NEW ZEALAND

NEW ZEALAND (PART III)

New Zealand has a population of about 3,5 million. About 85 per cent of the people were born in New Zealand. Immigrants still come to New Zealand chiefly from Britain, Australia, and other English-speaking countries. More than four fifths of the country's people live in urban areas. New Zealand has four urban areas with more than 100,000 people. They are Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin.

English is the official language of New Zealand and is spoken throughout the country.

The people of New Zealand have a high standard of living. About 70 per cent of New Zealand families own their homes, and almost every family has a car. Although about four-fifths of the people live in urban areas, New Zealand's cities are uncrowned. These cities have theatres, concert halls, and other places of entertainment. City life in New Zealand tends to be rather quiet. However, this is changing in the larger cities, where international tourism has increased rapidly.

Legislature of New Zealand consists of only one house, the 95-member House of Representatives, also called Parliament. A parliamentary election must be held at least every three years. All citizens 18 years old or older may vote. The leader of the political party that wins the most seats in a parliamentary election becomes prime minister. The prime minister appoints a Cabinet. The Cabinet members are called ministers. The prime minister and the Cabinet form the Government. The main political parties in New Zealand are the Labour Party and the National Party. There is no clear division between the policies of the two parties. Local government of New Zealand includes 90 counties, 27 cities, and 101 small urban areas called boroughs.

New Zealand offers a free education to all students up to the age of 19. The law requires children from 6 through 15 to attend school. After completing elementary or intermediate school, most students go on to secondary school. Secondary school students may receive special training in agriculture, home economics, technical subjects, and a wide range of other subjects. New Zealand has six universities - Massey University, the Victoria University of Wellington, and the universities of Auckland, Canterbury, Otago, and Waikato. New Zealand also has seven teachers' colleges with a total enrollment of about 3,000 students.

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