so Australia has
had to rely on foreign investors.
People in the South Pacific region enjoy a variety of traditional and European sports
and leisure activities. Temperate or warm climates encourage people to enjoy many
outdoor activities.
Many islanders produce arts and crafts, such as baskets and mats woven from the
leaves of palm trees or other plants. Carved wooden masks and utensils are also
common.