The+English+Speaking+World

In this task I am going to tell you about New Zealand, how the British has affected this country, and why they speak English here. England was the colony country which colonized New Zealand for nearly 200 years. On the other side of the globe, 20 000 kilometres from their home country, British colonists developed a community based on British habits and culture. **WHAT IS NEW ZEALAND?** New Zealand is one of the southern most countries in the world, located in the south west of the Pacific Ocean. This country consists of a lot of islands, but has to main islands called the North Island and the South Island. New Zealand is also the most isolated country in the world, because the Tasman Sea separates New Zealand and Australia with over 2000 km of water.
 * New Zealand **** – an Independent Country? **

New Zealand has around 4.2 million inhabitants. Most of these people live in the biggest cities like the capital Wellington, Christchurch and of course the largest city Auckland. However, a lot of the people also live at the countryside were they work as farmers.
 * THE INHABITANTS OF NEW ZEALAND**

In New Zealand the people with British decent is most common, but of course during the later year have people from all over the world, especially from the Eastern Asia, have kept on moving to New Zealand. The Maoris, the native population, play an important role and they are taken good care of by the government. New Zealand is actually one of the countries that have a female prime minister, whose name is Helen Clark.

The scenery of New Zealand is beautiful. Most of New Zealand’s landscape consists of forests, fjords and tall mountains, almost like Norway. The landscape of New Zealand is actually really famous. Many well known movies like the Lord of the Rings and the two Narnia movies have been filmed different places in New Zealand.
 * GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE OF NEW ZEALAND**

The (usual) climate in New Zealand is normally temperate, but it is different between the North and the South Island. On the Northern Island it is more like a subtropical climate than the Southern Island, which has a temperate climate.

The history of New Zealand is not long, because this area was actually the landmass that was last populated. It was the Polynesian    habitants (that later developed the Maori population) who were the first to explore and move to New Zealand. This happened between    800 – 1300 AD. Later they developed the Maori culture, but less than 300 years later the first Europeans settled down. The first settlers were Dutch explorers, and they gave the islands the name Nieuw –Zeeland. However, they were killed by some Maoris. After a while the famous British explorer, James Cook, came to the islands. Thatwas the beginning of a new British colony. Unlike the Dutch, the British settlers lived a peaceful life with the Maoris, perhaps becausethey were helping each other. Anyhow the native population decreased, while the British population increased. It was built a new community characterized mainly by British tradition and culture. Still, after 100 years of independence, New Zealand is coloured by the British.
 * THE HISTORY OF NEW ZEALAND **

Today, New Zealand is both independent and a modern country; and New Zealand’s government, educational system, traditions and culture have a clear reflection to Britain.

First of all it is important to mention that New Zealand is a member of the //Commonwealth//, which most of the British colonies are. In the Commonwealth the British Queen, Elizabeth 2., has a post as the head in most of these countries, like Australia, Canada and of course New Zealand. New Zealand’s parliament has also a structure which resembles to the British parliament. The legal system is almost identical to the British, too. Every Commonwealth country is also a member of The //Privy Council//**,** an advisory organ for the British monarch.

The educational system (does) also reflects the British one as well. Both of the nations have school uniform, the 13 years of basic education and the university system is almostidentical to British universities. However, they do not have the sa    me national test system as they have in Britain. New Zealand is acountry which is outstanding for exchanging students, just like Britain is. New Zealand and Britain have many of the same traditions. Some of the holidays are the same in each country, and both      the national anthems are actually equalized (New Zealand’s     national anthem is called “God Defend New Zealand”). Something else, most of us identifies Britain with, is the factthat they drive on the right side of the road. Of course mostof the English speaking countries do exactly the same. Nevertheless there is one thing that differs between these identical countries; at the end of the sixties New Zealand changed their currency from pounds (NWP) to dollars (NWD). But of course what New Zealand and Britain have most in common is the language; English.

It was of course the British settlers that brought their language to New Zealand when they arrived over 200 years ago. As I have mentioned earlier, the first meeting with the Maoris was quiet, compared to the Dutch, but of course there were some problems. But as we know, Britain was the most powerful nation at this time, and of course the biggest fleet nation too. They had enough people, equipment and economy to produce such things as weapons, which made it easy to hold the Maoris under control. Another thing that was important for the new settlers was the missionaries that almost succeeded to convert (almost) every Maori into Christianity.

In the middle of the 19th century, there was signed a contract between the British citizens and the Maoris, although some of the British settlers abandoned the contract. The contract is one of the most important actions throughout New Zealand’s history. The contract made it easier to live for the Maoris, because now the Maoris could keep their traditions and culture. But somehow the number of Maoris was fading. That made the British population grow even further, and that led to the fact that the British traditions, culture, and of course the language, influenced the people and their way of living. That is how the English language grew and later on became the official language in New Zealand.

If you ask a New Zealander this question today:Is New Zealand an independent country? I am sure he will answer: Yes, of course. Maybe he or she even will be astonished by the question at all. And somehow I agree. I have noticed that they in some questions choose what they want from their own point of view. Here I can mention the NATO, which New Zealand is not a member of, where Britain plays an important role. And also in school question as the national tests, which plays an important role in the British school system, which expands all over the word nowadays.

However, the country is not free from the British culture. When the immigration of New Zealand took place in: maybe some of them wanted adventure and explore other cultures, but it was mostly related to the desire of scattering their own culture, as for instance the Christianity, and economical and military power all over the world.

media type="youtube" key="eh-0knDpn5g" width="425" height="350" Here's a video of everything New Zealand can offer you.

Sources: http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_zealand http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_miles_are_there_from_New_Zealand_to_England http://new-zealand.costasur.com/en/maori.html http://www.emigratenz.org/ReallyAndTruly.html http://www.chemistry.co.nz/new_zealand_facts.htm https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/nz.html http://www.virtualoceania.net/newzealand/facts/