introduced Fred Willis
Some Interesting Facts
§New
Zealand is composed of two islands which equal the area of Colorado
§It
lies 1000 miles east of Australia and is in the
first time zone.
§It is
about 1000 miles long and lies between the 30 and 45 degree latitude. This is
Maine to Florida.
§Seasons
are reversed. It is a temperate climate
§It is
an agricultural exporting country, sheep, wine,
farm products with tourism becoming its largest economic aspect.
§Maori’s,
a Polynesian race, arrived about 1300. It was uninhabited before then.
§NZ
was discovered by the Dutch in 1642 and the English in 1769.
§European
settles began to arrive in 1820.
§The
Maori’s were a waring, cannibal people but reached a peace settlement with the British in
1840.
§The
population is 4.8 million. The
Philadelphia area has 6 million
§70%
European, 15% Maori, 15% other
§Auckland
– 1.5 m, Wellington - 490 K, Christchurch – 400 K
§Per
capita income US $62,000, Australia $56,000, NZ $41,200.
§Cost
of living in NZ is about 10% higher than in Australia.
§There
are no liability laws.
§There
is a 100% tax on automobiles.
§Parliamentary
System of Government
§NZ
was isolated from
the
world for several hundred million years and developed unique wildlife and fauna.
This is similar to Australian history.
§ When
the Maori’s arrived it was a bird paradise with most birds walking around
because there were no predators. There
were about six types of reptiles
on
the islands.
§The
Maoris hunted birds and made at least one species, a 12 tall land bird,
extinct.
§The
British brought mammals which ate bird eggs and greatly changed NZ wildlife.
§Possums
are deadly for native birds. Sheep, cattle, bison, rats, mice affect native
birds.
§Native
trees lacked strength and were replaced with non native forests.
§While
native fauna and birds still exist, the current NZ has changed
WELLINGTON
Marlbourgh
Te Anau
Queenstown
Auckland
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