Module 8
Australia, New Zealand, Antarctica, and the Pacific
a. Introducing the Realm
The historic isolation of New Zealand and Australia from the rest of the world has caused
animals and organisms that are not found anywhere else to develop in these two countries. The
unique biodiversity includes marsupials, or animals whose young are raised in the mother’s
pouch, such as kangaroos, wallabies, koalas, and bandicoots. It is believed that these creatures
developed separately after the continents broke away from each other more than 200 million
years ago. Many plant species are also unique to this realm. The biodiversity found here is
separate from that of Asia. This has been explained by various biogeographers by drawing
imaginary lines just north of Australia to indicate the line of division between the Asian realm
and the Austral realm. Wallace’s Line and Weber’s Line are only two such examples. Both
examples attempt to establish the correct line of demarcation for the differences in species
development between the two sides. During the ice ages, sea level was lower, and the many
islands of Southeast Asia were connected by land to the mainland. Papua New Guinea was
connected to Australia. Wallace and Weber believed that no land bridge connected the Asian side
with the Austral side for animals to cross over. This separation caused the organisms to the south
to develop independently of those in the north. For example, marsupials are not found on the
Asian side of these lines but are found on the Australian side.
New Zealand and Australia were both inhabited before the era of European colonialism.
Aboriginal people are said to have migrated to Australia across Southeast Asia from the mainland
of Asia more than 40,000 years ago. They made Australia their home and adapted to the physical
geography of the continent. For tens of thousands of years before the Europeans arrived, the
Aborigines carved out an existence in Australia and developed their cultural ways. Only about
450,000 Aborigines remain in Australia today. New Zealand was inhabited by the Polynesian
group called the Maori who established themselves on the islands in the tenth century. For
hundreds of years they, too, established their culture and traditions in the region before the
Europeans arrived. The Aborigines in Australia and the Maori in New Zealand were both
confronted with the European invaders. From their standpoint, there was much to lose by the
arrival of the Europeans. Lands were lost, new diseases killed many, and control of their methods
of livelihood were taken over by Europeans. The Maori initiated a number of wars against British
colonizers, but in the end the greater military power gained the advantage. At the present time,
the Maori make up less than 10 percent of the population of New Zealand.
The sighting of Australia by the Dutch dates to 1606. Portuguese explorers may have
sailed to Australia earlier, but there are no written records. In the early 1700s, the northern and
western coastlines of Australia were known as “New Holland.” There were no established
colonies. James Cook, a naval officer working for the British navy, commanded the ship
Endeavor and mapped Australia’s eastern coast in 1770. He made port at Botany Bay, just south
of the current city of Sydney, and claimed the region for Britain as a crown colony. He named the
land New South Wales. The charting of the coast resulted in continued attention being paid to the
region.
Meanwhile, England had a severe problem with overcrowding of its prisons. Its problem
was exacerbated by the loss of Britain’s American colonies. Upon Cook’s return to England,
interest was generated in the concept of relieving prison overcrowding by sending incarcerated
individuals to Australia. In 1787, eleven ships with 750 prisoners sailed from Great Britain to
Botany Bay. Prison colonies were established in Australia. By the end of the seventeenth century,
the entire Australian continent was under the British Crown. At the same time that the movement
of detainees from England to Australia was diminishing, the next wave of immigration was being
fueled by the discovery of gold in the 1850s. The practice of transferring convicted individuals to
Australia ended in 1868. The arrival of the Europeans had caused a serious demise in the
Aboriginal population. Aborigines were completely decimated in Tasmania.
In 1901, the various territories and states of Australia came together under one federation
called the Commonwealth of Australia. A new federal capital city of Canberra was proposed. By
1927, Canberra was ready for government activity. This commonwealth government still allowed
for individual state differences. The British monarch is considered the head of state, though it is
mainly a ceremonial position. There have been movements within Australia in recent years to
separate from the British Crown, but they have not been approved. Australia has a democratically
elected government.
British naval officer James Cook mapped the coastline of New Zealand in 1769. As the
colonial era emerged, Great Britain took possession of New Zealand and included it with its
colony of New South Wales. In the 1840s, New Zealand became a separate crown colony. The
colony developed a local parliament and a representative government. In 1893, New Zealand
made headlines as the first country in the world granting all women the right to vote. As a part of
the British Empire, the country was made a commonwealth nation in 1947 and has been
functioning independently ever since.
b. Australia
There is an international attraction to the island continent of Australia, and the attraction
has grown in intensity in the past few decades. Tourism is now the number one economic activity
in Australia. Just slightly smaller in physical area than the continental United States or Brazil,
Australia is a large country with many resources but few people relative to its size. The Tropic of
Capricorn runs right through the middle of this country. Australia hosts many unique species of
plants and animals, including marsupials and a host of poisonous snakes and insects. With the
advent of European colonialism, new species were introduced to the country, which regrettably
caused the extinction of some of the native species but also gave Australia a wide diversity of
organisms and natural conditions.
Australia is a relatively low-lying island with low relief. It is the flattest of all the
continents. The various highland ranges are pronounced, but are not high in elevation. The Great
Dividing Range is a mountain chain extending from Melbourne in the south to Cape York in the
north. This low-lying range of highlands averages about 4,000 feet and reaches an elevation of
just over 7,000 feet at its highest peaks in the south. The largest river in Australia is the Darling-
Murray River system that starts in the highland of the Great Dividing Range and flows inward
through New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, and South Australia.
The great interior of the country is home to the massive outback. Extending west from the
Great Dividing Range, the outback encompasses most of the interior. This region receives less
rainfall than along the coast and its terrain consists of deserts and semiarid plateaus with rough
grasses and scrublands. The outback is sparsely populated, but is home to a number of Aboriginal
groups. Prior to modern communication technologies, many of the school-age children in the
outback received their school lessons through television or radio broadcasts because of their
isolation. Mining and some agricultural activities can be found in the outback. Alice Springs is
located in the center of the continent and has been given the designation of the middle of
nowhere, or the center of everything.
The deserts of Australia’s interior make up a large portion of the continent. Western
Australia has three large deserts: the Gibson Desert, Great Victoria Desert, and Great Sandy
Desert. The Simpson Desert is located in the border region between the Northern Territory,
Queensland, and South Australia. These deserts are not all sand; coarse grasses and various
species of spinifex, a short plant that grows in sandy soil, also grow in the deserts. The Great
Artesian Basin on the western edge of the Great Dividing Range receives very little rainfall. It
would be classified as a desert but for its underground water resources, which support extensive
farming operations. Large livestock businesses exist in Australia’s interior with massive herds of
cattle and sheep. The grassy plateaus and scrublands provide grazing for domesticated livestock
and even wild camels.
A couple of large physical features of interest and significance to Australia are the two
largest monoliths in the world. In Western Australia, more than 500 miles to the northeast of
Perth, is Mt. Augustus National Park, which features the rock known as Mt. Augustus. It is
considered to be the largest single rock in the world. Mt. Augustus rises 2,352 feet above the
desert landscape. The single structure is about five miles long. Mt. Augustus is more than twice
the size of the most famous Australian monolith of Uluru (Ayers Rock). Uluru is located about
200 miles southwest of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory and is a well-known tourist
attraction. Uluru rises 1,142 feet above the outback and is about 2.2 miles long. Both rocks hold
significant cultural value to the Aboriginal populations in Australia. They both have ancient
petroglyphs, and both are considered sacred sites. Uluru has been more popularized through
tourism promotions
Central and Western Australia are sparsely populated. Large areas of the Northern
Territory and the desert regions are uninhabited. Approximately 40 percent of Australia’s interior
is desert, where type B climates dominate. The large land mass can heat up during the summer
months, triggering high temperatures. Low humidity allows heat to escape into the atmosphere
after the sun goes down, so there is wide temperature variation between day and night.
Along the northern coastal region there are more tropical type A climates. Closer to the
equator and with the sea to moderate temperatures, the northern areas around Darwin and Cape
York have little temperature variation. Temperatures in Darwin average about 90°F in the
summer and 86°F in the winter. Spring monsoons bring additional rainfall from February to
March.
Tasmania, Victoria, and the core region of the southeast have a more moderate and
temperate type C climate. The main cities, such as Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide, are within
this area. It is not surprising that there is a direct correlation between type C climates and the
major population areas. The Tropic of Capricorn cuts across the continent, indicating that the
cities are not that far south of the tropics. Average winter temperatures in June and July do not
usually fall below 50°F and average summer temperatures in January and February remain
around 70°F. Since the seasons are reversed from that of the Northern Hemisphere, many
Australians go to the beach for Christmas.
Australia is divided politically into six states and two territories. They are the Northern
Territory, Australian Capital Territory, Western Australia, Tasmania, South Australia,
Queensland, and New South Wales. Australian protectorates are composed of a number of small
islands around Australia. Australian core areas are conducive to large human populations. To
locate the core population areas in Australia, simply find the moderate type C climates. Australia
has two core regions. There is a small core region in the west, anchored by the city of Perth. Most
of Australia’s people live in the large core region in the east along the coast. This region extends
from Brisbane to Adelaide and holds most of the country’s population.
The total population of Australia in 2020 was only about 25.8 million. There are more
people living in one of the large metropolitan urban centers of the world than in all of Australia.
More than 90 percent of the population has European heritage; most of this percentage is from the
British Isles. English is the dominant language and Christianity is the dominant religion of
choice. The makeup of the people is a product of European colonialism and immigration.
Only about 3 percent of the current population are Indigenous, the Aboriginal people of
Australia. Australia’s population has seen periodic growth spurts as waves of immigrants
responded to national policies encouraging immigration. This was especially true after World
War II. About 24 percent of the current population was born outside Australia; most come from
the United Kingdom, and another large percentage comes from New Zealand. Asian countries
have also contributed to the Australian population, with measurable numbers of immigrants from
China, Vietnam, and the Philippines. And lastly, people from Italy and India also make up a
notable proportion of Australia’s immigrant population.
Australia’s population is not spread evenly across the landscape, since a large portion of
the interior of the country is arid or desert. The mainly urban population of about 86 percent are
mostly located along the coast. Located in the south, Melbourne is the most populous city in the
country with a population of over 5 million. Sydney, often referred to as the New York of
Australia, is positioned at the heart of the main core area, the state of New South Wales. To the
south of Sydney is the Australian Capital Territory, home to the capital city of Canberra. Hobart
is the largest city on the island of Tasmania and Darwin is the largest city in the Northern
Territory. Perth anchors the west coast core area and Adelaide is the capital of South Australia.
Brisbane is located along the east coast along a section of coastline called the Gold Coast, which
got its name originally from more expensive conditions but the title has been transformed to refer
to the entire southeast coastal area with beautiful sandy beaches that attract an important tourism
market for the country. The Australian city called the Gold Coast is located here and has emerged
to become sixth largest city in the country.
All the large cities of Australia—with except the planned capital city of Canberra—are
located on the coast. This pattern of urban distribution was a product of European colonial
development. Most of Australia’s population lives in the two economic core regions, so Australia
exhibits a distinct core-periphery spatial pattern. The core areas hold the power, wealth, and
influence while the periphery region supplies all the food, raw materials, and goods needed in the
core. Australia has never had a majority rural population since its Aboriginal times. There has
been little rural-tourban shift in Australia’s population. This is similar to Japan’s urban
development pattern.
English is the first language of the vast majority of the population. Recently enacted
policies and changing attitudes toward multiculturalism have spurred growth in the number
ofimmigrants and their descendants who speak two languages fluently—English and the language
of their birthplace or national heritage. Indigenous languages have not fared so well. As many as
300 Indigenous languages were spoken by Aborigines before the Europeans arrived, and just a
few hundred years later, that number now stands at about seventy. Most Aboriginal languages are
in danger of being replaced with English.
Until 1973, Australia had a collection of laws and policies known as the White Australia
policy, which served to limit the immigration of nonwhite persons to Australia. While the White
Australia policies limited immigration from some areas, other policies sought to expand
immigration from the United Kingdom. Subsidies were offered to British citizens to relocate to
Australia. Between 1830 and 1940, more than a million British citizens took advantage of the
offer.
In 2020, data indicate that about 23 percent of the population identifies itself as Roman
Catholic and another 23 percent self-identifies as protestant, mainly Anglican (the national
religion of the United Kingdom). An additional 30 percent indicate as following no organized
religion.[1] Regular church attendance is claimed by only a small percentage of the population.
Despite modern Australia having been settled by the British, Australian law decrees that Australia
will have no national religion and guarantees freedom of religion.
Education is well funded and internationally respected. School attendance is compulsory
between the ages of six and fifteen, and the adult literacy rate has held steady at about 99 percent.
Most students attend publicly funded schools, which are secular. Private schools, which charge
tuition fees, do exist and are typically run by religious organizations, predominantly the Catholic
Church.
A major concern for Australia is the issue of immigration. Australia has a small
population in relation to its Asian neighbors. Countries with the largest populations in the world
are located just to the north, some are Australia’s major trading partners. Densely populated
Southeast Asia is just off its north coast. Keeping large numbers of people from entering the
country is a foremost concern. The attractiveness of Australia with its higher standard of living
pulls people toward it who are seeking opportunity and advantage. The once-British colony is
becoming a part of the Asian economic community. The future reality of Australia may look
different than its colonial past.
Most of Australia—especially the wide expanse of the arid interior known as the outback
—has immense open spaces, agricultural potential or excellent resource extraction possibilities.
The extensive grasslands support tens of millions of domesticated animals—mainly cattle and
sheep—which accounts for up to one-fifth of the world’s wool production. Large agricultural
businesses include thousands of acres under one operation. The western sector of the Great
Dividing Range in New South Wales is an excellent region for commercial grain operations. The
coastal region in Queensland, since it is warmer and receives more rainfall, is good for sugarcane
and similar crops. Sheep and cattle ranches are common in central Queensland and Western
Australia. Various regions of southern Australia are excellent for grape and fruit production.
Australian wine production has risen to compete with the United States and European markets.
Only the dry central desert regions in the center of the continent are not favorable for agriculture.
In the early portion of the twentieth century, Australia gained enormous wealth by exporting food
products to the rest of the world. This is still true, but the profit margin on food goods is no
longer what it used to be. The country has had to look elsewhere to gain wealth.
Australia has excellent food production capabilities. It also has an excellent mineral
resource base. Different types of minerals can be found in different regions throughout Australia.
Western Australia has iron ore mines. The eastern region of Queensland and New South Wales
has abundant coal reserves. Minerals such as zinc, copper, gold, silver, tungsten, and nickel can
be found in various parts of the country, including Tasmania. Oil and gas fields can be found in
the northwestern coastal waters and in the Tasman Sea east of Melbourne. The country is self-
sufficient in natural gas but does have to import some petroleum products.
Are any Australian-manufactured products available where you live? What products can
you think of? Australia does not export many manufactured goods. Its main exports are food and
raw materials. If you remember how countries gain wealth, the method with the highest valued-
added profit is manufacturing. Think about Japan and the four Asian economic tigers, and how
they have gained their wealth. The economic tigers have few raw materials. Where do you
suppose the economic tigers, Japan, and China get their raw materials? With East Asia’s
enormous manufacturing capacity, there is a high demand for imported iron ore, minerals, and
raw materials.
Though Australia is a former British colony, Great Britain is not considered Australia’s
largest trading partner. Australia is closer geographically to the Asian economic community than
to the European Union. During the Cold War, Japan become Australia’s main trading partner. In
the twenty-first century, China has emerged as their largest trading partner. When Australia is
viewed in the news, in television programs, and in the movies, it is portrayed as a country with a
similar standard of living to the United States or Europe. How do Australians have such a high
standard of living if they don’t manufacture anything for export? To evaluate this, think about the
size of the population of Australia and consider the distribution of wealth. They export an
immense amount of raw materials and have a relatively small population to share the wealth.
Australia is an attractive place to visit. The environment, the animals, and the culture
make it inviting for tourism. As of the year 2002, tourism had become Australia’s number one
means of economic income. From the Great Barrier Reef, the Gold Coast, and the vast expanse of
the outback, Australia has been marketing itself as an attractive place to visit with great success.
Tourism from Japan and Asia provides a large percentage of the tourist activity. Australia has
moved through the initial stages of the index of economic development to become a society that
is urbanized with small families and high incomes.
Territorial control of Australian lands has become a major issue in recent years. Large
portions of Western Australia and the outback have traditionally been Aboriginal lands. European
colonialism on the Australian continent displaced many of the native people. Large sections of
land once used by the Aborigines were taken over by the government or by private interests.
Large agricultural operations and mining operations have used the lands without adequate
compensation to the Aboriginal people who once controlled them. Court rulings aimed at
reparations for native people have had mixed results.
There are as many as 400 different groups of Aborigines currently in Australia that make
up a total population of about 800,000. This is a small percentage of Australia’s population but
involves a large part of the physical area of the country. Their land claims include all of the
Northern Territory, a large portion of Western Australia, and parts of South Australia and
Queensland. This is in addition to claims located within many urban areas, such as the largest
city, Sydney. Mining operations on Aboriginal lands have become highly regulated. Concerns
have arisen that Australia’s extractive industries will diminish, causing a decline in the economy.
The concern for the Aboriginal population has increased in the past few decades and the
government has made attempts to mediate their political and economic issues as well as
strengthen programs that address their social welfare.
The economic future of Australia is complex. Though tourism has become a viable means
of providing income, Australia must import manufactured products that it does not produce
locally, including electronic goods, computers, vehicles, and industrial items. Import dependence
has increased its trade deficit. Trade agreements and protectionism have become a part of the
economic puzzle of how to sustain a competitive standard of living. Australia is located next to
the Asian realm. Its economy, culture, and future are becoming more Asian. Immigration has
been an issue in that the government has always restricted immigration to ensure a European
majority. Millions of Asian people would like to migrate to Australia to seek greater opportunities
and advantages, but they are legally restricted. It is becoming more difficult for Australians to
hold to their European connections with such an Asian presence. The question remains as to how
the country will handle this situation in the future.
c. New Zealand
To the east of Australia across the Tasman Sea is the country of New Zealand. New
Zealand is one of a number of sets of islands that make up Oceania, also referred to as the Pacific
Islands, a region occupying the western and central Pacific Ocean. The Pacific Islands region is
generally divided into three subregions: Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia, with New Zealand
being part of Polynesia. The Pacific Island region includes more than 25,000 individual small
islands representing twentyfive nations and territories. Most of these islands are very small. The
South and North islands of New Zealand are the second- and third-largest islands, respectively.
The North and South Islands of New Zealand are separated by a body of water known as the
Cook Straight, which is only about thirteen miles wide at its narrowest point. The North and
South Islands together are slightly larger than Great Britain or the US state of Colorado. New
Zealand also includes a number of smaller nearby islands.
New Zealand, like Australia, is in the Southern Hemisphere, which means that its seasons
are expressed at the opposite times of the seasons in East Asia, Europe, or North America. In
other words, the warmest summer months are January and February and the cooler winter months
are June and July. New Zealand lies within the Temperate Zone. There are only very moderate
seasonal differences, which are slightly more pronounced in the inland areas because the inland
areas lack the moderating influence of the ocean. In general, the North Island has somewhat
warmer average temperatures than the South Island. In summer, average low temperatures are
about 50°F, with daytime highs around 75°F. In the winter months, low temperatures average
about 35°F and high temperatures are about 50°F. The occurrence of more extreme temperatures
is limited to the mountainous peaks of the Southern Alps. Snow is common in these mountainous
regions but rarely occurs in coastal regions.
Rainfall is heaviest on the western coasts of both islands, but especially on the South
Island. The prevailing westerly winds, carrying moisture from the ocean, come in contact with the
mountains of the Southern Alps and high precipitation results. The mountains also have the
opposite effect. On the eastern side of the mountains is a rain shadow where the westerly winds
blow hot, dry air and the eastern coasts are therefore substantially drier than the western coasts.
Therefore, average precipitation rates vary widely across the country. The average annual rainfall
in Christchurch, which is on the eastern coast of the South Island, is about twenty-five inches per
year. Auckland, in the midportion of the North Island, receives twice that amount and areas on
the wetter western coast receive as much as 115 inches per year.
The North Island of New Zealand features a rather rugged coastline with numerous
harbors, bays, and inlets. The port cities of Auckland and Wellington are located on two of the
largest bays. The coastline of the South Island is somewhat more regular, except along the
southern portion of the eastern coastline, which has deep fjords. Though the North Island has
lower relief than its southern counterpart, its few mountains are volcanic in origin. The two main
islands are accompanied by smaller islands around their shores. The North Island’s highest peak
is Mt. Ruapehu, which reaches almost 9,175 feet and is an active cone volcano. It is located in the
south central part of the island. A range of highlands runs along its eastern side. The volcanism
associated with Mt. Ruapehu results from New Zealand’s location atop two tectonic plates: the
Pacific plate and the Indo-Australian plate. The boundary of these two plates forms a subduction
zone under the North Island; consequently, New Zealand experiences tens of thousands of
earthquakes per year. Though most of the earthquakes do not greatly disrupt human activity,
some have registered higher than 7 on the Richter scale. New Zealanders have made use of the
geothermal power generated by this and the tectonic features of this area and hence, New Zealand
is home to several hydrothermal power plants.
New Zealand’s geological history has laid the groundwork for more than 2,000
indigenous plant species, about 1,500 of which are found nowhere else in the world. The biomes
of the North Island include a subtropical area, including mangrove swamps, an evergreen forest
with dense undergrowth of mosses and ferns, and a small grasslands area in the central volcanic
plain. The South Island biomes include extensive grasslands in the east, which are excellent for
agricultural pursuits; forest areas, dominated by native beech trees in the west; and an alpine
vegetation zone in the Southern Alps.
In terms of fauna, the most influential factor may be the relative absence of predatory
mammals, again related to New Zealand’s geological history. With few ground predators and a
favorable climate, bats, small reptiles, and birds were able to thrive and flourish. Without
predators, many species of birds became flightless, such as the noted Kiwi. New Zealand’s most
famous bird, the moa, was similar to the ostrich but is now extinct. Moa could grow to more than
twelve feet high and weigh more than 500 pounds. New Zealand is known for its large number of
species of wild birds. The Kiwi is the most noted and is often used to refer to people from New
Zealand, as it is the national symbol of the country.
New Zealand has a variety of landscapes that have been attractive for economic activity
and tourism. The South Island is larger than the North Island and is more mountainous. The
snowcapped peaks of the Southern Alps run the western length of the South Island. Large
livestock-raising operations and agricultural activities can be found on the vast grasslands of the
South Island. Millions of sheep and cattle are raised on the grassy highlands and the valley
pasturelands. The North Island has more low-lying terrain, which is also good for agriculture and
is home to a large dairy industry. The central highlands of the north offer some rugged relief and
provide for a diverse physical landscape.
New Zealand is home to many Polynesian groups. Its original inhabitants were the Maori,
who came to the islands around the tenth century. They grew crops of gourds and sweet potatoes.
Fur seals were hunted regularly, as were moa, which were hunted to extinction before the
Europeans arrived. The Maori had created extensive trading networks with other island groups
and developed a heritage of traditional rituals and cultural ways. The Maori culture thrived for
hundreds of years and was well established in New Zealand before the arrival of the colonial
ships from Europe.
Britain was the main colonizer of the islands. The British settled in to establish their
presence and gain control. In 1840, the British colonizers and the Maori signed the Treaty of
Waitangi, which granted British sovereignty over the islands but allowed the Maori certain rights
over tribal lands. The actual language in this treaty has been debated between the English version
and the Maori version. Over time the tribal lands were codified into legal arrangements by the
European colonizers. Since the Treaty of Waitangi, the situation has evolved, with subsequent
land exchanges, some legal and others questionable. The Maori have complained about unfair
treatment and the loss of land and rights in the process. These issues have finally reached a point
of negotiation in the past couple of decades. Starting in the 1990s, treaty settlements have been
made to help correct the actions of the colonial activity and compensate the Maori for the
conditions they were subjugated to.
The Maori have not been integrated into New Zealand society to the same extent as
Europeans have. The Maori now join the ranks of other Pacific Islanders that have moved to New
Zealand from Samoa, Tonga, Cook Islands, and many other places in the South Pacific. New
Zealand’s urban areas reflect diversity in the various cultural landscapes and ethnic communities
that have established themselves in specific neighborhoods within the main cities. A common
dilemma with all peoples is the draw to return to their heritage and roots, which typically results
in a more traditional lifestyle with stronger cultural ways. At the same time, the modern world
pulls people toward a more global and cosmopolitan culture that is steeped in modernity with
changing fashions. The Maori and other ethnic groups in New Zealand find themselves facing
this dichotomy of societal dynamics.
Land and climate could be said to be New Zealand’s most important natural resources.
Fertile soils and a mild climate, complete with thousands of hours of sunshine annually, create
ideal conditions for agriculture. Grass continues to grow throughout the year, which means that
sheep and other livestock can be well grazed. Wool and other agricultural products, notably meat
and butter, are important exports for New Zealand’s economy. Healthy forests produce timber
products, which are important to the economy as well. Some of New Zealand’s natural resources
are found underground, including coal, natural gas, gold, and other minerals.
Wellington is the capital of the country and is located on the southern end of the North
Island. Wellington is one-fourth the size of the primary city, Auckland is located in the north. The
major cities are located along the coastal regions and provide a connection to sea transportation.
Christchurch is the largest city of the South Island and is located along the eastern seaboard and
surrounded by the productive Canterbury Plain. The soils and conditions on the Canterbury Plain
are excellent for productive agriculture of all types. Coastal plains also provide access to building
transportation systems of highways and railroads that are more costly to construct in the
mountainous regions of the Southern Alps or the northern highlands.
The modern cities are home to a multitude of processing centers preparing the abundant
agricultural products for domestic consumption and for export products. The ever-growing
populations of Asia and the rest of the world continue to place a high demand on food products
and welcome New Zealand’s agricultural exports. In relation to how countries gain wealth,
agricultural profits are usually quite competitive and normally provide a low profit margin. New
Zealand does not gain a large part of its national income from mining or manufacturing, though
these industries do exist. The high standard of living that exists in New Zealand is similar to that
of Australia in that the population is not very large, so that the national wealth can be distributed
via the private sector economy to accommodate a relatively good lifestyle and provide for a
comfortable standard of living.
New Zealand has a market economy. The mainstay of the economy is, and has been for
many years, a productive agricultural sector that has been geared toward export profits. New
Zealand’s climate and soils help give it a place in the economy of the region through agricultural
exports. A “wool boom” in the 1950s furthered the emphasis on agricultural products as
tremendous profits accrued in the wool production and export industry. Today, New Zealand’s
economy is still heavily focused on the export of agricultural products, though the economy has
diversified into other areas such as tourism and exploitation of natural resources, especially
natural gas. The development of hydroelectricity generation in recent years has been important to
the economy.
d. The Pacific Islands
The Pacific realm is home to many islands and island groups. The largest island is New
Guinea, which is home to most of the realm’s population. Many of the Pacific islands have
become independent countries, while others remain under the auspices of their colonial
controllers. The Pacific Theater of World War II was a battleground between the Japanese and
American forces and had a large impact on the current conditions of many of the islands. The
United States has been a major player in the post–World War II domination and control of
various island groups. The Hawaiian Islands became the fiftieth US state in 1959.
The many islands can be divided into three main groups based on physical geography and
location: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. These terms are a colonial creation to describe
the various island groups and may not indicate shared cultural or ethnic similarities. The terms
have remained useful for identification purposes for geographic location. Separate and distinct
Indigenous cultural heritage remains strong in the South Pacific, but Western culture has made
deep inroads into people’s lives. The globalization process bears heavily on the economic
conditions that influence the cultural dynamics of the Pacific. Islands or island groups that remain
under outside political jurisdiction are the most influenced by European or American cultural
forces. Western trends in fast food, pop music, clothing styles, and social customs often dominate
television, radio, and the cinema. Invasive Western cultural forces take the focus away from the
traditional Indigenous culture and heritage of the people who inhabited these isolated islands for
centuries.
Traditionally, the islands were economically self-sufficient. Fishing and growing crops
were the main economic activities, and nearby islands often established trade and exchanged
natural resources. Fishing has been one of the most common ways of supporting the economy.
There have been changes in the national boundaries to protect offshore fishing rights around each
sovereign entity. Many waters have been overfished, consequently reducing the islands’ ability to
provide food for their people or to gain national wealth. An increase in population and the
introduction of modern technologies has brought about a dependency on the world’s core areas
for economic support.
The Pacific is an extreme peripheral realm with little to offer to the core areas for
economic exploitation. In recent decades, some national wealth has been gained from the mining
of substances such as phosphates on a few of the islands. The main resources available are a
pleasant climate, beautiful beaches, and tropical island terrain, all of which can be attractive to
tourists and people from other places. Tourism is a growing sector of the service industry and a
major means of gaining wealth for various island groups. To attract tourism, the islands must
invest in the necessary infrastructure, such as airports, hotels, and supporting services. Long
distances between islands and remote locations make tourism transportation expensive. Not every
island has the funding or resources to support these expenditures to draw tourists to their
locations.
The region of the Pacific north of Australia that borders Indonesia to the east is called
Melanesia. The name originally referred to people with darker skin but does not adequately
describe the region’s current ethnic diversity. The main island groups include Fiji, New
Caledonia, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea. All are independent countries
except New Caledonia, which is under the French government. The island of New Guinea is
shared between Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. Many Indonesian islands are technically in
Melanesia and share similar characteristics with many of the others in the region.
Papua New Guinea is the largest country in the Pacific realm and therefore the largest in
Melanesia. It is diverse in both physical terrain and human geography. The high mountains of the
interior reach 14,793 feet. Snow has been known to fall in the higher elevations even though they
are located near the equator. Many local groups inhabit the island, and more than 700 separate
languages are spoken, more than in any other country in the world. Indigenous traditions create
strong centripetal forces. Many islands of Melanesia are recently independent of their European
controllers; Papua New Guinea received independence in 1975 and is working toward fitting into
the global community.
Papua New Guinea is a diverse country that still has many mysteries to be revealed in its
little-explored interior. The country’s large physical area provides greater opportunities for the
exploitation of natural resources for economic gain. The interior of the island has large areas that
have not been exploited by large-scale development projects. In the past few decades, oil was
discovered and makes up its largest export item. Gold, copper, silver, and other minerals are
being extracted in extensive mining operations, often by outside multinational corporations.
Subsistence agriculture is the main economic activity of most of the people. Coffee and cocoa are
examples of agricultural exports.
A number of islands off Papua New Guinea’s eastern coast—including Bougainville—
have valuable mineral deposits. Bougainville and the islands under its jurisdiction are physically
a part of the Solomon Island archipelago but are politically an autonomous region of Papua New
Guinea. Volcanic vents deep under the sea continue to bring hot magma and minerals to the
surface of the ocean floor, creating valuable exploitable resources. Papua New Guinea has laid
claim to these islands and the underwater resources within their maritime boundaries. Rebel
movements have pushed for the independence of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville but
have been unsuccessful. The islands remain under the government of Papua New Guinea.
To the east of the island of New Guinea are the Solomon Islands, a group of more than
1,000 islands. About eighty of them hold most of the population of more than a half a million.
The island of Guadalcanal was the site of some of the fiercest fighting in World War II between
Japan and the United States. Honiara, the capital city, is on Guadalcanal. The Solomon Islands
were a colony of Great Britain but gained independence in 1978. Colonialism, World War II, and
ethnic conflict on the islands created serious centrifugal cultural forces, divisions, and political
tensions over the past few decades. In 2003, military and police troops from other islands and
Australia intervened to restore order after ethnic tension erupted into civil unrest.
The country of Vanuatu was inhabited by a large number of South Pacific groups; as a
result, many languages are spoken within a relatively small population. The French and the
British both colonized the island archipelago. It was called the New Hebrides before
independence in 1980, when the name was changed to Vanuatu. These small volcanic islands
have an active volcano and have experienced earthquakes in recent years. One of Vanuatu’s
means of bringing in business has been to establish offshore banking and financial services,
similar to what is found in the Caribbean. Many shipping firms register their ships there because
of the advantages of lower taxes and flexible labor laws.
New Caledonia is still a collectivity of overseas France and was once a French prison
colony. Under a current agreement, sovereignty is slowly being turned over to the local island
government. Periodic reevaluations of the local government will be conducted to see if
independence can be granted. New Caledonia has historically relied on subsistence agriculture
and fishing for its livelihood. About 25 percent of the world’s known nickel resources are located
here. Nickel resources could substantially affect the economy, bring in foreign investments, and
raise the standard of living.
Fiji is located in the eastern sector of Melanesia and has almost 1 million people. The
country includes more than one hundred inhabitable islands, but two are home to most of the
population. Colonialism heavily impacted the population’s ethnic makeup. During British
colonial rule, thousands of workers from South Asia were brought in by the British to work on
the sugar plantations. After a century of British rule, Fiji became independent in 1970. The
people of South Asian descent remained in Fiji and now make up more than one-third of the
population. Ethnic conflicts erupted on the political scene between the Melanesian majority and
the South Asian minority. Political coups and coalition governments have attempted to work out
political solutions with limited success. Fiji is quite well developed and has a substantial tourism
industry that augments the other agricultural and mining activities.
North of the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea is the large region of Micronesia.
The “micro” portion of the name refers to the fact that the islands are small in size—often only
one square mile or so in physical area. The region has more than 2,000 islands. Most of the
islands are composed of coral and do not extend above sea level to any large extent. These low
islands dominate the high islands. The high islands are usually of volcanic origin and reach
elevations in the thousands of feet.
The largest island in Micronesia is Guam. It is only 210 square miles in area and reaches
an elevation of 1,335 feet at its highest point. Coral reefs surround Guam’s volcanic center. Guam
is not an independent country but a U.S. possession. The island was a strategic location during
World War II, and the United States has major military installations located on the island.
The Northern Mariana Islands are next to Guam and are current U.S. possessions, along
with Wake Island in the northeast. The U.S. administers the United Nations Trust Territory of the
Federated States of Micronesia. Implemented in 1986 and renewed again in 2004, the islands
entered into the Compact of Free Association with the United States and established an
independent status.
The independent island country of Nauru is only about eight square miles in physical
area, but its large phosphate deposits created enormous wealth for its small population. Once the
phosphates had been mined, however, there was little means to gain wealth on such a small island
with a devastated landscape. Many on Nauru are trying to live off the investments from their
mining wealth or have moved to find a livelihood elsewhere.
Palau, located in western Micronesia, has a population of about 20,000 people and an
area of about 177 square miles. Its early inhabitants included people from Asia and from the
Pacific realm. British explorers arrived early on the island, but Spain dominated it during the
colonial era. After losing the Spanish-American War, Spain sold the island to Germany, which
implemented mining operations on the island. After its defeat in World War I, Germany lost the
island to Japan. Japan used it as a strategic outpost but was defeated in World War II and had to
give up all its external possessions. After 1945, Palau was held by the United States and the UN.
In 1994, the island opted for independence and retained an agreement of free association with the
United States. The United States has held strategic military installations on Palau and other
islands in Micronesia. Palau’s economic and geopolitical dynamics are highly reflective of U.S.
activities in the region.
Marshall Islands, on the eastern side of Micronesia, experienced serious devastation from
the conflict between Japan and the United States during World War II. The Marshall Islands
became a testing ground for U.S. nuclear weapons. Atomic bombs were tested on various atolls,
rendering them uninhabitable. An atoll is a coral island that surrounds a lagoon. From 1946 to
1958, the United States conducted sixty-seven atmospheric nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands.
The largest was known as the Bravo test, which included the detonation of a nuclear device over
Bikini Atoll that was 1,000 times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima
during World War II. There are concerns about radioactive fallout that may still affect the people
who inhabit nearby atolls. The Marshall Islands were granted independence in 1986 with an
agreement with the United States to provide aid and protection in exchange for the use of U.S.
military bases on the islands.
The largest region of the Pacific is Polynesia, a land of many island groups with large
distances between them. The root word poly means “many.” Numerous groups of islands have
come together under separate political arrangements. The region includes the Hawaiian Islands in
the north and the Pitcairn Islands and Easter Island to the east. New Zealand is now studied as a
part of the Austral realm, but the Maori living there are originally from Polynesia. Polynesia has a
mixture of island types ranging from the high mountains of Hawaii, which are more than 13,800
feet, to lowlying coral atolls that are only a few feet above sea level. Islands that have enough
elevation to condense moisture from the clouds receive adequate precipitation, but many islands
with low elevations have a shortage of fresh water, making habitation or human development
difficult.
At the beginning of the twenty-first century, Polynesia only had four independent island
groups: Kiribati, Samoa, Tonga, and Tuvalu. The rest of the many islands and island groups in
Polynesia are claimed by or under the control or jurisdiction of other countries: mainly the United
States, France, Great Britain, or New Zealand. Hawaii was a sovereign and independent kingdom
from 1810 to 1893, when the monarchy was overthrown and the islands became a republic that
was annexed as a U.S. territory. Hawaii became the fiftieth US state in 1959. Hawaii’s
development pattern is modern, based on tourism from the continental United States and the U.S.
military base on Pearl Harbor. According to the U.S. Census, Hawaii had a population of 1.42
million in 2020. More than one-third of the people are of Asian descent, and at least 10 percent
are native Hawaiians or Pacific Islanders. The United States has a number of additional
possessions in Polynesia that include various small islands, atolls, or uninhabited reefs.
Kiribati includes three sets of islands located in both Micronesia and Polynesia. The main
component of Kiribati is the Gilbert Island chain in Micronesia, where the capital city and most
of the population are located. The other two minor island chains are the Phoenix Islands and the
Line Islands in Polynesia. Both island chains were U.S. possessions before being annexed with
the Gilbert Islands to become Kiribati. The Line Islands were used for testing of British hydrogen
bombs starting in 1957. Three atmospheric nuclear tests were conducted by the British on Malden
Island, and six were conducted on Christmas Island. There is concern about how radiation
affected people present during the tests and thereafter. The Phoenix Islands have few inhabitants.
In 2008, Kiribati declared the entire island group a protected environmental area, which made it
the largest protected marine habitat in the world. Kiribati is the only country with land in all four
hemispheres: north and south of the equator and on both sides of the 180° meridian.
The Samoan Islands are volcanic, and the most active volcano last erupted in 1906. In
Samoa, three-quarters of the nearly 200,000 people live on the larger of the two main islands.
Colonialism has had a major impact on the culture, especially in the case of religion. Christianity
became widespread once it was introduced and is now the religion of about 99 percent of the
population. American music and societal trends are also a major influence on the islands because
of migration between Hawaii and the U.S. mainland. Many Samoans have moved to the United
States and established communities. Cultural traditions have been preserved and are often
integrated into modern society. Samoa has some of the oldest history and traditions of Polynesia.
For many years, the United States has held an extensive naval station in the bay of Pago Pago on
American Samoa. During World War II, there were more U.S. military personnel on the islands
than Samoans. American Samoa became a key military post for the United States. American
Samoa remains a U.S. possession; however, Samoans are not U.S. citizens unless one of their
parents is a U.S. citizen.
South of Samoa is an archipelago that is home to the Kingdom of Tonga. Only about 36
of the 169 islands are inhabited by a total population of about 106,000 people. Tonga is ruled by a
monarchy that never lost its governance powers throughout the colonial era. Tonga is the only
monarchy in the Pacific. The two main methods of gaining wealth are by remittances from
citizens working abroad and tourism.
The island nation of Tuvalu comprises four reef islands and five atolls for a total land
area of about ten square miles. In 2020, it had a population of about 11,000 people. These
statistics indicate that Tuvalu is one of the four smallest countries in the world. Other small
countries include Nauru, which is only about eight square miles in area. Only the Vatican and
Monaco are smaller. The low elevation of the islands of Tuvalu make them susceptible to damage
from rising sea levels. The highest point is only fifteen feet in elevation. Any increase in ocean
levels as a result of climate change could threaten the existence of this country. In 2000, the
government appealed to Australia and New Zealand to take in Tuvaluans if rising sea levels
should make evacuation necessary.
e. Antarctica
South of 60 degrees is the Southern Ocean, which surrounds the continent of Antarctica.
Not all maps of the Southern Hemisphere indicate the Southern Ocean. The cold waters off the
coast of Antarctica move from west to east in a clockwise rotation around the continent in a
movement called the West Wind Drift, or the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. The Southern
Ocean’s northern boundary does not border a land mass but meets up with the Atlantic, Pacific,
and Indian Oceans.
The Southern Ocean’s northern boundary has more to do with the marine conditions of
the realm. There is a transition called the Subtropical Convergence in which the cold, dense
waters of the Southern Ocean meet up with the warmer waters of the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian
Oceans. The cold, dense water from the south sinks below the warm waters from the north to
create a zone of upwelling and mixing that is conducive to high levels of productivity for
organisms such as phytoplankton and krill. The zone of Subtropical Convergence can be visually
observed by the grayish, cold southern waters meeting up with the bluish-green, warm northern
waters. The krill, which thrive on phytoplankton, are an important link in the food chain for
marine organisms such as fish, penguins, seals, albatrosses, and whales in the Southern Ocean.
The world has seven focal continents. Rated by physical area from the largest to the
smallest, they are Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Australia, and
Europe. Antarctica, which is larger than Australia and 1.3 times larger than Europe, is located
entirely south of 60° latitude and is surrounded by the Southern Ocean. Antarctica has the highest
average elevation of any continent; there are many mountain ranges. The 2,000-mile-long
Transantarctic Mountain range divides Antarctica into a small western region and a larger eastern
region. At both ends of the Transantarctic Mountains are the two main ice shelves: the Ross Ice
Shelf and the Ronne Ice Shelf. The Ellsworth Mountains are located in the western region and are
home to Mt. Vinson (or the Vinson Massif), which is the highest peak on the continent, reaching
an elevation of 16,050 feet. This is higher than any mountain in the contiguous, continental
United States, the Alps of Europe, or Australia.
The continent is not politically controlled by any one government. Early seafaring
explorers sailed in these waters, and various countries laid claim to sections of the continent. The
continent was first sighted by explorers in 1820, and the South Pole was first reached in 1911.
Land claims to the continent were established by the home countries of early explorers. Forty-six
countries are now included in the Antarctic Treaty, which was originally signed by twelve
countries in 1959. The treaty, designed to protect the environment and encourage scientific
research, prohibits military activities, mineral mining, and the disposal of waste products. All
land claims were suspended when the Antarctic Treaty was initiated, but the claims are not
without political ramifications. Antarctica is divided into pie-shaped sections, and each of the
original claimant countries is allocated a portion, according to their claim. The countries with
original claims are Norway, New Zealand, France, Chile, Australia, and Argentina. Other
countries, including Brazil, Peru, Russia, South Africa, Spain, and the United States, have
reserved their right to submit claims on the continent in the future if the issue of territorial claims
becomes significant. A large sector of West Antarctica called Marie Byrd Land remains
unclaimed.
Climactic conditions on Earth have varied widely during the planet’s history. There have
been long periods of heating or cooling. The last ice age, which ended about 10,000 years ago,
created large ice sheets that covered much of the Northern Hemisphere. The Earth then entered
into the current interglacial period with warmer temperatures that melted the ice sheets; the polar
regions have the last remaining ice on the planet. The Earth has experienced large fluctuations in
its temperature at various times in its past. Natural changes in the conditions that affect climate
can include but are not limited to the radiation dynamics of the sun, changes in the earth’s orbit,
and volcanic eruptions.
Climate change can have a major impact on atmospheric conditions. It should be noted
that good ozone depletion in the stratosphere (the second layer of the earth’s atmosphere) has
different causes and conditions than temperature change in the troposphere (the layer just above
the earth’s surface). The two concepts have separate and distinct dynamics that are not directly
related. Ozone (O3 ) is a simple molecule consisting of three oxygen atoms. Common oxygen gas
molecules have two oxygen atoms (O2 ). Depending on where ozone is located in the
atmosphere, it can be either a protective safeguard from ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun or
an element in smog that causes health problems. Good ozone in the stratosphere provides a
protective shield preventing harmful UV radiation from reaching the earth. UV rays from the sun
are known to cause skin cancers, eye damage, and harm to organisms such as plankton. Bad
ozone molecules in the troposphere mix with various chemicals to create smog, which reduces
visibility and can cause respiratory health problems. Tropospheric smog might contribute to
climate change but does not serve the same function as ozone molecules in the stratosphere. The
depletion of good ozone in the stratosphere is a different chemical process than the creation of
bad ozone in the troposphere.
Ozone in the stratosphere is vital to the protection of living organisms from damaging
UV radiation from the sun. In the stratosphere, UV radiation is absorbed in a continuous cycle in
which oxygen molecules are turned into ozone molecules and then back into oxygen molecules.
Oxygen molecules (O2 ) absorb UV radiation in the stratosphere and separate into two oxygen
atoms (O2 → 2 O). Each of these oxygen atoms (O) will attach to another oxygen molecule to
create an ozone molecule (O + O2 → O3 ). Each ozone molecule (O3 ) will absorb UV radiation,
which separates it back into an oxygen molecule and an atomic oxygen atom (O3 → O2 + O).
The separate oxygen (O) atom will attach to another separate oxygen atom (O) to become an
oxygen molecule (O2 ) again (O + O → O2 ). This cycle will continue to absorb UV radiation
and keep UV radiation from reaching the earth’s surface. It is a chemical reaction that gives off
heat and increases the stratosphere’s temperature.
Many governments around the world have established agencies to address environmental
issues and have invested resources in continued research and scientific discovery. Many
nongovernmental agencies and organizations such as Greenpeace International have also been
established to address the development or management of Antarctica and to address
environmental concerns. International organizations such as the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP) have been formed to enhance cooperation between countries and concerned
entities. In 1998, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was established by the
UNEP and the World Meteorological Organization to address the work of the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Through an international treaty, the
agency focuses on the harmful effects of climate change. One outcome of the UNFCCC’s work
was the Kyoto Protocol developed in 1997 in Kyoto, Japan, which created a legal commitment by
participants to reduce greenhouse gases and address climate change issues. As of 2010, 191
countries have signed on to the initiative. The United States has not yet ratified the protocol.
Enforcing the Kyoto Protocol is a matter of debate. The 2009 United Nations Climate Change
Conference (also referred to as the Copenhagen Summit) was held in Denmark to address some
of the same issues that were discussed in the Kyoto Protocol.
In 2016, a legally binding international treaty on climate change called the Paris
Agreement was adopted by 196 states. Its goal is to limit global warming to well below 2,
preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels. To achieve this long-term
temperature goal, countries aim to reach global peaking of greenhouse gas emissions as soon as
possible to achieve a climate neutral world by mid-century. [2] China, India, and the United
States signed on to the agreement in 2016. The United States withdrew from the agreement in
2020 and then entered back into the agreement in 2021 under a different president. The Paris
Agreement was aimed at addressing climate change under a global effort or initiative. Countries
with high carbon emissions such as the United States, China, or India may find it difficult to
address their responsibility to this agreement.
Depletion of the stratospheric ozone over the polar regions or the thinning of the ozone
layer over the midlatitudes would have worldwide implications for human activity and
environmental conditions. Climate change is not restricted to one country or one government;
these and other environmental issues affect the whole planet and impact everyone, whether they
are contributing to the problem or not. If the sea level were to rise to the level predicted because
of global warming, it would affect every country with a coastline in the world. It would not be
restricted to any one category of country, developed or undeveloped. Issues of increased UV
radiation or climate change are not restricted by political boundaries or economic conditions; they
require global thinking and awareness and cannot be solved by one country alone—if they can be
solved at all.
