Common Nouns
New Zealand
Polynesia
the North Island
the South Island
Southwest Pacific Ocean
Egmont
Tongariro
Mount Cook
Auckland
Christchurch City
the Chatham Islands
Maori
Official name: New Zealand
Location and nature:New Zealand /nju zilənd/ is an island country in the Southwest Pacific Ocean. It lies about 1 600 km southeast of Australia and about 10 500 km southwest of California. New Zealand belongs to a large island group called Polynesia. The country is situated on two main islands — the North Island and the South Island — and several dozen smaller islands. Most of the smaller islands are hundreds of kilometers from the main ones. Most of its people live in North Island, and that is where you find big volcanoes like Egmont and Tongariro and the boiling pools and geysers and lakes of bubbling mud.
South Island is larger than North Island and has the highest mountains. There you can find the snow-capped Southern Alps, rising 3.764 metres to the tip of Mount Cook (named after Captain Cook, of course, because he visited the islands before sailing on westwards and discovering the eastern coast of Australia). South Island is very beautiful with its Alps and lakes and its glaciers. New Zealand was called the Land of the Long White Cloud by the Maoris. Forests of exotic pines near the centre of New Zealand's North Island, cover an area of more than 160000 hectares. This is the largest single continuous area of planted forest in the world. New Zealand has more than four hundred thousand hectares of planted forests.
The climateis pleasant at all seasons, without much difference between winter and summer. New Zealand does not have the terrible heat of Australian summers; the oceans temper its climate and the mountains bring down quite a lot of rain.
Flag:The flag of New Zealand is with the Union Flag in the canton, and four red stars with white borders to the right.
Symbol:The kiwi is rather an unusual bird found only in New Zealand. It has no tail, almost no wings, and it lays an egg so large in proportion to its size. Its egg is about one fifth of its own weight. This is a tremendous size.
In many countries New Zealanders too, are known as Kiwis, for the bird is also the symbol of people of the two islands.
The capital of New Zealand since 1865, and one of its busiest ports, Wellington is at southern end of North Island, lying among hills on the western side of a natural harbour. It has a population of about 393,000. The city is home of Parliament, the head offices of all Government Ministries and Departments. It is also home of Te Papa (the ground-breaking interactive Museum of New Zealand) and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra
The largest cities:
Auckland is the largest city in New Zealand. The city is built around 2 large harbours, and has many world famous attractions including the Sky Tower. The Auckland Region has a population of about 1.3 million people, and enjoys a warm, temperate climate. There are many parks, gardens, historic houses, museums and other places of interest in and around Auckland.