1 / 8

Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands

Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. History and Governments. History . The Maori were the first settlers They were in the Pacific Islands for thousands of years before anyone else came The British arrived in New Zealand some time later

prue
Download Presentation

Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands History and Governments

  2. History • The Maori were the first settlers • They were in the Pacific Islands for thousands of years before anyone else came • The British arrived in New Zealand some time later • Known originally as the islands in the Pacific and Indian Ocean, today, they are well known as Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Islands.

  3. people • The Aborigines (first inhabitants) came from Southeast Asia about 40,000 years ago. • Eventually, settlers from Southeast Asia came about 33,000 years ago. • First they inhabited Melanesia then Micronesia and finally Polynesia • Melanesia: Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji • Micronesia: Palau, Nauru, Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands • Polynesia: Kiribati, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu • About 1,000 years ago Polynesians settled New Zealand • They specifically looked for fresh water, wildlife and vegetation

  4. life • Most of the early islanders were fishers or farmers • They also traded with nearby islanders • Due to great distances between islands, distinct cultures and languages developed. • The islands nearest to them were inhabited first • Maori’s were great wood, stone and bone carvers • Their carvings would mimic seashells, flowers and other things in nature

  5. European influence • In the 1500s, Europeans explored the Pacific for spices • 1600s and 1700s missionaries and other settlers arrived • Europeans also brought smallpox with them and many natives died because of it • They also made the natives their slaves • Colonies were established by Britain, France, Germany, Spain, US and Japan

  6. Europeans: Australia/New Zealand • Australia: • 1700s -Great Britain sent people to Australia • Convicts and Free Laborers • 1859-6 colonies made up Australia • 1901-colonies became states of the Commonwealth of Australia • New Zealand: • 1790s-settled by whale hunters and traders from Great Britain, US, France, European missionaries, and colonists • 1840-Maori and the British signed the Treaty of Waitangi • Gave control of New Zealand to Britain • 1907-New Zealand became independent

  7. European settlements • When Europeans first came there were about 750,000 Aborigines • They were forced towards the interior of Australia as more Europeans came • Today only 1 percent of Australia is Aborigine • In New Zealand, the same thing occurred and today, only about 14 percent of the population is Maori.

  8. governments • Australia and New Zealand belong to the Commonwealth of Nations • A group of countries that were once British colonies and share a heritage of British law and government • Britain’s monarch is their head of state, but has no real power • The US is still responsible for the Federal States of Micronesia • Most of the islands operate on governments similar to the countries that ruled over them

More Related