Key Concepts for Australia and New Zealand

Outline

  1. People
    1. Natives
    2. British and Others
  2. Physical Landscape
    1. Deserts
    2. Mountains
    3. Reefs
  3. Climate
  4. Unique Animal Populations
  5. States and Territories
  6. Concentration of Population in Cities
    1. Sydney
    2. Perth
    3. Melbourne
    4. Adelaide
    5. Brisbane
    6. Auckland
    7. Wellington
    8. Christchurch
  7. Islands
    1. Cook Islands
    2. Tasmania
  8. Tourism
  9. Military
  10. Sports
    1. Rugby
    2. Cricket
    3. Netball

People

In Australia, the natives are known as Aborigines, and have been known as such as early as 1789.  The Aboriginal people have been credited with the invention of many useful discoveries, such as the returning boomerang, the canoe, a spear throwing device called a woomera, and early forms of petroleum jelly.  In New Zealand, the natives are known as Maori, pronounced Mao-ree, sounding like dowry, and constitute a large part of the population of New Zealand at about 20%.  Also, when the United States refused to take any more British convicts, they began shipping the criminals to Australia.

Physical Landscape

Australia and New Zealand have very different physical landscapes, even though they are near the same latitude.  The biggest reason for this is that New Zealand is much smaller than Australia.  Australia is 44% desert, with an impressive 77% being semi-arid, desert, and grassland.  It is the driest continent that humans inhabit, and boasts a peripheral concentration of population.  There are few mountains, and is the all-around flattest continent.  In contrast, New Zealand has a very lush, very green, very mountainous terrain.  New Zealand also has 103,738 square miles of land compared to Australia’s 2,941,300 square miles.

Climate

In Australia, 77% of the continent lies in the desert or semi-arid category.  Also, 40% is completely covered in sand dunes.  The other 20% of Australia is in the tropical and maritime climate category, and averages around 3000 mm of rain per year.  The record for rainfall in Australia was set at Mount Bellenden Ker in 2000, and still stands at 12,461 mm, or about 491 inches of rain.  In New Zealand, there is no large region with any desert or semi-arid climate.  It is essentially entirely in the maritime category of the Koeppen Climate System.  They receive an average of 600 to 1500 mm of rain per year, and is also one of the sunniest places on Earth, with the Bay of Plenty receiving 2350 hours of cloudless sunlight on average per year.  New Zealand is also known as “The land of the long white cloud” by the native Maori.

Unique Animal Populations

Isolation has led to some very unique animal populations.  A vast majority of the animals in New Zealand and Australia are kept on farms, and the most common of these animals are cows and sheep.  However, there are some unexpected animals in the list of the farmed, including goats, alpacas, llamas, ostriches, emu, and water buffalo.  The top 10 most dangerous snakes and spiders all reside in Australia, including the box jellyfish, the stone fish, and the brown spider, but in New Zealand, there are only a few sharks and a bird called a Kea that will eat the rubber on your car.

States and Territories

Australia is divided into 6 provinces and 2 territories.  They are New South Wales, South Australia, Western Australia, Northern Australia, Queensland, Victoria, and Tasmania provinces, and the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory.  New Zealand doesn’t have provinces since the Abolition of the Provinces Act of 1876.  However, they do use states, and the largest of those states are Auckland and Wellington, the states.

Concentration of Population in Cities

In Australia, there are five major cities, and in New Zealand, three.  The urban population of these countries is 92.7% and 86.0% respectively.  The major cities are, in Australia, Sydney, Perth, Melbourne, Adelaide, and Brisbane.  In New Zealand, they are Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch.  It is estimated by the United Nations that these countries will have an urban population of 96.0% and 89.0% respectively by the year 2030.

Islands

The Cook Islands, owned by New Zealand, are in the Pacific region of Polynesia.  They are ever distancing themselves from the reign of New Zealand, and to date are almost completely independent.  There are 15 major islands, the largest of which is Rarotonga, where they center their government.  Tasmania is promoted as the Natural State and the “Island of Inspiration”.  Tasmania has a landmass of 26,410 square miles, with 37% of it being held in reserves of some sort.  There are many native species, but the most noteworthy are the Thylacine, a now extinct carnivorous marsupial, and the Tasmanian devil.

Tourism

There are many popular tourist destinations in both of these countries, and all of them are as good as they seem.  Ayer’s rock is one of the most visited tourist destinations in Australia, along with the Great Barrier Reef, Fraser Island, the Blue Mountains, Kakadu national park, Kangaroo Island, and Purnululu national park, also known as Bungle Bungle national park.  New Zealand, with its beautiful black sand beaches, also boasts Rotura, a natural spa, Queen Stone, an extreme sport paradise, and Milford Sound, which has one of the best national parks in New Zealand. 

Military

The New Zealand Defence Force, the military of New Zealand, has three branches- The New Zealand Army, the Royal New Zealand Navy, and the Royal New Zealand Air Force.  New Zealand has contributed forces to many peacekeeping missions, including ones in Cyprus, Somalia, the Sinai, Angola, and Cambodia.  Australia also has three divisions, including the Australian Defence Force, the Australian Army, and the Royal Australian Air Force.  A small army of 73,000, 68th in total of the world, is all that Australia really needs.  They have been involved in few conflicts, but are a part of the United Nations.  The Global Peace Index, determined by level of corruption in the government, income, schooling, and involvement in wars, ranked New Zealand as 2nd most peaceful under Norway, Australia as 25th, and the USA as 96th under countries such as Serbia, Syria, Bahrain, the UAE, and Estonia. 

Sports

There are many sports in this region of the world, but the most prominent are Rugby, Cricket, and Netball for women.  Rugby is a sport played with a larger than size football, 15 players per team, a 100 meter field, and a manly disposition.  New Zealand’s team, one of the greatest in the world, is known as the All Blacks.  Before every match, they perform a Maori war dance called the Haka, where the shout, slap, and stick their tongues out, signifying that “I am going to eat you”.  Cricket is played on a round field, uses a wooden “bat” to hit a ball that is slightly bigger than a baseball, and is highly dangerous.  Some of the fastest “bowlers” in the league can pitch up to 90 mph, or 140 kph.  A bowler would be like a pitcher to our baseball.  Netball is the last major sport to talk of in this region.  Netball is played mainly by women in these countries, and is very similar to basketball.  It is slightly larger than a basketball court, but instead of a backboard, there is nothing.  There are 7 players per team, a ball that is lighter than a basketball, both in weight and color, as it is usually white.  Netball is the most popular women’s sport in Oceania.

References

Wikipedia. 2009. Indigenous Australians.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_Australians . 3-8-09.

Wikipedia. 2009. Ayer’s Rock / Uluru. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayer%27s_Rock .  3-8-09.

Nature & Company Limited.  1999-2007. The New Zealand Landforms, Mountains.  http://www.natureandco.co.nz/land_and_wildlife/landforms/mountains/idx_mount.php3 .  3-8-09.

Wikipedia.  2009. Great Barrier Reef.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Barrier_Reef .  3-8-09.

Jim Esson.  20 Nov 2008. Exotic Farm Animals.  http://www.teara.govt.nz/TheSettledLandscape/AnimalFarming/ExoticFarmAnimals/en .  3-8-09.

Australianfuana.com. 2004-2006. Australia’s Top Ten Most Dangerous Animals.  http://www.australianfauna.com/t10dangerous.php .  3-8-09.

CIA.  5 March 2009.  The World Factbook, New Zealand.  https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/print/nz.html .  3-8-09.

Globalis.  2009. Australian Urban Population, New Zealand Urban Population.  http://globalis.gvu.unu.edu/indicator_detail.cfm?country=AU&indicatorid=30 .  3-8-09.

Wikipedia. 2009.  Climate of Australia.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_of_Australia .  3-8-09.

Tourism New Zealand.  1999-2009. Climate and Weather.  http://www.newzealand.com/travel/about-nz/nature/nature-climate-and-weather.cfm .  3-8-09.

Australiatraveltours.com. 2009.  Australia Tourist Attractions.  http://www.travour.com/australia-travel-tours/australia-tourist-destinations/ .  3-8-09.

Geocities.com. 2009. Introduction to Rugby.  http://www.geocities.com/koolade/rugby/index.html .  3-8-09.

Answers.com. 2009. Netball.  http://www.answers.com/topic/netball#Links_to_basketball .  3-8-09.

Submitted by Jason Hester on 3-8-09