COPYRIGHT
67
PENNSVALLEY
Lesson 35:
New Zealand
ACTIVITY 1:
Letters have been placed next to each
boldfaced
political and physical feature of NewZealand in the
paragraphs below. Use the letters and your classroom atlas and globe to help you find and label the
map on page 68.
More than 1000miles to the southeast of Sydney, Australia, lies the southernmost country in the
Eastern Hemisphere.
New Zealand (A)
is made up of mainly two large islands and many smaller
islands. These islands stretch out for more than 1,200 miles. The big islands are called the
North
Island (B)
and the
South Island (C)
.They are separated by the
CookStrait (D)
.
The
Tasman Sea (E)
is located to the west of New Zealand, and the
Pacific Ocean (F)
is to the
east. Forming the “backbone” of the South Island are the
SouthernAlps (G)
.They run for more than
300miles along the western side of the South Island. At 12,349 feet,
Mount Cook (H)
is the highest
point inNew Zealand.
The land of NewZealand is very diverse. It is similar to theUnitedStates, only on amuch smaller
scale.NewZealandhasadesert,mountains, coastal plains, forests, earthquakes, volcanoes, geysers,
fiords (fjords), and glaciers. In fact, the country has 360 glaciers!
About 4 million people live in New Zealand. Nearly 70 percent are of European descent. About 12
percentof thepopulationare theMaori (Mow ree)peopleofPolynesia,whooriginallysettledNewZealand.
Recent settlers have come fromAsia.Eighty-six percent of NewZealanders live inurbanareas.
Auckland (I)
is the largest city, main port, and industrial center of NewZealand.
Wellington (J)
is
the country’s capital.
Christchurch (K)
is themain city on theSouth Island.
New Zealand is a narrow island country located in the PacificOcean. No place inNew Zealand is
more than80miles from theocean.Becauseof this, theoceanaffectsmost aspects of its climate.The
country has awindy, temperate, marine climate.
NewZealand has four seasons, only in reverse to ours in theNorthernHemisphere.Summers are
quitewarm and thewinters aremild in the north, while theSouth Islandwinters are generally colder.
NewZealand receives rainfall throughout theyear.Thehighest rainfall inNewZealandoccursalong the
west coast of theSouth Island.One fiord area known as
MilfordSound (L)
receives 249 inches of rain a
year.Becauseof ocean currents, very little snowfall is received, except in thehighermountainelevations.
New Zealand
There
are no
poisinous
animals that live
inNew Zealand.
Click
&
Learn
It is thought thePolynesian people,
called theMaoris, migrated toNew
Zealand between 800 and 1300A.D.
They carved and colored patterns of
family history into their skin.The
Maoris developed a fierce dance
called the haka. It was designed
to scare off enemies.Thewarriors
would open their eyes verywide, roll
their eyes around, stick out their
tongues, and yell.Try it outside!
