preview

The Country Of New Zealand

Better Essays
Open Document

Imagine if you will, placing the state of Colorado smack dab in the middle of the
Pacific Ocean, what you are envisioning is the country of New Zealand. A moderately small Island nation made up of two islands separated by a mere 22 mile wide Cook Strait. Their climate and geography is almost completely different from one another. As a colonial nation, New Zealand is still under rule of Queen Elizabeth II, but she has very little influence due to constitutional constraints. As a democratic nation, New Zealand operates much like the United States. Being isolated has not prevented New Zealand from adapting to the ideas, customs and practices of the western world. Over 98% of the country speaks English (QuickStats about Culture and …show more content…

There are no real predators in the country and by having no threat, many of the birds evolved into not having wings to fly. The kiwi is one of those birds. The forest that these birds used to inhabit were almost wiped out by its first European settlers. Since coming to the island nation, man has obliterated nearly 75% of the trees. This deforestation devastated the country and even made some animals go extinct to include the Haast’s Eagle (Holdaway, 2013). New Zealand gained its isolation by breaking off from Australia about 25 million years ago. After breaking off, the southern island formed its mountainous region by crashing into the Alpine Fault, which formed the Southern Alps. They are located on the southern main island of New Zealand. The mountain range has caused the southern island to have two different climates. The west side of the island is mostly rainy while the east side is semi-arid because of the 9800 ft peaks blocking rain clouds from reaching it. The southern part of the north island is tropical and has over 2400 hours of sunlight each year. Leading to the northern region of the north island, the farmers and ranchers take advantage of the flat fertile land. From sheep to cow and corn to soybeans, New Zealand is almost a small United States by comparison. The snow season on New Zealand is from around June to October but the north island very rarely sees any

Get Access