New Zealand (1)
New Zealand is an island country in the Southwest Pacific Ocean. It lies about 1600 km southeast of Australia and about 10 500 km southwest of California. New Zealand belongs to a large island group called Polynesia. The country is situated on two main islands — the North Island and the South Island — and several dozen smaller islands. Most of the smaller islands are hundreds of kilometers from the main ones.
Wellington is the capital of New Zealand and Auckland is the largest city. English is the official language of New Zealand and is spoken throughout the country. Many native people speak their own language» Maori, in addition to English.
The country once belonged to the British empire. Today it is an independent member of the Commonwealth of Nations, an association of Britain and a number of its former colonies.
New Zealand is a constitutional monarchy. The British Monarch, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, is the monarch of New Zealand. She appoints a governor general to represent her, but the governor general has little power. The legislation, prime minister, and Cabinet run the national government.
Britain gave New Zealand a constitution in 1852, when it was a British colony. But through the years the New Zealand legislature has changed almost all its provisions. Today, the nation has no written constitution.
The first people who settled in New Zealand were a brown-skinned people called Maoris. They came from Polynesian islands located northeast of New Zealand. The country was discovered by Europeans in 1642, but they did not start to settle in the islands until the late 1700's. Today, most New Zealanders are descendants of the early European settlers. Maoris make up about 12 % of the country's population
New Zealand has one of the highest standard of living in the world. For many years, the economy of the country depended largely on agriculture. Today agriculture, manufacturing, and service industries are all important to the economy. New Zealand's economy depends on trade with many countries — Australia, Britain, Japan and the United States.
The Russian capital is celebrating its 864th birthday. The solemn celebration ceremony began at noon with the chimes of the Kremlin tower clock. For the first time in the last two decades, a dramatized show took place in Red Square in the presence of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, city mayor Sergei Sobyanin and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia. Before the show, city authorities laid flowers on the tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the statue of Marshal Georgy Zhukov.
Over 6,000 war veterans, leaders of the country and its capital, representatives of public and youth organizations and religious confessions were among spectators on the stands specially established in the main square of the country on the occasion of the Moscow City Day. The show was divided into five parts in which famous symphony orchestras, dance groups, Bolshoi Theatre soloists and Todes Ballet dancers showed their skills. The show was meant to combine the history, the present day and the future of the Russian capital. Congratulating Muscovites, Dmitry Medvedev stressed the city’s historical role and assured its residents that their opinions on the development of the city will be taken into consideration:
“Today’s Moscow is one of the most beautiful and influential cities of the world. We have started to implement such initiatives as building an International Financial Centre and also an administrative centre on the city’s new territory. Undoubtedly, this is a historic task. Both these centres are meant to make Moscow a comfortable, well-planned and competitive city.”
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