An English Speaking Country - New Zealand Реферат по английскому языку выполнила студентка 1 курса Факультета управления и психологии Отделения психологии Михайлусенко Екатерина Кубанский государственный университет, Кафедра иностранных языков для естественных специальностей Краснодар 2005 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. ............