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New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand or Aotearoa, the Land of the Long White Cloud, is a country of two large islands and many smaller islands in the south-western Pacific Ocean. New Zealand is notable for its isolation, being separated from Australia on the northwest by the Tasman Sea, some 2,000 km wide. The closest neighbours to the north are New Caledonia, Fiji and Tonga. The population of New Zealand is mostly of European descent, with the indigenous Māori as the largest minority. Non-Māori Polynesian and Asian peoples are also significant minorities, especially in the cities. Officially, Elizabeth II is the Queen of New Zealand and is represented in the country by a non-political Governor-General; though the Queen has no real political influence. Political power is held by the Prime Minister who is leader of the Government in the democratically elected Parliament of New Zealand. The monarch's Realm of New Zealand also includes the Cook Islands and Niue, which are entirely self-governing; Tokelau, which is moving towards self-government, and New Zealand's claim in Antarctica.

History

New Zealand is one of the most recently settled major land masses. Polynesian settlers arrived in their waka some time between 800 and 600 years ago to establish the indigenous Māori culture. Settlement of the Chatham Islands to the south-east of New Zealand produced the Moriori people but it is disputed whether they moved there from New Zealand or elsewhere in Polynesia. Most of New Zealand was divided into tribal territories called rohe, resources within which were controlled by an iwi ('tribe'). Usually no two iwi had overlapping rohe. Māori adapted to eating the local marine resources, flora and fauna for food, hunting the giant flightless moa (which soon became extinct), and ate the Polynesian Rat and kumara (sweet potato), which they introduced to the country. The first Europeans known to reach New Zealand were led by Abel Janszoon Tasman, who sailed up the west coast of the South and North islands in 1642. He named it Staten Landt, believing it to be part of the land Jacob Le Maire had discovered in 1616 off the coast of Chile. Staten Landt appeared on Tasman's first maps of New Zealand, but this was changed by Dutch cartographers to Nova Zeelandia, after the Dutch province of Zeeland, some time after Hendrik Brouwer proved the South American land to be an island in 1643. The Latin Nova Zeelandia became Nieuw Zeeland in Dutch. Lieutenant James Cook subsequently called the archipelago New Zealand, although the names he chose for the North and South islands were rejected, and the main three islands became known as North, Middle and South, with the Middle Island being later called the South Island. Cook began extensive surveys of the islands in 1769, leading to European whaling expeditions and eventually significant European colonisation. From as early as the 1780s, Māori had encounters with European sealers and whalers. Acquisition of muskets by those iwi in close contact with European visitors destabilised the existing balance of power between Māori tribes and there was a temporary but intense period of bloody inter-tribal warfare, known as the Musket Wars, that only ceased when all iwi were so armed. Concern about the exploitation of Māori by Europeans, Church Missionary Society lobbying and French interest in the region led the British to annex New Zealand by Royal Proclamation in January 1840. To legitimise the British annexation, Lieutenant Governor William Hobson had been dispatched in 1839; he hurriedly negotiated the Treaty of Waitangi with northern iwi on his arrival. The Treaty was signed in February, and in recent years it has come to be seen as the founding document of New Zealand. The Māori translation of the treaty promised the Māori tribes "tino rangatiratanga" would be preserved in return for cedeing kawanatanga, which the English versions translates as "chieftainship" for "sovereignty"; the real meanings are now disputed. Disputes over land sales and sovereignty caused the New Zealand land wars which took place between 1845 and 1872. In 1975 the Treaty of Waitangi Act established the Waitangi Tribunal, charged with hearing claims of Crown violations of the Treaty of Waitangi dating back to 1840. Some Māori tribes and the Moriori never signed the treaty. Although New Zealand was initially administered as a part of the Australian colony of New South Wales, it became a colony in its own right in 1841. European settlement progressed more rapidly than anyone anticipated, and settlers soon outnumbered Māori. Self-government was granted to the settler population in 1852. The first capital of New Zealand was Kororareka (known today as Russell) but shortly afterwards moved to Auckland. There were political concerns following the discovery of gold in Central Otago in 1861 that the South Island would form a separate colony. So in 1865 the capital was offically moved to the more central city of Wellington. New Zealand was involved in a Constitutional Convention in March 1891 in Sydney, New South Wales, along with the then-colonies of Australia. This was to consider a potential constitution for the proposed federation between the then-British Colonies of Australasia. New Zealand lost interest in joining Australia in a federation following this convention. New Zealand became an independent dominion on 26 September 1907 by royal proclamation. Full independence was granted by the United Kingdom Parliament with the Statute of Westminster in 1931; it was taken up upon the Statute's adoption by the New Zealand Parliament in 1947. Since then New Zealand has been a sovereign constitutional monarchy within the Commonwealth of Nations.

Politics

New Zealand is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary democracy. Under the New Zealand Royal Titles Act (1953), Queen Elizabeth II is Queen of New Zealand and is represented as head of state by the Governor-General, Dame Silvia Cartwright. The New Zealand Parliament has only one chamber, the House of Representatives which usually seats 120 members of Parliament. Parliamentary elections are every three years under a form of proportional representation called Mixed Member Proportional (MMP). The 2005 General Election created an 'overhang' of one extra seat (occupied by the Māori Party), due to that party winning more seats in constituencies than its proportional entitlement. There is no single written constitution; however, the Constitution Act (1986) is the principal formal statement of New Zealand's constitutional structure. The Governor-General has the power to appoint and dismiss Prime Ministers and to dissolve Parliament. The Governor-General also chairs the Executive Council which is a formal committee consisting of all ministers of the Crown. Members of the Executive Council are required to be members of Parliament, and most are also in Cabinet. Cabinet is the most senior policy-making body and is led by the Prime Minister who is also the Parliamentary leader of the governing party or coalition. The current Prime Minister is Helen Clark of the Labour Party. She has served two complete terms as Prime Minister and has begun her third. On 17 October 2005 she announced that she had come to a complex arrangement that guaranteed the support of enough parties for her Labour-led coalition to govern. The core of the coalition is a cabinet consisting of Labour Party ministers and Jim Anderton, the Progressive Party's only MP. In addition to the parties represented in cabinet the leaders of New Zealand First and United Future are to be appointed as Ministers outside Cabinet. An arrangement of this kind has never been attempted before in New Zealand. A further arrangement has been made with the Green Party, which has given a commitment not to vote against the government on confidence and supply. This commitment assures the government of a majority of seven MPs on confidence. The Leader of the Opposition is National Party leader Don Brash who was formerly Governor of the Reserve Bank. Also in opposition are the Māori Party and ACT New Zealand. The highest court in New Zealand is the Supreme Court of New Zealand. The Supreme Court was established in 2004 following the passage of the Supreme Court Act in 2003. The Act abolished the option to appeal Court of Appeal rulings to the Privy Council in London. The current Chief Justice is Dame Sian Elias. New Zealand's judicary also has a High Court which deals with serious criminal offences and civil matters, and a Court of Appeal, as well as subordinate courts.

Foreign relations and military

New Zealand maintains a strong profile on environmental protection, human rights and free trade, particularly for agriculture. New Zealand is a member of the following geo-political organisations: APEC, Commonwealth of Nations, OECD and the United Nations. It has signed up to a number of free trade agreements, of which the most important is Closer Economic Relations with Australia. For its first hundred years, New Zealand followed Britain's lead on foreign policy. "Where she goes, we go, where she stands, we stand", said Prime Minister Michael Savage, in declaring war on Germany on 3 September 1939. However, Britain's inability to protect New Zealand from Japanese aggression in World War II led New Zealand to come under the influence of the United States of America for the generation following the war. New Zealand has traditionally also worked closely with Australia, whose foreign policy followed a similar historical trend. In turn, many Pacific Islands such as Western Samoa have looked to New Zealand's lead. The American influence on New Zealand was weakened by the disappointment with the Vietnam War, the nuclear danger presented by the Cold War, the Sinking of the Rainbow Warrior by France and by disagreements over environmental and agricultural trade issues. New Zealand is a party to the ANZUS security treaty between Australia, New Zealand and the United States. In 1984 New Zealand refused nuclear-powered or nuclear-armed ships access to its ports. In 1986 the United States announced that it was suspending its treaty security obligations to New Zealand pending the restoration of port access. The New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament and Arms Control Act of 1987 prohibits the stationing of nuclear weapons on the territory of New Zealand and the entry into New Zealand waters of nuclear armed or propelled ships. This legislation remains a source of contention and the basis for the United States' continued suspension of treaty obligations to New Zealand. In addition to the various wars between Iwi, and between the British, settlers and Iwi, New Zealand has fought in the Boer War, World War I, (sustaining the highest casualties per head of population of any combatant nation), World War II, the Korean War, the Malayan Emergency (and committed troops, fighters and bombers to the subsequent confrontation with Indonesia), the Vietnam War, the Gulf War and the Afghanistan War and has briefly sent a unit of army engineers to help with rebuilding Iraqi infrastructure. The New Zealand military has three branches: the New Zealand Army, the Royal New Zealand Navy, and the Royal New Zealand Air Force. New Zealand considers its own national defence needs to be modest; it dismantled its air combat capability in 2001. New Zealand has contributed forces to recent regional and global peacekeeping missions, including those in Cyprus, Somalia, Bosnia, the Sinai, Angola, Cambodia, the Iran/Iraq border, Bougainville and East Timor.

Local government and external territories

East Timor The early European settlers divided New Zealand into provinces. These were abolished in 1876 so that government could be centralised for financial reasons. As a result, New Zealand has no separately represented subnational entities such as provinces, states or territories apart from its local government. The spirit of the provinces however still lives on, and there is fierce rivalry exhibited in sporting and cultural events. Since 1876, local government has administered the various regions of New Zealand. In 1989, the government completely reorganised local government, implementing the current two-tier structure of regional councils and territorial authorities. Today New Zealand has 12 regional councils for the administration of environmental and transport matters and 74 territorial authorities that administer roading, sewerage, building consents, and other local matters. The territorial authorities are 16 city councils, 57 district councils, and the Chatham Islands County Council. Four of the territorial councils (one city and three districts) and the Chatham Islands County Council also perform the functions of a regional council and thus are known as unitary authorities. Territorial authority districts are not subdivisions of regional council districts, and a few of them straddle regional council boundaries. Regions are (asterisks denote unitary authorities): Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Gisborne
- , Hawke's Bay, Taranaki, Manawatu-Wanganui, Wellington, Marlborough
- , Nelson
- , Tasman
- , West Coast, Canterbury, Otago, Southland, Chatham Islands
- . As a major South Pacific nation, New Zealand has a close working relationship with many of the smaller Pacific Island nations, and continues a political association with the Cook Islands, Niue, and Tokelau. New Zealand operates Scott Base in its Antarctic territory, the Ross Dependency. Other countries also use Christchurch to support their Antarctic bases and the city is sometimes known as the "Gateway to Antarctica".

Geography

Ross Dependency are visible in the centre of the North Island. The Southern Alps and the rain shadow they create are clearly visible on the South Island]] New Zealand comprises two main islands (simply called the North and South Islands in English, or usually Te-Ika-a-Maui and Te Wai Pounamu in Māori) and a number of smaller islands. The total land area of New Zealand, 268,680 km², is a little less than that of Japan and a little more than the United Kingdom. The country extends more than 1600 km along its main, north-north-east axis. The most significant of the smaller inhabited islands of New Zealand include Stewart Island/Rakiura, Waiheke Island, an island in Auckland's Hauraki Gulf, Great Barrier Island, east of the Hauraki Gulf and the Chatham Islands, named Rekohu by Moriori. The country has extensive marine resources, with the fifth largest Exclusive Economic Zone in the world covering over 4 million km², more than 15 times its land area. The South Island is the largest land mass, and is divided along its length by the Southern Alps, the highest peak of which is Aoraki/Mount Cook, at 3,754 metres (12,316 feet). There are 18 peaks of more than 3,000 metres in the South Island. The North Island is less mountainous than the South, but is marked by volcanism. The tallest North Island mountain, Mount Ruapehu (2,797 metres), is an active cone volcano. The dramatic and varied landscape of New Zealand has made it a popular location for the production of television programmes and films, including the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Lord of the Rings The usual climate throughout the country is mild, mostly cool temperate to warm temperate, with temperatures rarely falling below 0°C or rising above 30°C. Conditions vary from wet and cold on the West Coast of the South Island to dry and continental in the Mackenzie Basin of inland Canterbury and subtropical in Northland. Of the main cities, Christchurch is the driest, receiving only some 640 millimetres of rain per year. Auckland, the wettest, receives a little less than three times that amount.

Flora and fauna

Northland Because of its long isolation from the rest of the world, and its island biogeography New Zealand has extraordinary flora and fauna. About 80 percent of the New Zealand flora only occurs in New Zealand, including more than 40 endemic genera. The main two types of forest have been dominated by podocarps including the giant kauri and southern beech. The remaining vegetation types in New Zealand are grassland of grass and tussock, usually associated with the subalpine areas, and the low shrublands between grasslands and forests. Until the arrival of the first humans, 80% of the land was forested and, barring two species of bat, there were no non-marine mammals at all. Instead, New Zealand's forests were inhabited by a diverse range of birds including the flightless Moa which is now extinct, the Kiwi, Kakapo, and Takahē which are all endangered due to human actions. Unique birds capable of flight include the Haast's eagle which was the world's largest bird of prey before it became extinct and the large parrots the Kaka and Kea. Reptiles present in New Zealand include skinks and geckos and the Tuatara. There are no snakes but there are many species of insects— including the weta which may grow as large as a House Mouse.

Economy

House Mouse New Zealand has a thriving, modern, developed economy. The country has a high standard of living, ranking 19th on the 2005 Human Development Index and 15th of The Economists 2005 world-wide quality-of-life index. Since 1984 successive governments have engaged in major macroeconomic restructuring, transforming New Zealand from a highly protectionist and regulated economy to a liberalised free-trade economy. During the late 1980s, the New Zealand Government sold a number of major trading enterprises, including its telecommunications company, railway network, a number of radio stations and two financial institutions in a series of asset sales. Although the New Zealand Government continues to own a number of significant businesses, collectively known as State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs), they are operated through arms-length shareholding arrangements as stand-alone businesses that are required to operate profitably, just like any privately owned enterprise. Unfortunately, due in part to the sudden transition to a market economy, an economic bubble developed in the New Zealand stock market starting in 1984. This burst in October 1987 and the total value of the market halved within a year (it has still to recover this lost value). The effect of this bubble was a period of poor economic growth which lasted until the mid 90s. It also led the government to begin a programme of massive immigration to boost GDP. However, since 1999 New Zealand has enjoyed a period of relatively strong and sustained growth, and contained inflationary pressures. The current New Zealand government's economic objectives are centred around moving from being ranked among the lower end of the OECD countries to regaining a higher placing again, pursuing free-trade agreements, "closing the gaps" between ethnic groups, and building a "knowledge economy." In 2004 it began discussing free trade with China, one of the first countries to do so. New Zealand is heavily dependent on trade—particularly in agricultural products—to drive growth, and it has been affected by global economic slowdowns and slumps in commodity prices. Since agricultural exports are highly sensitive to currency values and a large percentage of consumer goods are imported, any changes in the value of the New Zealand dollar has a strong impact on the economy. Its primary export industries are agriculture, horticulture, fishing, forestry and information technology. There are also substantial tourism and export education industries. The film and wine industries are considered to be up-and-coming.

Demographics

New Zealand has a population of about 4.1 million. About 70% of the population are whites of European descent. New Zealanders of Anglo-Celtic ancestry are known as Pākeha - this term is used variously and some Māori use it to refer to all non-Māori New Zealanders. A large proportion of white New Zealanders are of Scottish ancestry. Māori people are the second largest ethnic group (the percentage of the population of full or part-Māori ancestry is 14.7%; those who checked only Māori are 7.9%). Between the 1996 and 2001 censuses, the number of people of Asian origin (6.6%) overtook the number of people of Pacific Island origin (6.5%) (note that the census allowed multiple ethnic affiliations). Virtually all Māori are of mixed heritage (Māori/Pākeha), but a large portion of them marked themselves as Māori-only on the Census. New Zealand is positive about immigration and is committed to increasing its population by approx 1% per annum. At present migrants from the UK constitute the largest single group (30%) but new migrants are drawn from many nations, increasingly from East Asia. Christianity is the predominant religion in New Zealand, although nearly 40% of the population has no religious affiliation. The main Christian denominations are Anglicanism, Presbyterianism, Roman Catholicism and Methodism. There are also significant numbers who identify themselves with Pentecostal and Baptist churches and with the Mormon church. The New Zealand-based Ratana church has many adherents among Māori. According to census figures, other significant minority religions include Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam.

Culture

IslamNew Zealand has a diverse contemporary culture with influences from British, the Māori,and other European immigrants and most recently Polynesian cultures. There were many people from Scotland amongst the early British settlers and elements of their culture persist; New Zealand is said to have more bagpipe bands than Scotland. Cultural links between New Zealand and the UK are maintained by a common language, sustained migration from the UK and the fact that many young New Zealanders spend time in the UK on their "overseas experience (OE)". Pre-European contact Māori culture had no metal tools, relying on stone and wood. Modern Māori do not live a traditional lifestyle. Elements of Māori culture survive and the Government actively promotes it to all New Zealanders. Use of the Māori language (Te Reo Māori) as a living, community language remained only in a few remote areas in the post war years but it is currently going through a renaissance; with generous state support for Māori language medium schools and a Māori language television channel. New Zealand's landscape has appeared in a number of television programmes and films. In particular, the television series Hercules and Xena were filmed around Auckland, and the film Heavenly Creatures in Christchurch. The television series The Tribe is set and filmed in New Zealand as well. Director Peter Jackson shot the epic The Lord of the Rings trilogy in various locations around the country, taking advantage of the spectacular and relatively unspoiled landscapes, and Mount Taranaki was used as a stand-in for Mount Fuji in The Last Samurai. The latest of such major international films to be released are King Kong and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Sport

New Zealand's most popular sports are rugby union, cricket, netball, lawn bowling, soccer (the most popular sport amongst children) and rugby league. Also popular are golf, tennis, cycling and a variety of water sports, particularly sailing, whitewater kayaking, Surf Lifesaving and rowing. In the latter, New Zealand enjoyed an extraordinary Magic 45 minutes when winning four successive gold medals at the 2005 world championships. Snow sports such as skiing and snowboarding are also popular. Equestrian sportsmen and sportswomen make their mark in the world (Mark Todd being chosen international "Horseman of the Century"), and all the way down to the juniors at pony club level.

Olympic Games

The country is internationally recognised as achieving extremely well on a medals-to-population ratio at Olympic Games and Commonwealth Games. See, for example, New Zealand Olympic medallists and New Zealand at the 2004 Summer Olympics.

Rugby

Rugby as a sport is closely linked to New Zealand's national identity. The national rugby team is called the All Blacks and has the best winning record of any national team in the world, including being the inaugural winners of the World Cup in 1987. The style of name has been followed in naming the national team in several other sports. For instance, the nation's basketball team is known as the Tall Blacks. New Zealand is to host the 2011 Rugby Union World Cup. New Zealand's national sporting colours are not the colours of its flag, but are black and white (silver). The silver fern is a national emblem worn by New Zealanders representing their country in sport. The haka—a traditional Māori challenge—is often performed at sporting events. The All Blacks traditionally perform a haka before the start of international matches.

Yachting, America's Cup

New Zealand is one of the leading nations in world yachting, especially open water long distance or around the world races. Round-the-world yachtsman, Sir Peter Blake was something of a national hero before his untimely death at the hands of river pirates while on an environmental exploration trip on the Amazon. In inshore yachting, Auckland hosted the last two America's Cup regattas (2000 and 2003). In 2000, Team New Zealand successfully defended the trophy they had won in 1995 in San Diego, which made them the only team in the history of the Cup to successfully defend a challenge other than a United States team, but in 2003 they lost to a team headed by Ernesto Bertarelli of Switzerland, whose Alinghi syndicate was skippered by Russell Coutts, the former skipper of Team New Zealand. Team New Zealand will compete for the America's Cup at the next regatta in Valencia in 2007. The team manager is Grant Dalton.

Public holidays

Statutory Holidays
(These holidays are legislated by several Acts of Parliament, such as the Holidays Act. New Zealand Statutes can be viewed at [http://www.legislation.govt.nz/browse_vw.asp?content-set=pal_statutes legislation.govt.nz]) There are also Provincial Anniversary Days to celebrate the founding days or landing days of the first colonists of the various colonial provinces. The actual observance of Anniversary days can vary even within each province due to local custom, convenience or the proximity of seasonal events or other holidays. This may differ from the historical observance day, and may be several weeks from the historic date of the events being commemorated. A full list of Anniversary days is listed in the article Holidays in New Zealand.

International rankings


- UN Human Development Index (HDI), 2005: 19th out of 177 behind Norway; United Nations Development Programme (pdf) [http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/2005/pdf/HDR05_complete.pdf]
- Quality of Life Index, 2005: 15th out of 111 behind Ireland; The Economist Intelligence Unit (pdf) [http://www.economist.com/media/pdf/QUALITY_OF_LIFE.pdf]
- Environmental Sustainability Index, 2005: 14th (out of 146) behind Finland; Yale University Center for Environmental Law and Policy & Columbia University Center for International Earth Science Information Network (pdf) [http://www.yale.edu/esi/ESI2005_Main_Report.pdf]
- Index of Economic Freedom, 2005: 5th= (out of 155) behind Hong Kong; Heritage Foundation/Wall Street Journal [http://www.heritage.org/research/features/index/]
- GDP Ranking, 2005: 25th out of 111 behind Luxembourg; The Economist Intelligence Unit (pdf) [http://www.economist.com/media/pdf/QUALITY_OF_LIFE.pdf]
- Transparency International 2005: 2nd= (out of 159) behind Iceland on its list of least corrupt countries in the world. [http://ww1.transparency.org/cpi/2005/cpi2005_infocus.html#cpi]

See also

Notes

McGlone, S.M. and Wilmshurst, J.M. 1999. Dating initial Māori environmental impact in New Zealand. Quaternary International 59:5 - 16
Ministry for the Environment. 2005. Offshore Options: Managing Environmental Effects in New Zealand's Exclusive Economic Zone. [http://www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/water/offshore-options-jun05/html/page3.html Introduction]
Allan, H.H. 1982. Indigenous Tracheophyta - Psilopsida, Lycopsida, Filicopsida, Gymnospermae, Dicotyledons, Flora of New Zealand Volume I. Botany Division, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research

External links


- [http://www.teara.govt.nz/ Te Ara, the Encyclopedia of New Zealand]
- [http://webdirectory.natlib.govt.nz/index.htm Te Puna Web Directory ] - A directory to New Zealand web sites
- [http://www.mch.govt.nz/ Ministry for Culture and Heritage] - includes information on flag, anthems and coat of arms.
- [http://www.govt.nz/ New Zealand Government Portal]
- [http://www.nzte.govt.nz/ New Zealand Trade and Enterprise] - New Zealand's trade and economic development agency.
- [http://wikitravel.org/en/article/New_Zealand Wikitravel] - New Zealand travel guide.
- [http://www.metservice.co.nz/ New Zealand weather]
- [http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/ NZHistory.net.nz New Zealand history website]
- [http://www.stats.govt.nz/ Statistics New Zealand] - Official statistics.
- [http://www.newzealand.com/ Tourism New Zealand]
- [http://www.astronomy.net.nz/ Astronomy in New Zealand] The guide to astronomy in New Zealand
- [http://www.nzherald.co.nz/ New Zealand Herald] - New Zealand newspaper online A
Category:Island nations Category:Members of the Commonwealth of Nations Category:Former British colonies Category:Monarchies Category:Oceanic countries Category:Polynesia als:Neuseeland zh-min-nan:Aotearoa ko:뉴질랜드 ms:New Zealand ja:ニュージーランド simple:New Zealand th:ประเทศนิวซีแลนด์

Aotearoa

Aotearoa (pronounced: ) is the Māori language name for New Zealand most widely known and accepted.

Translation

The original derivation of Aotearoa is not known for certain. Ao = cloud, tea = white and roa = long, and it is accordingly most often translated as "The land of the long white cloud". According to oral tradition, the daughter of explorer Kupe saw white on the horizon and called "He ao! He ao!" ("a cloud! a cloud!"). The first land sighted was accordingly named Aotea (White Cloud) and is now commonly known as Great Barrier Island. When a much larger landmass was found beyond Aotea, it was called Aotea Roa (Long Aotea). Thus Aotearoa is a traditional name only of the North Island, though it now commonly refers to the whole country.

Clouds seen from the sea

A possible explanation for the name is derived from seafaring. The first sign of land from a boat is often cloud in the sky above the island. New Zealand's mountain ranges are longer and higher than elsewhere in the South Pacific and so they are particularly good at generating standing waves. The resulting long lenticular clouds are very different from the more usual cumulus clouds seen elsewhere in the region. The sight of these clouds over either of the country's two main islands could easily have led to this name.

Snow-capped mountains

A second possible explanation relates to the snow-capped nature of New Zealand's mountains, notably the long chain of the Southern Alps which forms a backbone to the South Island, but also the North Island Volcanic Plateau. Polynesian travellers, unused to snow, might well have seen these snowy peaks as a long white cloud.

Twilight land

A third explanation is connected with New Zealand's location below the tropics. Polynesian seafarers would have been used to tropical sunsets, in which the sky goes from daylight to night very rapidly, with little twilight. New Zealand, with its more southerly latitudes, would have provided surprisingly long periods of evening twilight to travellers from the tropics, and also surprisingly long summer days. It has been suggested that this long twilight is the actual origin of the term Aotearoa, which therefore would better translate as "long light sky". The presence of the Aurora Australis, and the vivid sunsets, are given as theories for the origin of part of the name for Stewart Island/Rakiura, namely Rakiura meaning "glowing sky".

Usage

Originally Māori used Aotearoa to refer only to the North Island. Te Ika a Māui ("The fish caught by Maui") was another name for the North Island. The larger, but sparsely populated South Island was called Te Wai Pounamu ("The greenstone water") or Te Wāhi Pounamu ("The greenstone place"). As a counterpart to Te Ika a Māui, the South Island is sometimes referred to as Te Waka o Māui (The Canoe of Māui), or Te Waka o Aoraki (The Canoe of Aoraki), depending on one's tribal connections. Most of the South Island is settled by the descendents of Aoraki, after whom the country's largest mountain is named (according to legend, he was turned into the mountain), but the northern end was settled by various northern tribes who favour the Māui version. As far as is known, Māori did not have a commonly-used name for the whole New Zealand archipelago in pre-colonial times. When Abel Tasman reached New Zealand in 1642, he named it Staten Landt, believing it to be part of the land Jacob Le Maire had discovered in 1616 off the coast of Argentina. Staten Landt appeared on Tasman's first maps of New Zealand, but this was changed by Dutch cartographers to Nova Zeelandia, after the Dutch province of Zeeland, some time after Hendrik Brouwer proved the South American land to be an island in 1643. The Latin Nova Zeelandia became Nieuw Zeeland in Dutch. Captain James Cook subsquently called the islands New Zealand. It seems logical he simply applied English usage to the Dutch naming, but it has also been suggested he was possibly confusing Zeeland with the Danish island of Zealand. After the adoption of the name New Zealand by Europeans, the early Māori name for the country as a whole was Niu Tireni, a transliteration of New Zealand. This name is now rarely used as Māori favour using neologisms created from Māori words rather than transliterations from English.

Modern usage

It is almost certain that the use of Aotearoa to refer to the whole of New Zealand is a post-colonial usage and it has been suggested that this usage was initiated by Pakeha (non-Māori). Historians (e.g. Michael King) have theorised that it originated from mistakes in the February 1916 School Journal and was thus propagated in a similar manner to the myths surrounding the Moriori. Nonetheless it has become increasingly popular with Māori in recent times. Aotea is also sometimes encountered, but is in decline. The name Aotearoa is used as an alternative name for New Zealand both by Māori and non-Māori. It has not gained official recognition as a legal alternative name for the country, but its increasing popularity over the last 25 years, and usage in official Māori names, such as the National Library / Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, makes this a possibility. Since the 1990s New Zealand's national anthem God Defend New Zealand[http://www.national-anthems.net/countries/index.php?id=nz#lyrics] has been officially sung bilingually, and as such the use of the term Aotearoa has gained a wider audience.

Popular culture

In 1940 Douglas Lilburn composed one of his most famous orchestral works, the overture Aotearoa, which quickly became one of his most popular compositions, and was played by orchestras both in New Zealand and in Great Britain. This made the term more widely known. The term gained a wider international audience in 1981 with Split Enz's single Six Months in a Leaky Boat, which contained the line: :"Aotearoa, rugged individual, glistens like a pearl at the bottom of the world" Common jokes among Maori nationalists are to say Aotearoa means "land of the wrong white crowd" and that the correct Maori pronunciation is "OUR-tea-roa".

External links


- [http://www.aocafe.com Aotearoa Cafe] category: Maori category: New Zealand culture

Pacific Ocean

:For other meanings of Pacific, see Pacific (disambiguation). The Pacific Ocean (from the Latin name Mare Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan) is the world's largest body of water. It encompasses a third of the Earth's surface, having an area of 179.7 million km² (69.4 million sq miles). Extending approximately 15,500 km (9,600 miles) from the Bering Sea in the Arctic to the icy margins of Antarctica's Ross Sea in the south (although the Antarctic regions of the Pacific are sometimes described as part of the circumpolar Southern Ocean)the Pacific reaches its greatest east-west width at about 5°N latitude, where it stretches approximately 19,800 km (12,300 miles) from Indonesia to the coast of Colombia. The western limit of the ocean is often placed at the Strait of Malacca. The lowest point on earth—the Mariana Trench—lies some 10,911 m (35,797 ft) below sea level. The Pacific contains about 25,000 islands (more than the total number in the rest of the world's oceans combined), the majority of which are found south of the equator. (See: Pacific Islands.) Along the Pacific Ocean's irregular western margins lie many seas, the largest of which are the Celebes Sea, Coral Sea, East China Sea, Sea of Japan, South China Sea, Sulu Sea, Tasman Sea, and Yellow Sea. The Straits of Malacca joins the Pacific and the Indian Oceans on the west, and the Straits of Magellan links the Pacific with the Atlantic Ocean on the east. As the Pacific straddles the ±180° longitude where East becomes West, the Asian side of the ocean (where latitudes are E) is correctly referred to as East Pacific and the opposite side (eastwards) where latitudes are W is the West Pacific. To retain the popular "left is western" and "right is eastern" means of reference, the Western Pacific is thus the East Pacific and the Eastern Pacific the West Pacific. The International Date Line follows the ±180° longitude to the greater part of its North-South demarcation but veers far eastwards around Kiribati (Caroline Island, which, not coincidentally, was renamed Millennium Island) and westwards round the Aleutian Islands as can be seen on the map at International Date Line. For most of Ferdinand Magellan's voyage from the Straits of Magellan to the Philippines, the Portuguese explorer indeed found the ocean peaceful. However, the Pacific is not always peaceful. Many typhoons and hurricanes batter the islands of the Pacific and the lands around the Pacific rim are full of volcanoes and often rocked by earthquakes. Tsunamis, caused by underwater earthquakes, have devastated many islands and wiped out whole towns. Tsunami

Ocean bottom

The ocean floor of the central Pacific basin is relatively uniform, an abyssal plain with a mean depth of about 4270 m (14,000 ft). The major irregularities in the basin are the extremely steep-sided, flat-topped submarine peaks known as seamounts. The western part of the floor consists of mountain arcs that rise above the sea as island groups, such as the Solomon Islands and New Zealand, and deep oceanic trenches, such as the Mariana Trench, the Philippine Trench, and the Tonga Trench. Most of the trenches lie adjacent to the outer margins of the wide western Pacific continental shelf. Along the eastern margin of the Pacific Basin is the East Pacific Rise, which is a part of the worldwide mid-oceanic ridge. About 3000 km (1800 miles) across, the rise stands about 3 km (2 miles) above the adjacent ocean floor. Because a relatively small land area drains into the Pacific, and because of the ocean's immense size, most sediments are authigenic or pelagic in origin. Authigenic sediments include montmorillonite and phillipsite. Pelagic sediments derived from seawater include pelagic red clays and the skeletal remains of sea life. Terrigenous sediments eroded from land masses are confined to narrow marginal bands close to land.

Elevation extremes


- lowest point: -10,924 m (-35,840 ft). at the bottom of the Mariana Trench
- highest point: 0 m (0 ft), sea level.

Water characteristics

Water temperatures in the Pacific vary from freezing in the poleward areas to about 29°C (84°F) near the equator. Salinity also varies latitudinally. Water near the equator is less salty than that found in the mid-latitudes because of abundant equatorial precipitation throughout the year. Poleward of the temperate latitudes salinity is also low, because little evaporation of seawater takes place in these frigid areas. The surface circulation of Pacific waters is generally clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere (the North Pacific Gyre) and anti-clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere. The North Equatorial Current, driven westward along latitude 15°N by the trade winds, turns north near the Philippines to become the warm Japan or Kuroshio Current. Turning eastward at about 45°N, the Kuroshio forks and some waters move northward as the Aleutian Current, while the rest turn southward to rejoin the North Equatorial Current. The Aleutian Current branches as it approaches North America and forms the base of an anti-clockwise circulation in the Bering Sea. Its southern arm becomes the chilled slow, south-flowing California Current. The South Equatorial Current, flowing west along the equator, swings southward east of New Guinea, turns east at about 50°S, and joins the main westerly circulation of the Southern Pacific, which includes the Earth-circling Antarctic Circumpolar Current. As it approaches the Chilean coast, the South Equatorial Current divides; one branch flows around Cape Horn and the other turns north to form the Peru or Humboldt Current.

Climate

Only the interiors of the large land masses of Australia, New Guinea, and New Zealand escape the pervasive climatic influence of the Pacific. Within the area of the Pacific, five distinctively different climatic regions exist: the mid-latitude westerlies, the trades, the monsoon region, the typhoon region, and the doldrums. Mid-latitude westerly air streams occur in both northerly and southerly latitudes, bringing marked seasonal differences in temperature. Closer to the equator, where most of the islands lie, steadily blowing trade winds allow for relatively constant temperatures throughout the year of 21-27°C (70-81°F). The monsoon region lies in the far western Pacific between Japan and Australia. Characteristic of this climatic region are winds that blow from the continental interior to the ocean in winter and in the opposite direction in summer. Consequently, a marked seasonality of cloudiness and rainfall occurs. Typhoons often cause extensive damage in the west and southwest Pacific. The greatest typhoon frequency exists within the triangle from southern Japan to the central Philippines to eastern Micronesia. Although more poorly defined than the other climatic regions, two major doldrum areas lie within the ocean, one located off the western shores of Central America and the other within the equatorial waters of the western Pacific. Both areas are noted for their high humidity, considerable cloudiness, light fluctuating winds, and frequent calms.

Geology

The Andesite Line is the most significant regional distinction in the Pacific. It separates the deeper, basic igneous rock of the Central Pacific Basin from the partially submerged continental areas of acidic igneous rock on its margins. The Andesite Line follows the western edge of the islands off California and passes south of the Aleutian arc, along the eastern edge of the Kamchatka Peninsula, the Kuril Islands, Japan, the Mariana Islands, the Solomon Islands, and New Zealand. The dissimilarity continues northeastward along the western edge of the Albatross Cordillera along South America to Mexico, returning then to the islands off California. Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan, New Guinea, and New Zealand—all eastward extensions of the continental blocks of Australia and Asia—lie outside the Andesite Line. Within the closed loop of the Andesite Line are most of the deep troughs, submerged volcanic mountains, and oceanic volcanic islands that characterize the Central Pacific Basin. It is here that basaltic lavas gently flow out of rifts to build huge dome-shaped volcanic mountains whose eroded summits form island arcs, chains, and clusters. Outside the Andesite Line, volcanism is of the explosive type, and the Pacific Ring of Fire is the world's foremost belt of explosive volcanism.

Landmasses

The largest landmass entirely within the Pacific Ocean is the island of New Guinea— the second largest in the world. Almost all of the smaller islands of the Pacific lie between 30°N and 30°S, extending from South-east Asia to Easter Island; the rest of the Pacific Basin is almost entirely submerged. The great triangle of Polynesia, connecting Hawaii, Easter Island, and New Zealand, encompasses the island arcs and clusters of the Cook, Marquesas, Samoa, Society, Tokelau, Tonga, and Tuamotu islands. North of the equator and west of the international date line are the numerous small islands of Micronesia, including the Caroline Islands, the Marshall Islands, and the Mariana Islands. In the southwestern corner of the Pacific lie the islands of Melanesia, dominated by New Guinea. Other important island groups of Melanesia include the Bismarck Archipelago, Fiji, New Caledonia, the Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu. Islands in the Pacific Ocean are of four basic types: continental islands, high islands, coral reefs, and uplifted coral platforms. Continental islands lie outside the Andesite Line and include New Guinea, the islands of New Zealand, and the Philippines. These islands are structurally associated with the nearby continents. High islands are of volcanic origin, and many contain active volcanoes. Among these are Bougainville, Hawaii, and the Solomon Islands. The third and fourth types of islands are both the result of coralline island building. Coral reefs are low-lying structures that have built up on basaltic lava flows under the ocean's surface. One of the most dramatic is the Great Barrier Reef off northeastern Australia. A second island type formed of coral is the uplifted coral platform, which is usually slightly larger than the low coral islands. Examples include Banaba (formerly Ocean Island) and Makatea in the Tuamotu group of French Polynesia.

History and economy

See the Oceania article for information on one set of the Pacific Island states listed below here. Important human migrations occurred in the Pacific in prehistoric times, most notably those of Polynesians from Tahiti to Hawaii and New Zealand. The ocean was sighted by Europeans early in the 16th century, first by Vasco Núñez de Balboa (1513) and then by Ferdinand Magellan, who crossed the Pacific during his circumnavigation (1519-1522). In 1564 conquistadors crossed the ocean from Mexico led by Miguel López de Legazpi who sailed to the Philippines and Mariana Islands. For the remainder of the 16th century Spanish influence was paramount, with ships sailing from Spain to the Philippines, New Guinea, and the Solomons. The Manila Galleons linked Manila and Acapulco. During the 17th century the Dutch, sailing around southern Africa, dominated discovery and trade; Abel Janszoon Tasman discovered (1642) Tasmania and New Zealand. The 18th century marked a burst of exploration by the Russians in Alaska and the Aleutian Islands, the French in Polynesia, and the British in the three voyages of James Cook (to the South Pacific and Australia, Hawaii, and the North American Pacific Northwest). Growing imperialism during the 19th century resulted in the occupation of much of Oceania by Great Britain and France, followed by the United States. Significant contributions to oceanographic knowledge were made by the voyages of the HMS Beagle in the 1830s, with Charles Darwin aboard; the HMS Challenger during the 1870s; the U.S.S. Tuscarora (1873-76); and the German Gazelle (1874-1876). Although the United States took the Philippines in 1898, Japan controlled the western Pacific by 1914, and occupied many other islands during World War II. By the end of that war the U.S. Pacific Fleet was the virtual master of the ocean. Seventeen independent states are located in the Pacific: Australia, Fiji, Japan, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, New Zealand, Palau, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Republic of China (Taiwan), Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. Eleven of these nations have achieved full independence since 1960. The Northern Mariana Islands are self-governing with external affairs handled by the United States, and Cook Islands and Niue are in similar relationships with New Zealand. Also within the Pacific are the U.S. state of Hawaii and several island territories and possessions of Australia, Chile, Ecuador, France, Japan, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The exploitation of the Pacific's mineral wealth is hampered by the ocean's great depths. In shallow waters of the continental shelves off the coasts of Australia and New Zealand, petroleum and natural gas are extracted, and pearls are harvested along the coasts of Australia, Japan, Papua New Guinea, Nicaragua, Panama, and the Philippines, although in sharply declining volume. The Pacific's greatest asset is its fish. The shoreline waters of the continents and the more temperate islands yield herring, salmon, sardines, snapper, swordfish, and tuna, as well as shellfish. In 1986, the member nations of the South Pacific Forum declared the area a nuclear-free zone in an effort to halt nuclear testing and prevent the dumping of nuclear waste there.

Ports and harbours


- Acapulco (Mexico)
- Anchorage (United States)
- Auckland (New Zealand)
- Brisbane (Australia)
- Callao (Peru)
- Hong Kong (Hong Kong (China (PRC)))
- Honolulu (United States)
- Kobe (Japan)
- Long Beach (United States)
- Los Angeles (United States)
- Panama City (Panama)
- Portland (Oregon) (United States)
- Prince Rupert (Canada)
- San Diego (United States)
- San Francisco (United States)
- Sapporo (Japan)
- Seattle (United States)
- Shanghai (China (PRC))
- Sydney (Australia)
- Taipei (China (ROC))
- Vancouver (Canada)
- Victoria (Canada)
- Vladivostok (Russia)
- Yokohama (Japan)

Bibliography


- Barkley, R.A., Oceanographic Atlas of the Pacific Ocean (1969)
- Cameron, I., Lost Paradise (1987)
- Couper, A., Development in the Pacific Islands (1988)
- Crump, D.J., ed., Blue Horizons (1980)
- Gilbert, John, Charting the Vast Pacific (1971)
- Lower, J. Arthur, Ocean of Destiny: A Concise History of the North Pacific, 1500-1978 (1978)
- Oliver, D.L., The Pacific Islands, 3nd ed. (1989)
- Ridgell, R., Pacific Nations and Territories, 2nd ed. (1988)
- Soule, Gardner, The Greatest Depths (1970)
- Spate, O.H., Paradise Found and Lost (1988)
- Terrell, J.E., Prehistory in the Pacific Islands (1986). :Based on public domain text from US Naval Oceanographer

External links


- [http://www.epic.noaa.gov/epic/ewb/ EPIC Pacific Ocean Data Collection] Viewable on-line collection of observational data
- [http://dapper.pmel.noaa.gov/dchart/ NOAA In-situ Ocean Data Viewer] Plot and download ocean observations
- [http://www.mapsouthpacific.com/ Map South Pacific]
- [http://www.oscar.noaa.gov/datadisplay/ NOAA Ocean Surface Current Analyses - Realtime (OSCAR)] Near-realtime Pacific Ocean Surface Currents derived from satellite altimeter and scatterometer data
- [http://floats.pmel.noaa.gov/floats/ NOAA PMEL Argo profiling floats] Realtime Pacific Ocean data
- [http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/tao/jsdisplay/ NOAA TAO El Nino data] Realtime Pacific Ocean El NIno buoy data
- [http://www.southpacific.org/ South Pacific Organizer] Category:Oceans
- zh-min-nan:Thài-pêng-iûⁿ ko:태평양 ja:太平洋 simple:Pacific Ocean th:มหาสมุทรแปซิฟิก

Tasman Sea

The Tasman Sea is the large body of water between Australia and New Zealand and is a south-western segment of the South Pacific Ocean. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman, discoverer of New Zealand and Tasmania. The British explorer Captain James Cook later extensively explored the Tasman Sea in the 1770s as part of his first voyage of discovery. The Tasman Sea is deemed by the International Hydrographic Organisation to include the waters to the east of the Australian states New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. The northern state of Queensland neighbours the Coral Sea, and the boundary between New South Wales and Queensland is also used as the boundary between the two seas. The Tasman Sea features a number of mid-sea island groups, quite apart from coastal islands located near the Australian and New Zealand mainlands:
- Lord Howe Island and its subsidiary islands
- Ball's Pyramid
- Norfolk Island, in the extreme north of the Tasman Sea, on the border with the Coral Sea These island groups are each Australian possessions. Category:Geography of Australia Category:New Zealand coastline Category:Seas ko:태즈먼 해

New Caledonia

:For the former North American colony called New Caledonia, see New Caledonia (Canada). New Caledonia (Canada) New Caledonia (French: Nouvelle-Calédonie; popular names: Kanaky, Le caillou) is a "sui generis collectivity" (in practice an overseas territory of France) made up of a main island (Grande-Terre de la Nouvelle-Calédonie) and several smaller islands. It is located in the region of Melanesia in the southwest Pacific. It has a land area of 18,575.5 km² (7,172 sq. miles). The population at the 2004 census was 230,789 inhabitants. It has an Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) of .nc. The capital and largest city of the territory is Nouméa. The currency is the Comptoirs Francais du Pacifique franc (international code XPF). Since 1986 the United Nations Committee on Decolonization has included New Caledonia on the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories, a highly political list that is disputed by France, Morocco, the United States, and the United Kingdom, which all have territories on the list. The list is partial and controversial because it does not cover all peoples and territorial entities in the world which are neither sovereign countries nor part of any sovereign country. New Caledonia will decide whether to remain within the French Republic or become an independent state in a referendum sometime after 2014. Its capital Nouméa is the seat of the regional organization the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (formerly the South Pacific Commission). Secretariat of the Pacific Community Secretariat of the Pacific Community]

Name

The name Caledonia derives from the Latin name of an area corresponding to modern Scotland. The name Kanaky is also in common usage in French, English and the indigenous languages. This name is favored by Melanesian nationalists. The word comes from kanaka, a Polynesian word meaning human used by Polynesians to call themselves. The word was later used by the French to call all the native inhabitants of the South Pacific Ocean, including the Melanesian (non-Polynesian) native inhabitants of New Caledonia. The word, turned into Canaque in French, became derogative. In the 1960s and 1970s, when the Melanesian native inhabitants started to organize themselves into political parties and ask for independence, this derogative word was turned into a symbol of political emancipation and pride. In 1983, during the period of political turmoil, the terms KANAK and KANAKY became a political brand names and almost instantly disappeared from the lips of the Caldoches who realised how the name had changed into a political statement.

Geography

Caldoche Main article: Geography of New Caledonia New Caledonia is located around in the southwest Pacific Ocean, approximately 1,200 km east of Australia and 1,500 km northwest of New Zealand. The island nation of Vanuatu lies to the northeast. New Caledonia is made up of a main island, the Grande Terre, and several smaller islands, the Belep archipelago to the north of the Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands to the east of the Grande Terre, the Île des Pins to the south of the Grande Terre, and the Chesterfield Islands and Bellona Reefs further to the west. The Grande Terre is by far the largest of the islands, and the only mountainous island. It has an area of 16,372 km² (6,321 sq. miles), and is enlongated northwest-southeast, 350 km in length and 50 to 70 km wide. A mountain range runs the length of the island, with five peaks over 1500 meters. The highest point is Mont Panié at 1,628 meters elevation (5,341 ft). New Caledonia contains about one-quarter of the world's nickel resources.

Climate

New Caledonia lies astride the Tropic of Capricorn, between 19° and 23° south latitude. The climate of the islands is tropical, and rainfall is highly seasonal, brought by trade winds that usually come from the east. Rainfall averages about 1,500 mm yearly on the Loyalty Islands, 2,000 mm at low elevations on eastern the Grande Terre, and 2,000-4,000 mm at high elevations on the Grande Terre. The western side of the Grande Terre lies in the rain shadow of the central mountains, and rainfall averages 1200 mm per year.

Ecology

Unlike many of the Pacific islands which are of relatively recent volcanic origin, New Caledonia is an ancient fragment of the Gondwana supercontinent. New Caledonia and New Zealand separated from Australia 85 million years ago, and from one another 55 million years ago, and New Caledonia still carries many unique and endemic plants and animals of Gondwanan origin. (see Biodiversity of New Caledonia and Endemic Birds of New Caledonia). The best known is a hen-sized bird, the Cagou or Kagu, which cannot fly, has a large crest, and a funny cooing, and whose song and image serves as an emblem. The Niaouli tree, which also grows in Australia and New Guinea, is of medical interest, as its sap gives gomenol, which smells like camphor and is used to treat head colds. Before the Europeans arrived, there was no mammal other than the roussette (aka flying fox), a big vegetarian bat, a local delicacy. The islands make up two terrestrial ecoregions, the New Caledonia rain forests on the Loyalty Islands, Ile des Pins, and the eastern side of Grand Terre, and the New Caledonia dry forests in the rain shadow on the western side of Grand Terre. As the Europeans settled on the dry west coast and left the east to Kanaks, the political division maps the natural one. New Caledonia's freshwater ecology also evolved in long isolation, and the New Caledonia rivers and streams are home to many endemic species. The New Caledonia Barrier Reef, which surrounds the Grande Terre and the Île des Pins, is the second-largest coral reef in the world after Australia's Great Barrier Reef, reaching a length of 1500 km. The reef has great species diversity, is home to endangered dugongs (Dugong dugon), and is an important nesting site for Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas).

Administration

Along with other Pacific Ocean's territories of French Polynesia and Wallis and Futuna, New Caledonia is part of the French Republic. Its official status is that of a sui generis collectivity (collectivité sui generis), a status unique in the French Republic. New Caledonia was a colony until 1946, then an overseas territory (territoire d'outre-mer, or TOM) from 1946 to 1999. The capital is Nouméa.

History

The western Pacific was first populated about 50,000 years ago. The Austronesians moved into the area later. The diverse group of people that settled over the Melanesian archipelagos are known as the Lapita. They arrived in the archipelago now commonly known as New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands around 1500 BCE. The Lapita were highly skilled navigators and agriculturists with influence over a large area of the Pacific. From about the 11th century CE Polynesians also arrived and mixed with the populations of the archipelago. Europeans first sighted New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands in the late 18th century. The British explorer James Cook sighted Grande Terre in 1774 and named it New Caledonia after the Scottish Highlands, which it resembled. Caledonia was a popular poetic and patriotic term for Scotland, and James Cook's father was Scottish. British and North American whalers and sandalwood traders became interested in New Caledonia and tensions developed as their approach became increasingly dishonest (an arrogant attitude and cheating became commonplace). Europeans used alcohol and tobacco amongst other things to barter for commodities. Contact with Europeans brought new diseases such as smallpox, measles, dysentery, influenza, syphilis and leprosy. Many people died as a result of these diseases. Tensions developed into hostilities and in 1849 the crew of the Cutter were killed and eaten by the Pouma clan. As trade in sandalwood declined it was replaced by a new form of trade. Blackbirding involved enslaving people from New Caledonia, the Loyalty Islands, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands to work in sugar cane plantations in Fiji and Queensland. The trade ceased at the start of the 20th century. Catholic and Protestant missionaries first arrived in the 19th century. They had a profound effect on indigenous culture. They insisted people should wear clothes to cover themselves. They eradicated many local practices and traditions. The island was made a French possession in 1853 in an attempt by Napoleon III to rival the British colonies in Australia and New Zealand. Following the example set by the British in nearby Australia, between 1854 and 1922 France sent a total of 22,000 convicted felons to penal colonies along the south-west coast of the island; this number includes regular criminals as well as political prisoners such as Parisian socialists and Kabyle nationalists. Towards the end of the penal colony era, free European settlers (including former convicts) and Asian contract workers by far out-numbered the population of forced workers. The indigenous Kanak populations declined drastically in that same period due to introduced diseases and an apartheid-like system called Code de l'Indigénat which imposed severe restrictions on their livelihood, freedom of movement and land ownership. New Caledonia has been on a United Nations list of non-self-governing territories since 1986. This list includes such places as the American Samoa, the British Falkland Islands, or the New Zealand territory of Tokelau, but noticeably it does not include places like Tibet or West Papua, which has led to its reputation as a politically biased list. Agitation by the Front de Libération Nationale Kanak Socialiste (FLNKS) for independence began in 1985. The FLNKS (led by the late Jean Marie Tjibaou, assassinated in 1989) advocated the creation of an independent state of 'Kanaky'. The troubles culminated in 1988 with a bloody hostage taking in Ouvéa. The unrest led to agreement on increased autonomy in the Matignon Accords of 1988 and the Nouméa Accord of 1998. This Accord describes the devolution process as "irreversible" and also provides for a local Caledonian citizenship, separate official symbols of Caledonian identity (such as a "national" flag), as well as mandating a referendum on the contentious issue of independence from the French Republic sometime after 2014.

Politics

Main article: Politics of New Caledonia The unique status of New Caledonia is in between that of an independent country and a regular overseas département of France. On the one hand, a territorial Congress (Congrès du territoire) and a government of the territory have been established, and a devolution of powers is organized by the 1998 Nouméa Accord. Key areas such as taxation, labor law, health and hygiene and foreign trade are already in the hands of the territorial Congress. Further competence will supposedly be given to the territorial Congress in the near future. Eventually, the French Republic should only remain competent for foreign affairs, justice, defence, public order, and treasury. A New Caledonian "citizenship" has also been introduced: only New Caledonian "citizens" have the right to vote in the local elections. This measure has been criticized, because it creates a second-class status for French citizens living in New Caledonia who do not possess New Caledonian "citizenship" (because they settled in the territory recently). New Caledonia is also allowed to engage in international cooperation with independent countries of the Pacific Ocean. Finally, the territorial Congress is allowed to pass statutes that are derogatory to French law in a certain number of areas. On the other hand, New Caledonia remains an integral part of the French Republic. Inhabitants of New Caledonia are French citizens and carry French passports. They take part in the legislative and presidential French elections. New Caledonia sends two representatives to the French National Assembly and one senator to the French Senate. The representative of the French central state in New Caledonia is the High Commissioner of the Republic (Haut-Commissaire de la République, locally known as "haussaire"), who is the head of civil services, and who seats in the government of the territory. It was decided in the Nouméa Accord that the territorial Congress will have the right to call for a referendum on independence after 2014, at a time of its choosing. The current president of the government elected by the territorial Congress is Marie-Noëlle Thémereau, from the loyalist (i.e. anti-independence) Avenir ensemble party ("Future together"), which toppled the long-time ruling RPCR (Rally for Caledonia inside the Republic) in May 2004. "Future Together" is a party of mostly Caucasian and Polynesian New Caledonians opposed to independence but tired of the hegemonic and allegedly corrupt anti-independence RPCR. Their toppling of the RPCR (that was until then seen as the only voice of New Caledonian whites) was a surprise to many, and a sign that the society of New Caledonia is undergoing changes. "Future together", as the name implies, is opposed to a racial vision of New Caledonian society, opposing Melanesians native inhabitants and European settlers, and is in favor of a multicultural New Caledonia, better reflecting the existence of large populations of Polynesians, Indonesians, Chinese, and other immigrants. Some members of "Future Together" are even in favor of independence, though not necessarily on the same basis as the Melanesian independence parties.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of New Caledonia Though still the relative majority the indigenous Melanesian Kanak community now represents 42.5% of the population (as of 2005). This is due to a population decline during the early stages of the colonisation process. Later it was the immigration under French rule that influenced the balance in favour of other minority groups. The current population is made up of numerous ethnic groups who arrived in New Caledonia over the past 200 years: Whites (37.1%), Polynesians (Wallisians, Tahitians) (12.2%), Javanese (3.6%), Vietnamese (1.6%), and various other groups such as ni-Vanuatu, Malabaris, Maghrebins, Japanese, Chinese, Fijians (3.0%). Some of this immigration was a direct consequence of various conflicts around the world but in particular of the crumbling of the French Empire. The Kanak are known officially as Melanesians. Similarly, those whose roots are in French Polynesia are known either as Tahitians (which excludes persons originating in the other archipelagoes of French Polynesia) or simply as Polynesians (which would include both Tahitians and Wallisians, as well as many other minor groups). Whites that have lived in New Caledonia for several generations are locally known as "Caldoches", whereas newcomers who have immigrated from metropolitan France are called "Métros" or "Métropolitains". Within the official statistical category "Europeans" no distinction is made between Caledonian-born whites and French-born whites, however it is estimated that approximately two thirds identify themselves with the Caldoche community while the rest see themselves primarily as French immigrants. There is a significant contingent of people that arrive from France to work for a year or two and others that have come to retire. The Caldoche usually refer to themselves simply as "calédoniens" and may be either white (mostly French or German) or white with an admixture of Asian, Melanesian or Polynesian ancestry. Caldoche culture has many similarities with Australian and Afrikaner culture. Until very recently the Kanak population held an economically disadvantaged position in New Caledonian society, while wealthy French expatriats formed the top of the socio-economic hierarchy. The Asian and Polynesian inhabitants dominate certain segments of the local economy. There have been frequent accusations by the pro-independence movement that the French government is attempting to skew the demographic balance between the ethnic communities by clandestinely settling thousands of people from mainland France among the white Caledonians. They argue that current French policies in New Caledonia mimic those of Turkey, which has for many years been secretly chanelling in Anatolian Turks settlers to assimilate into the Turkish Cypriot population of Northern Cyprus for many years. Censuses are extremely critical to the balance of power in New Caledonia, and the organization of a new census was regularly postponed after 1996. Eventually the census was carried out in August and September 2004, amidst raging controversies over ethnic questions. Due to an intervention by French president Jacques Chirac, questions asking for the ethnicity of people were deleted from the 2004 census, officially because they were deemed to contravene the French Constitution, which states that no distinction based on ethnicity or religion should be made among French citizens. The indigenous Melanesian Kanak leaders, who are extremely sensitive to ethnic balance issues, called for New Caledonians of Kanak ethnicity not to return census forms if questions regarding ethnicity were not asked, threatening to derail the census process. Eventually, the stalemate was resolved when the local New Caledonian statistical office (a branch of the national French statistical office INSEE) agreed to ask questions regarding ethnicity. However, it is not known whether questions regarding ethnicity were asked to all residents of New Caledonia, and at any rate no data have been released, leaving the ethnic tables from the 1996 census as the only information on ethnicity currently available. According to the 2004 census, there were 230,789 inhabitants in New Caledonia as of September 2004. This means a population increase of 1.9% per year since 1996, which is less than had been anticipated. In particular, Kanak leaders were fearful of a large influx of white people from metropolitan France which would alter the ethnic balance in the territory. Census results show that immigration to New Caledonia was not as high as anticipated, with nonetheless a positive migration flow of about 1,000 people yearly to New Caledonia between 1996 and 2004 (i.e. there are 1,000 more people who migrate to New Caledonia every year than people who leave New Caledonia).

Miscellaneous


- Communications in New Caledonia
- Disputes - international: Matthew and Hunter Islands claimed by France and Vanuatu.
- Economy of New Caledonia
- Military of New Caledonia
- Music of New Caledonia
- Sister city: Gold Coast, Australia
- Transportation in New Caledonia

See also


- French overseas departments and territories
- Administrative divisions of France
- Islands controlled by France in the Indian and Pacific oceans
- New Caledonia was also the name of an early settlement in western Canada which later became part of British Columbia; see New Caledonia (Canada).

Publications


- J. W. Anderson, Fiji and New Caledonia, (London, 1880)
- Alfred Schreiner, La Nouvelle-Calédonie depuis sa découverte jusqu'à nos jours, (Paris, 1882)
- León Vallée Essai d'une bibliographie de la Nouvelle-Cadédonie et dépendances, (Paris, 1885)
- G. Griffith, In an Unknown Prison Land: An Account of Convicts and Colonists in New Caledonia, (London, 1901)
- J. B. Alberti, La colonisation à la Nouvelle-Calédonie, (Paris, 1909)

External links and references


- [http://www.endemia.nc Endemic flora of New-Caledonia] (French language)
- [http://www.southpacific.org/text/new_caledonia.html Finding New Caledonia]
- [http://members.ozemail.com.au/~rodeime/newcal/ "France's Best Kept Secret"] by Roderick Eime
- [http://www.janeresture.com/newcal/index.htm Jane's New Caledonia Home Page]
- [http://www.mapsouthpacific.com/new_caledonia/index.html Map of New Caledonia]
- [http://www.virtualoceania.net/newcaledonia/photos/ New Caledonia photos]
- [http://www.pacific-pictures.com/new_caledonia/index.html New Caledonia travel photos]
- [http://www.photos-nouvelle-caledonie.com/ New-Caledonia pictures] 500