The+English+Speaking+World

The english speaking world



New Zealand is an independent state in the south-western Pacific Ocean, which consists by two big islands, the northern island and the southern island, and a few smaller islands. About 4 million people live in New Zealand and ¾ of the population live at the northern island, ¼ at the south island. The capital of New Zealand is named Wellington. The main religion at New Zealand is Christianity and over 70% of the population is Protestants. The national day is February the 6. , and their national anthem is called God Defend New Zealand, written by Thomas Bracken in English and by Thomas Henry Smith at Mãori. 79% of the population is European, mostly from UK (often called pakeha). 15% are indigenous people (Maoris). 7% are Asian or from the Pacific Ocean Islands The Maoris came from Polynesia in many periods between year 900 and 1400. From 1970 and forward have New Zealand let immigrants from Asia came to their country. Many of the immigrants have a good job, and the scientist have found out that in 2021 the population will be doubled by Asians. People from Samoa, Cook Islands, Tokelau, Fiji, Tonga and Niue is coming in big numbers to New Zealand, it’s mostly young people who want a job in the Auckland-region.
 * Generelt [[image:new_zealand.gif align="right"]]**

56% of the population lives in the five regions Auckland, Hamilton, Napier-Hastings, Wellington and Christchurch. 1/3 of New Zealand’s population lives in Auckland, and it's expected that 2/3 of the population will live in Auckland in 2026.

At New Zealand the people are talking English and Maori. New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) have also been a official language since april 2006. The English they are writing at New Zealand is almost identical to the British English, but the English they are talking is more like Scottish or northern English.
 * The language**

Maori is a language in the Austronesian language family, and it is only on New Zealand people are speaking this language.

New Zealand Sign Language is the only sign language in the world that have official status equal to other languages.

New Zealand has a very rich plant life, with about 1000 wild growing seed plants. The animal life at New Zealand is also very wealthy. It lives over 330 different kinds of birds at the island. New Zealand does also have a national animal, it is called Kiwi, and it is a little bird that looks a little like the ostrich. The kiwi bird can’t fly, and it is only living at New Zealand. The kiwi bird is active at night, they eats worms, bugs and other invertebrates. The beak is long, and kind of bendable, and this combined with an extraordinary good sense of smell makes it possible to find worms by smelling. There are three types kiwi birds; The Tokoeka, the Great Spotted Kiwi (also called Rora) and Little Spotted Kiwi.
 * Plant and animal life**

In New Zealand it is obligatory and free school for everybody between 6 and 16 years. The child starts school when they are 5 years old. 96 % of the 4- years is in some form of preschool. The education is going to be similar for everybody and the curriculum is developed nationally. A rising number of schools are bilingual (English and Maori). The school system has and still is very similar to the English. The private education system have been given more financially support from the Government, at the same time as the districts with good economy had to pay more by them self. In New Zealand there is 7 university and 25 collages. The students have to pay tuition dependent on the parent’s income form 1991.
 * School and education**

**Some facts**
-The Maori people from New Zealand have more teeth then others nation. -New Zealand is among the biggest islands in the world. -Population: They’re number 124 on the list of most population in the world with   4 173 460 inhabitant (24. July 2008). -Elisabeth II is the queen (Queen Elisabeth from England). -New Zealand is among the biggest land-mass who was populated latest. The first people came between 800 and 1300 A.C. -The first European who came to New Zealand was the leader of “Abel Tasman” in 1642. -The Dutch thought New Zealand was one island, so they gave it the name:”Staaten Landt”. Later the name was changed to “Nieuw Zeeland”. -In New Zealand they are paying with dollars and cent. -Average age for the women is 82 and for men it is 77 years.

**Why do they speak English at New Zealand?**
First of all, New Zealand was an English colony and this, of course affected their language. When the British government took over the power at New Zealand, they gave the most important jobs to their own people. Because of this, the people at New Zealand had to learn to understand and speak the English language to be able to speak to the people they worked for, and their own language got kind of pushed away.

**Similarities between New Zealand and Great Britain**
There isn’t that much New Zealand and Great Britain have in common. They have the same queen, and they speak the same language, but the countries are pretty different.

Sources: http://www.snl.no/article.html?id=692890&o=1&search=New%20Zealand http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand