英美国家概况新西兰Chapter 18 New Zealand

Chapter18NewZealandSocietyandCultureⅠ.GeographyOfficialNameNewZealandCapitalWellingtonArea270,534sqkmGeographicalFeaturesNewZealandislocatedintheSouthernHemisphere,inthesouthwestcornerofthePacificOcean.Alarge,longgroupofislandmadeupoftwomainlandmasses,theNorthIslandandtheSouthIsland,separatedbyCookStrait.NewZealandisamountainouscountry.MtCook(3,754meters)isthehighestpeak.TheSouthIslandOntheSouthIsland,thelargestofalltheNewZealand,theSouthernAlpsrunalmosttheentirelengthoftheisland,forminganaturaldividingrange.SouthIslandhasabundantglaciers.TheNorthIslandTheNorthIslandisfamousforspectacularvolcanoesandthethermalregion.ClimateNewZealand'sclimateisdominatedbytwomaingeographicalfeatures--theseaandthemountains.NewZealandisinthesoutherntemperatelatitudesmidwaybetweentheEquatorandtheSouthPole.Ithasamaritimeclimate.It’stemperaturesseldomfallbelow0℃orrisingabove30℃.SeasonsareoppositetotheNorthernHemisphere.Summer(January-March)Winter(July-September)MajorCitiesWellingtonAuckland•WellingtonisthecapitalofNewZealand.•Intermofpopulation,itisNewZealand'ssecondlargestcity.•Wellingtonisthecultural,commercialandcosmopolitancenterofthecountry.•AucklandisthelargestcityinNewZealand.•IntheMaorilanguage,Aucklandmeansthecityof100lovers.WellingtonAucklandAnimalandPlantsManyofNewZealand’snativefloweringplantsareunique.Arichvarietyoftrees,treeferns,groundferns,mossesandotherplantsmakeup“thebush”,asNewZealanderscalltheirforests.NewZealandhas250speciesofbirdsincludingthekiwi,aNewZealandbirdwithalongbeakandhair-likefeathers,whichcannotfly.AnimalandPlantsTreeFern银蕨:NewZealand'simpressivetreeferncangrowtoatoweringheightof15meters.Withmorethan150fernspeciesgrowinginNewZealand,theplanthasbecomeanationalsymbol.AnimalandPlantsKiwis几维鸟：ItisthenationalsymbolofNewZealandandNewZealandersrefertothemselvesasKiwis.AnimalandPlants四翅槐AnimalandPlants猕猴桃kiwifruitⅡ.HistoryDiscoveryofNewZealandNewZealandasaColonyNewZealandasaDominionNewZealandasaRealmDiscoveryofNewZealandPolynesianMaoriarrivedabout1,200yearsago.ThefirstEuropeandidnotreachNewZealanduntil1642,whenDutchmanAbelTasmansailedupthenorthwesterncoastoftheSouthIslandEnglishmanJamesCookbeganextensivesurveysoftheislandsin1769.Hesailedaroundthewholecoastandproducedamap.NewZealandasaColonyIn1840,theTreatyofWaitangiwassignedbyrepresentativesoftheBritishCrownandchiefsoftheindigenousMaoripeople,makingnewzealandaBritishcolony.TheTreatyisconsideredNewZealand'sfoundingdocumentanditmarksthebeginningofmodernNewZealand.Inthe1852udertheBritishParliament'sNewZealandConsititutionAct,NewZealandwasgrantedinternalself-government.NewZealandasaDominionIn1924whenWWistarted,NewZealandenthusiasticallybackedBritain.PoliticiansandhistoriansclaimsthatthecountryearnedfullnationhoodthroughitscontributionoftroopstotheAlliedforces.IntheWW2,NewZealandsentnearly200,000peopletoserveoverseasassoldiers,airmen,sailorsandnurses.In1951,seeingtheU.S.asitsmajorallyandprotector,NewZealandsignedtheANZUSTreatywiththeUnitedStatedandAustralia.In1983,NewZealandbecametheRealmofNewZealand.NewZealandasaRealmInthemid-1980s,NewZealanddeclareditsanti-nuclearpolicyandbecameanuclear-freezone.ThepolicyledtoAmerica'ssuspensionoftheANZUSsecurityguaranteestoNewZealandin1986.Betweenthemid-1980sandmid-1990s,NewZealandunderwentradicaleconomicreforms.Nowadays,NewZealandisauniqueblendofSouthPacificandEuropeancultureswithasrtongnationalidentityofitsown.Ⅲ.GovernmentNewZealandisaconstitutionalmonarchy.TheQueenofBritanistheheadofstate.AGovernorGeneral,usuallyaNewZealander,representstheQueenbydischargingvariousresponsibilities.ThePrimeMinisterofNewZealandistheheadofgovernment.separationofpowers:thelegislaure,theexecutiveandthejudiciary.Thedivisionofpowersseekstoensurethatnobranchcanactunconstitutionally.NewZealandisaunitarystateratherthanafederation,whichmeansthatregionsarecreatedontheauthorityofthecentralgovernment.Ⅲ.GovernmentBritishMonarchRepresentedbyGovernor–GeneralLegislature（Parliament）⇓HouseofRep.(120MPs-6forMaori)ExecutiveHeadedbyP.M.⇓Cabinet(20)Judiciary⇓SupremeCourtTheLegislatureNewZealand‘sParliamentdevelopedfromtheWestminstersystemofgovernment,andisthelaw-makingbodyoftheNewZealandgovernment.NewZealanddoesnothaveaformalwrittenconstitution.NewZealand'sconstitutionalarrangementsarereflectedinanumberofimportantstatutes,judicialdecisionsandcustomaryrulesknownasconstitutionalconventions.NewZealand'sParliamentconsistsoftheSovereignandtheHouseofRepresentatives.NewZealandcitizensandresidents,maleorfemale,aged18yearsandover,arelegallyallowedtovoteintheelection.TheExecutiveTheExecutivebranchoftheNewZealandgovernmentismadeupoftheCabinet,thePrimeMinisterandthepublicsector.TheCabinetexercisesexecutiveauthority.ThePrimeMinister,usuallytheheadofthemainpoliticalpartyorcoalitionofpartiesinthegovernment,leadstheCabinet.TheGovernorGeneralisappointedbytheSovereignonthePrimeMinister'srecommendationforatermoffiveyears.TheGovernorGeneralexercisestheBritishmonarch'sroyalpowers.TheJudiciaryThejudiciaryofNewZealandisindependentofthepolicy