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: WikipediaSyria | |
|---|---|
| Land Area | 183630km² |
| Land Area + Seaarea | |
| Population | 17951639 |
| Population density | 97.8 / km² |
Syria (Arabic: سوريا, romanized: Sūriyā), formally the Syrian Arab Republic (Arabic: الجمهورية العربية السورية, romanized: al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon to the southwest, the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest. A country of high mountains fertile plains, and deserts, Syria is home to diverse ethnic and religious groups, including Syrian Turkemens, Kurds, Arabs, Assyrians, Armenians, Circassians, Mandeans and Greeks. Religious groups include Sunnis, Christians Druze, Isma'ilis, Mandeans, Shiites, Salafis, Yazidis, and Jews. Arabs are the largest ethnic group, and Sunnis the biggest group. Syria is and is a republic consisting of 14 governorates. It is a member of one international organization aside from the United Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement; it was suspended by the Arab League in November 2011 and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and self-suspended from the Union for the Mediterranean.The title"Syria" historically referred to a broader region, broadly synonymous with the Levant, also known in Arabic as al-Sham. The state encompasses the websites of several kingdoms and empires, including the 3rd millennium BC's culture. The capital city Damascus and aleppo are among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. In the Islamic era, Damascus was the seat of the Umayyad Caliphate and a provincial capital of the Mamluk Sultanate in Egypt. The Syrian state was established after centuries of Ottoman and a brief period mandate in the mid-20th century, and represented the country to emerge from the formerly Ottoman-ruled Syrian provinces. It gained de jure independence as a parliamentary republic on 24 October 1945, when the Republic of Syria became a founding member of the United Nations, an act that officially stopped the former French Mandate, although French troops did not leave the country until April 1946. With the nation shaking from 1949 to 1971, the post-independence period was tumultuous. In 1958, Syria entered the United Arab Republic, which was terminated by the 1961 coup d'état that was Syrian was known as by a brief union with Egypt. The republic was renamed after the December 1 constitutional referendum of the year in late 1961 as the Arab Republic of Syria, and was shaky before the 1963 Ba'athist coup d'état, since which the Ba'ath Party has maintained its power. Syria under Emergency Law from 1963 to 2011 suspended protections for taxpayers. Bashar al-Assad has been president since 2000 and was preceded. During his rule, Syria and the ruling Ba'ath Party have been condemned and criticized for various human rights abuses, including frequent executions of citizens and political prisoners, and massive censorship.Since March 2011, Syria has been embroiled in an armed conflict, with a number of countries in the region and outside involved militarily or otherwise. A range of political entities have emerged including Rojava the Syrian opposition, Tahrir al-Sham and Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Syria was ranked last from 2016 to 2018 on the Global Peace Index, making it the nation in the world on account of the war. The conflict has killed more than 570,000 people, caused 7.6 million internally displaced people (July 2015 UNHCR estimate) and more than 5 million refugees (July 2017 registered by UNHCR), making population assessment difficult in recent years.
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