New Zealand | |
|---|---|
| Land Area | 264537km² |
| Land Area + Seaarea | |
| Population | 4509900 |
| Population density | 17.0 / km² |
New Zealand (Māori: Aotearoa [aɔˈtɛaɾɔa]) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It includes two main landmasses--the North Island (Te Ika-a-Māui) and the South Island (Te Waipounamu)--and about 600 smaller islands, covering a total area of 268,021 square kilometres (103,500 sq mi). New Zealand is roughly 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and 1,000 kilometres (600 mi) south of the islands of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga. The country's diverse topography and sharp mountain peaks, including the Southern Alps, owe much to tectonic uplift and volcanic eruptions. New Zealand's capital city is Wellington, and its most populous city is Auckland. Owing to their remoteness, the islands of New Zealand were the last large habitable lands to be settled by humans. Between approximately 1280 and 1350, Polynesians began to settle in the islands, and then developed a distinctive Māori culture. In 1642, Dutch explorer Abel Tasman became the first European to sight New Zealand. In 1840, representatives of the United Kingdom and Māori chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi, which announced British sovereignty over the islands. In 1841, New Zealand became a colony within the British Empire and in 1907 it became a dominion; it gained complete statutory independence in 1947 and the British monarch remained the head of state. Now, the majority of New Zealand's population of 5 million is of European descent; the native Māori are the largest minority, followed by Asians and Pacific Islanders. Reflecting this, New Zealand's culture is mainly derived from Māori and early British settlers, with recent broadening arising from increased immigration. The official languages are English, Māori, and New Zealand Sign Language, with English being very dominant. A developed country, New Zealand ranks highly in international comparisons of national performance, such as quality of life, education, protection of civil liberties, government transparency, and economic freedom. New Zealand underwent major economic changes during the 1980s, which transformed it from a protectionist to a liberalised free-trade economy. The service sector dominates the national economy, followed by the industrial sector, and agriculture; international tourism is a substantial source of revenue. Nationally, legislative authority is vested in an elected, unicameral Parliament, while executive political power is exercised by the Cabinet, headed by the prime minister, currently Jacinda Ardern. Queen Elizabeth II is the nation's monarch and is represented by a governor-general, currently Dame Patsy Reddy. In addition, New Zealand is organised into 11 regional councils and 67 territorial authorities for local government functions. The Realm of New Zealand also includes Tokelau (a dependent territory); the Cook Islands and Niue (self-governing states in free association with New Zealand); and the Ross Dependency, which is New Zealand's territorial claim in Antarctica. New Zealand is a member of the United Nations, Commonwealth of Nations, ANZUS, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, ASEAN Plus Six, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, the Pacific Community and the Pacific Islands Forum.
Source: WikipediaKyrgyzstan | |
|---|---|
| Land Area | 191801km² |
| Land Area + Seaarea | |
| Population | 5543300 |
| Population density | 28.9 / km² |
Kyrgyzstan ( Kyrgyz: Кыргызстан Qırğızstan [qɯrʁɯsˈstɑn]), formally the Kyrgyz Republic (Kyrgyz: Кыргыз Республикасы, romanized: Qırğız Respublikası) and also known as Kirghizia (Russian: Киргизия [kʲɪrˈɡʲizʲɪjə]), is a country in Central Asia. The second-smallest of the five Central Asian countries, it occupied 0.9 percentage of the Soviet Union.It is bordered by four nations; Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west and west, Tajikistan to the southwest and China to the east. Its capital and largest city is Bishkek. Kyrgyzstan's recorded history spans over 2,000 years, encompassing an assortment of cultures and empires. Although geographically isolated by its own highly mountainous terrain, which has helped preserve its ancient civilization, Kyrgyzstan has been at the crossroads of many great civilizations as part of the Silk Road and other commercial and cultural routes. Though long inhabited by a succession of independent tribes and clans, Kyrgyzstan has occasionally fallen under foreign domination. In between times of self-government it was ruled by Göktürks, the Uyghur Empire, and the Khitan people, before being defeated by the Mongols in the 13th century; subsequently it regained independence but was invaded by Kalmyks, Manchus and Uzbeks. In 1876 it became a part of the Russian Empire, remaining in the USSR as the Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic following the Russian Revolution. After Mikhael Gorbachev's democratic reforms in the USSR, in 1990 pro-independence candidate Askar Akayev was elected president of the SSR. On 31 August 1991, Kyrgyzstan declared independence from Moscow, and a democratic government was afterwards established. Kyrgyzstan attained sovereignty for a nation-state only after the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. Since independence, the sovereign state has formally been a unitary parliamentary republic, even though it continues to endure cultural conflicts, revolts, economic troubles, transitional governments and political conflict. Kyrgyzstan is a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Eurasian Economic Union, the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, the Turkic Council, the Türksoy community and the United Nations. Ethnic Kyrgyz make up most the country's six million people, followed by significant minorities of Uzbeks and Russians. Kyrgyz is closely linked to other Turkic languages, although Russian remains widely spoken and is a formal language, a legacy of a century of Russification. Ninety percent of the population are Muslims, with the majority being Sunni. Along with its Turkic roots, Kyrgyz culture occupies elements of Persian, Mongolian and Russian influence.
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