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Chapter 12 Lecture

World Regional

Geography

A Developmental Approach

11th Edition

Australia,

New Zealand,

and the

Pacific Islands


Chapter Learning Outcomes

• Outline the environmental advantages and disadvantages

of the Australian continent.

• Explain the settlement history of Australia and New

Zealand.

• Compare the situation of Aborigines and Māoris in the

contemporary societies of Australia and New Zealand.

• Identify why Australia and New Zealand are among the

most well-off and stable countries in the world.

• Characterize the challenges facing the Pacific Islands.

• Show how remoteness influences the region’s economic

opportunities and choices.

• Explain the importance of Australia’s growing relationship

with it Asian neighbors.


Map


Regions


Environment of Australia

• Five natural regions

1.Humid highlands—The core

2.Mediterranean southwest and east—Most

populated

3.Tropical savannas in northern fringe

4. Interior is desert (outback) and steppe.

5.Ancient rocks in West


Environmental Challenges / Australia

• Shortage of arable land (10%)

• Most land requires irrigation for farming.

• 5% used for food crops

• 40% of country has ranching as its major

economic use


Early Settlement

• Until 1788—Inhabited by aborigines

• Numbered up to one million

• 300 distinct “nations”

• 1770—Captain James Cook sails by

eastern shore.

• 1778—First British ships disembark at

Sydney Cove beginning “white”

settlement.


Australia

• 3 million square miles

• 21 million population


Australia Migration

• Immigration encouraged by Britain through

land grants.

• White Australia policy

– Restricted Immigration Policy—Official term

– Strong preference for people of British origin

– Exclusion of non-whites

– After WWII, amended to allow other European

and Anglo-American settlers as long as they

were white

– Quietly shelved in 1970s


Australia’s Minorities

• New immigration policy focuses on economic

and social skills.

• Now a considerable Asian influx due to proximity

• Aborigines

– 450,000 or 2 percent of population

– Heavily concentrated in Northern Territory

– Movement now to big cities

– Bottom of socioeconomic ladder

– Government has not apologized for the “stolen

generation.”

– Aboriginal art has caught on as an economic

development potential.


Australian Economy

• High standard of living

• Well-developed and diversified export economy

• Production of agricultural, mineral, and industrial goods

• Agriculture

• EU tariffs place some constraints on exports.

• Manufacturing is a weaker link.


Resources of Australia


Australia Agriculture

• Sheep and cattle farming

• Wheat farming

• Sugarcane on northern fringe


Australia Trade


Australia Tourism

• In 1980s tourism began to grow behind

services, mining, and agriculture

• More than six million visitors per year

• Sydney, Great Barrier Reef, and Uhuru

are biggest draws


Future of Australia

• Has enjoyed remarkable economic growth

in recent years

• It has a small population relative to land

size.

• Isolation is another problem in the way of

continued growth.

• Possible ending of its association with the

British monarchy


New Zealand

• Two main islands

• Located entirely in temperate zone

• Formed from Ring of Fire

• Discovered by Captain James Cook—1769

• 80% of population has European origins

– British

– German

– Others


New Zealand Economy

• Pastoral economy

– Production of livestock and livestock products

– One of the highest proportions of livestock (cattle and sheep) to human population

• Heavy dependence on trade

• Some coal, gold, natural gas, and iron ore—Much less than Australia

• Extensive soil erosion


The Maori

• Indigenous population

• Polynesian group that has resided there for

1,000 years

• Largest minority group at 14–15 percent

• Long decline under European settlement after

Treaty of Waitangi signed in 1840

• Upsurge since 1970s

• Still socioeconomically marginal

• See films Once Were Warriors and Whale Rider.


Political Structure of Australia and New

Zealand


Population Density


Pacific Islands


Pacific Islands

• Known as Oceania

• Only 10.5 million population

• Scattered islands (30,000 total)

• Regional groupings

– Melanesia—Islands from northern perimeter of

Australia eastward

– Micronesia (small islands)—Groups of islands north of

Melanesia

– Polynesia (many islands)—Largest grouping

• From Hawaii to New Zealand

• New Zealand, however, has begun to establish its own

distinctive character in spite of Maori heritage.


Pacific Islands

• Twenty-three political entities

• Four self-governing territories in free

association with colonial rulers

• Seven continuing dependencies of France

• New Zealand

• One U.S. state (Hawaii)

• Mosaic of political structures is the result

of the region’s complex colonial history

and post-independence struggles


Pacific Islands / Challenges

• Adapting to global economy while being

geographically distant

• Low levels of health and income

• Social inequities

• Weak governments

• Uncertain national identities


Papua New Guinea

• Covers parts of three large islands, as well

as many smaller ones

• Collection of many clans with over

700 languages

• Population is indigenous Papuans and

more recent arrivals

• Most live in very rural settings

• Rich resources that have not been used

effectively


Hawaii

• 50th U.S. state

• String of mountainous volcanic islands

• Most transformed population that is

struggling to keep Polynesian culture

• Largely tourist in nature, although some

manufacturing is occurring

• Large population, especially in Oahu

• Decent agricultural base

• Increasing Asian presence in population


Guam

• Largest island in Micronesia

• Transformed by foreign occupation

• “Unincorporated” territory of the United

States.

• Large military presence

• Popular tourist destination for Japanese

who want to experience “America in Asia”


New Caledonia

• Political and environmentally challenged

• Located on the parts of multiple islands

• Colonized by France in 1853 as a penal

colony

• Asian and Polynesian settlers came for

large mining wealth


Summary of Chapter

• Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands are quite

unlike any other world regions in the nature of their diversity

– In Australia, there is far too much land with too little water.

– In the Pacific Islands, there are vast amounts of water, but in most

cases far too little land.

– In New Zealand, where water exists in frozen, liquid, and thermal-

heated states, paradise is threatened by tectonic hazards.

• The region occupies a remote but strategically significant part

of the planet.

• Although far from the Western world in location, Australia and

New Zealand are now Western in culture.

• Past trade relationships with the United Kingdom were strong

historically. Both Australia and New Zealand, however, are in

the process of reorienting their economic relationships, largely

toward the Pacific Rim.

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