PACIFIC ISLAND

Pacific Islands

The Pacific Islands is a term broadly

referring to the islands of the Pacific
ocean. It may refer to countries and
islands with common Autronesian
origins, islands once or currently
colonized, or Oceania

Pacific Islands
In English, the umbrella term PACIFIC
ISLANDS may take several meanings.
- Sometimes ot refers to only those
islands covered by the geopolitical
concept of Oceania.
- In some common uses, the term "Pacific
Island" referes to the islands of the
pacific ocean once colonized by the
British, French, Dutch, United States,

Pacific Islands
- In other uses it may refer to
Islands with Austronesian
heritage lie Taiwan,
Indonesia, Micronesia,
Polynesia, Myanmar islands,
which found their genesis in
the neolitic cultures of the
island of Taiwan.

Pacific Islands
The Pacific Ocean, approximately one third of
the earth's surface is the setting for a world of
islands whuch were originally occupied
people who achieved the greatest feats of
maritime navigation in all human history.

By area : over 10,000 square kilometers

It comprises 20,000 to 30,000 islands in the
pacific ocean.

PACIFIC ISLANDS WEATHER

A humid, warmer period

from November to April;
Drier, cooler period from
May to October

Economy

Population - 34, 700, 201

GDP - PPP:US 720 billion (2003)
GDP per capital - PPP: 22, 647

MAP OF PACIFIC ISLAND

MAP OF PACIFIC ISLAND

3 sub-Region oF Pacific
Islands
Melanesia
It consist of a group of islands
stretching along the northern
perimeter of Australia from New
Guinea east to Fiji. Its major island
groups include the nations of Fiji,
Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, The
Solomon Islands and New Caledonia.

 The name is derived from the work

melanin refers to the dark skin and
hair of the native Papuan speaking
people. It has approximately 6.4 M
4.8 M live on Papau New Guinea. Way
of living is farming except for Papau
which has a copper, gold, oil and
New Caledonia with nickel most
islands still rely on coconut and copra
for their export income.

Melanesians
Melanesians

Micronesia
Located to the North Melanesia from
Guam and Marianas on the west to
Kiribati on the east.. It includes the
islands of Guam, Kiribati, Nauru, the
Marshalls, and the Northern Mariana
Islands, Palau and Federated States
of Micronesia.
Micro- means small. It consist of
more than 2000 islands. Guam is the
largest islands at 210 square miles.

 Its population is about 650000. The

Micronesian communities have
developed a large number of spoken
languages and are fairly isolated
from each other in distance but not
in ties to each other. There is a good
relationship between high islands
farmers and low island fishermen.
The trade for food and other basic
needs encourages circulation among
islanders and a treat of a typhoon
makes a low islanders seek safety on
higher islands.

 Micronesian

POLYNESIAN
Is east of Micronesia and Melanesia
lies in a triangle formed by Hawaii,
pitcairn
and New Zealand.
Poly - which means many and
polynesia is the largest of 3 sub
region of Pacific islands. The water
area of Polynesia is about 15,000,000
square miles
The land area is only 114,000

It is made up of the ff. island groups:

1. Hawaii
2. Tuvula
3. Wallis and Futuna
4. Tokleau islands
5. Western Samoa
6. American Samoa
7. Niue
8. Cook Islands
9.Pitcairn
10. Tonga and French Polynesia

 The population of Polynesia is only

1.9 M. Hawaii has the largest
population with 1.2 M people.
Polynesians have lighter colored skin
and wavier hair than other.
Polynesian culture though spread
over a large geographic area is
remarkably similar from one islands
to other they are well adopted to
their maritime environment.
Polynesian were navigating their
wide expenses of water using huge
double canoes, ff maps constructed

 The foreign influence over the region

was large at one time. Hawaii
became 50th state of the US in 1959.
tonga became independent country
in 1970. The Ellice island(tuvula)
received independence from Britain
in 1978 French Polynesia and Wallis
and Fortuna continue under
French control and New Zealand stills
controls the Tokelau Islands, pitcairn
is a British territory. Polynesian
islands are best known by westerner
who associate romance and tropical

AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND

Two isolated, feisty countries, with a shared heritage

that squabble like siblings. Spend a bit of time in either
country and you'll hear a litany of jokes disparaging the
other. The bigger one picks on the smaller one, and the
smaller one gives as good as it gets.

Australia and New Zealand share three main

commonalities. Firstly, the urban societies of
both countries were created by the British in
the last three centuries and built on the
invasion of a population that didn't live in cities.
Secondly, around 20 percent of the population
of both countries are migrants. Thirdly, both
countries are in the same part of the world.
Australia was founded to be a penal colony
while New Zealand was founded to be a
religious colony.

ECONOMY
New Zealand's economy underperforms. In
2004, per capita GDP was $US23,200, which
was only about 60 per cent of American per
capita GDP and even lower than Spanish
GDP. New Zealanders want a tourism-based
economy like Fiji, the Solomon Islands or the
Philippines. New Zealand's major trading
partners are Australia, the United States and
Japan

The Australian economy also underperforms,

although not to the same extent as New Zealand.
In 2004, Australian per capita GDP was
$US32,900, which was equal to the four largest
west European economies, but lower than
America. Mining is a profitable industry in
Australia, and contributed 5.6 per cent to GDP in
2003. Services are the largest sector of the
Australian economy. Australia has significantly
more trade with Asia than New Zealand has. China
is Australia's largest trading partner, followed by
Japan, South Korea, and the United States.

LANGUAGE
New Zealand and Australia have different
versions of English. One difference is that
New Zealanders have difficulty pronouncing
'I' sounds correctly. Another difference is that
New Zealand English lacks the difference in
male and female pronunciation that is a
feature of Australian English. In New Zealand,
men and women pronounce their diagnostic
vowels in the same fashion. On the other
hand, the male Australian accent is
significantly different from the female accent.

PROMINOUS ACCENT IN AUSTRALIA

10%- broad accent
80%- British received accent
10%- cultivated accent
Australia is the only English speaking
country with a gender difference in
pronunciation. A final difference between
Australia and New Zealand English is
creativity in language use.

POLITICAL SYSTEM
Australia and New Zealand have had different kinds
of social disputes over the last two centuries. As a
result, their political systems have been designed to
address those disputes. In Australia, voting is
compulsory. In New Zealand, it is not. Australia uses
preferential voting in which candidates are ranked in
order of preference. New Zealand does not. Australia
uses a first-past-the-post system that gives the seat
to the candidate that gets the most votes, or
preferences. New Zealand uses a proportional voting
system.

Two major parties dominating in Australia:

The major parties of Australia are the
Australian Labor Party, which uses
American spelling, and the Liberal Party of
Australia.
The major parties of New Zealand are the
New Zealand Labour Party, which uses
British spelling, and the New Zealand
National Party.
The Queen of England is the head of state
of both countries.

INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
Maori culture is far more prominent in New Zealand
society than Aboriginal cultures are in Australian
society. One reason why Maori culture is more
prominent in New Zealand than Aboriginal cultures
are in Australia is that the Maori population was
relatively mono-cultural in comparison to the multicultural Aboriginal populations of Australia. For
example, Maori is an official language of New
Zealand. It is taught in schools, used in government
departments and broadcast on television.

ENVIRONMENT
New Zealand is an environmental heaven. It
receives high rainfall, has huge rivers fed by
melting glaciers, and has nutrient rich soils. It is
great for skiing, fishing, farming, bush walking
and mountaineering. On the other hand,
Australia's deserts, droughts and leached soils
are more of an acquired beauty. For farmers they
can be hell. The snakes of Australia generally
stay out of harm way but they can be
intimidating for foreigners.

RELIGION