mackenzie K. Eurasian Geography Blog

Hong Kong is huge! Everywhere you look there are people everywhere! If you think the US has alot of  people just read a little about what Hong Kong has! Hong Kong's population has increased steadily over the past decade, reaching 7.097 million in 2010. Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated areas in the world, with an overall density of some 6,426 people per square kilometer. Cantonese, the official Chinese dialect in Hong Kong, is spoken by most of the population. English, also an official language, is widely understood and is spoken by more than one-third of the population. Every major religion is practiced freely in Hong Kong. All children are required by law to be in full-time education between the ages of 6 and 15. Starting in 2008, the Hong Kong Government expanded the length of free education it offers from 9 to 12 years. Preschool education for most children begins at age 3. Primary school begins normally at age 6 and lasts for 6 years. At about age 12, children progress to a 3-year course of junior secondary education; at age 15, they can choose to continue with 3-year senior secondary education or to join full-time vocational training. More than 90% of children complete upper secondary education or equivalent vocational education. In 2010, 301,200 students were enrolled in post-secondary education. Over 25.5% of the total population aged 15 and over have attended post-secondary educational institutions. Now you know a little bit more about the people of Hong Kong!

mackenzie K. Southern Hemisphere Blog

 The Cook Islands are a net of 15 islands in the heart of the South Pacific spread over an area the size of India with a population no bigger than a small New Zealand country town, 11,400 souls. These unique and friendly Polynesians have their own language and government and enjoy a vigorous and diverse culture with significant differences between each island. Despite some 100,000 visitors a year to the capital island, Rarotonga, the Cooks are largely unspoiled by tourism. They offer a rare opportunity for people from the cities of the world to experience a different type of vacation. There are no high-rise hotels and very little hype. Ideal for travellers seeking more than the usual clichés associated with the South Seas, each island has its unique qualities and offers the visitor a special experience.

mackenzie K. Southern Hemisphere Blog

Guam is apart of the Pacific Islands in the French Polynisian areas. Here are some facts about their culture, art, and music! English is the native language of the region where the local people trust on individualism and mutual understanding and are aware of their private property rights. The people are generally open hearted in nature, and treasure their family members thereby abiding by the rules set by the elder ones.Culture: The native culture is apparently evident from the local dance of the region, from the navigation that takes place within the sea, from the exclusive cuisines and local games like batu, chonka, estuleks and bayogu and lastly from the fusion of songs and fashion statements.Art: Handicraft is something, which the local natives of Guam resort to. From weaving to hand crafting variety of items this place has enough to offer as far as shopping is concerned. Watch out for the plaited works of pandanus leaf baskets, to food containers, from hats woven naturally to loom-woven products like the hibiscus designed fiber skirts, from burial blankets to body embellishments made of beads and shell necklaces, from bracelets to combs designed from the tortoise shellsMusic: The state song of this region, which became popular in this region is "Guam Hymn" sung by Ramon Sablan that was accepted by public in 1919. Flora Baza Quan became renowned as the "Queen of Chamorro Music" in this region. Now you know a little bit more about Guam!

mackenzie K. Southern Hemisphere Blog

 Nauru is apart of the Pacific Islands. Here are some facts about the geography and government. Nauru is a small oval-shaped island in the western Pacific Ocean, located just 42 kilometers (26 mi.) south of the Equator. It is one of three great phosphate rock islands in the Pacific Ocean--the others are Banaba (Ocean Island) in Kiribati and Makatea in French Polynesia. Until recently Nauru's phosphate reserves were thought to be nearly depleted, but there are some indications that the potential for continued productive mining might exist. Phosphate mining in the central plateau has left a barren terrain of jagged, prehistoric coral pinnacles, up to 15 meters (49 ft.) high. A century of mining has stripped and devastated four-fifths of the total land area. Efforts to rehabilitate the mined-out areas have been unsuccessful.The country is governed by a unicameral Parliament consisting of 18 members elected at least triennially from 8 constituencies. Parliament elects the president, who is both chief of state and head of government, from among its members. The president appoints a cabinet from among members of Parliament.

mackenzie K. Southern Hemisphere Blog

 French Polynesia is a French overseas territory located in the Pacific Ocean. It is made up of several groups of islands, the largest and most populated of which is Tahiti. Tourist facilities are well developed and are available on the major islands. Your passport must be valid for six months beyond the duration of your stay in French Polynesia. You do not need a visa if you enter on a regular tourist passport and your stay is no more than 90 days per 6 months. Individuals traveling on a Diplomatic or Official passport will be required to obtain a visa. Although French Polynesia has a low crime rate, petty crime, such as pick pocketing and purse snatching, occurs more frequently. You should secure your valuables at all times and remain particularly vigilant at night.

Don’t buy counterfeit and pirated goods, even if they are widely available. Not only are the bootlegs illegal in the United States, if you purchase them you may also be breaking local law.While most major roads are paved, many secondary roads are not. In urban areas, traffic is brisk, and all types of vehicles and pedestrians jockey for space on narrow streets. Crosswalks are marked, and the law requires that motor vehicles stop for pedestrians; however, this is not always done. Tourists should exercise caution when driving, particularly at night. While extensive sections of the road circumnavigating Tahiti have streetlights, many streets do not. Pedestrians walk along the sides of darkened roadways and sometimes cross in unmarked areas. Bicycles and mopeds are frequently ridden without headlights and taillights. Tourists who rent bicycles or mopeds should be particularly attentive to their driving and the driving of others and not underestimate the danger, even on roads with little traffic.

mackenzie K. Southern Hemisphere Blog

  The Kiribati islands are one of the many islands that make up the Pacific. Here are a few facts about the geography and people of the island.

The Republic of Kiribati is an island nation stretching over 2,000 miles along the equator in the Central Pacific. Its 33 atolls comprise only 205 square miles, while its ocean area is 1,370,300 square miles or roughly the size of India. There are three main archipelagos: the Kiribati/Gilbert Islands, the Phoenix Islands, and the Line Islands. The Kiribati Islands are 930 miles north of Fiji. The islands gained independence from the British in 1979. Kiribati [kiribas] is the Kiribati pronunciation of Gilbert, the former British name for the main island group.

With minimal land resources and periodic droughts, the Kiribati people are primarily dependent on the ocean both for sustenance and income. Fish and copra, a coconut product, are the top two exports. The majority of people live in villages with populations between 50 and 3,000 people. Their homes are open air huts, or buyas, constructed with materials from the pandanus and coconut trees. Almost half of the population, however, lives in the capital, Tarawa, where the population density exceeds that of Hong Kong. 

The total population in 2005 was 92,533. Almost 100% of the people are Micronesian. Twenty percent of the people have at least completed high school, while 80% have at least completed primary school. About half of people engage in subsistence work while 25% are now involved in the cash sector. Life expectancy is 61 years.

Kiribati is one of the poorest countries in the Pacific by traditional standards. In contrast, they have one of the highest rates of protein consumption in the world, almost exclusively from eating fish. The Kiribati people pride themselves on self-reliance. Despite extreme isolation and limited land resources, the Kiribati culture has adapted to provide a lifestyle of subsistence wealth that has capitalized on the rich resources of the sea.

Now you know a little bit about the geography and people of the Kiribati islands!

mackenzie K. Southern Hemisphere Blog

Solomon islands are apart of the Pacific Islands. Although little prehistory of Solomon Islands is known, material excavated on Santa Ana, Guadalcanal, and Gawa indicates that a hunter-gatherer people lived on the larger islands as early as 1000 B.C. Some Solomon Islanders are descendants of Neolithic Austronesian-speaking peoples who migrated from Southeast Asia.
  The European discoverer of Solomon Islands was the Spanish explorer Alvaro de Mendana Y Neyra, who set out from Peru in 1567 to seek the legendary Isles of Solomon. British mariner Philip Carteret entered Solomon waters in 1767. In the years that followed, visits by explorers were more frequent.
  Missionaries began visiting Solomon Islands in the mid-1800s. They made little progress at first, because "blackbirding"--the often brutal recruitment of laborers for the sugar plantations in Queensland and Fiji--led to a series of reprisals and massacres. The evils of the labor trade prompted the United Kingdom to declare a protectorate over the southern Solomons in 1893. In 1898 and 1899, more outlying islands were added to the protectorate; in 1900 the remainder of the archipelago, an area previously under German jurisdiction, was transferred to British administration. Under the protectorate, missionaries settled in Solomon Islands, converting most of the population to Christianity. That is just a brief history about these interesting islands.

Mackenzie K. Southern Hemisphere Blog

Palau is one of the many islands that make up the Pacific. Palau was initially settled more than 4,000 years ago, probably by migrants from what today is Indonesia. British traders became prominent visitors in the 18th century, followed by expanding Spanish influence in the 19th century. Following its defeat in the Spanish-American War, Spain sold Palau and most of the rest of the Caroline Islands to Germany in 1899. Control passed to Japan in 1914 and then to the United States under United Nations auspices in 1947 as part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.
  Four of the Trust Territory districts formed a single federated Micronesian state in 1979, but this eventually dissolved as the individual districts--long culturally distinct--opted for more locally popular status. Palau approved a new constitution in 1981, subsequently signing a Compact of Free Association with the United States in 1982. After eight referenda and an amendment to the Palauan constitution, the Compact went into effect on October 1, 1994, marking Palau's emergence from trusteeship to independence.
  Palau is a democratic republic with directly elected executive and legislative branches. Presidential elections take place every 4 years, at the same time as the United States' presidential election, to select the president and the vice president, who now run as a team. The Palau National Congress (Olbiil era Kelulau) has two houses. The Senate has 13 members elected nationwide. The House of Delegates has 16 members, one each from Palau's 16 states. All of the legislators serve 4-year terms. Each state also elects its own governor and legislature.
Palau's per capita GDP of $8,941 makes it one of the wealthier Pacific Island states. Palau looks like a lovely place to visit and take a vacation in the near future!

Mackenzie K. Southern Hemisphere Blog

Marshall islands are apart of the Pacific Islands. The Islands are comprised of 29 atolls and five single islands, which form two parallel groups. Two-thirds of the nation's population lives in Majuro and Ebeye. The outer islands are sparsely populated due to lack of employment opportunities and economic development.
 The Marshallese are of Micronesian origin, which is traced to a combination of people who emigrated from Southeast Asia in the remote past. The matrilineal Marshallese culture revolves around a complex system of clans and lineages tied to land ownership.
 Virtually all Marshallese are Christian, most of them Protestant. Other Christian denominations include Roman Catholic, Seventh-day Adventist, Mormon, Salvation Army, and Jehovah's Witness.
 Marshallese is the official language. English is spoken to some extent by most of the adult urban population. Now you know some history about the Marshall islands!

Mackenzie K. Southern Hemisphere Blog

 One of the Pacific islands is Tonga. Tonga is made up of 171 islands. The word Tonga means "south" in numerous Polynesian languages. Some scholars believe the inhabitants originally came from the islands now known as Samoa. Archaeological evidence indicates that the Tonga islands have been settled since at least 500 B.C., and local traditions have carefully preserved the names of the Tongan sovereigns for about 1,000 years. The power of the Tongan monarchy reached its height in the 13th century. At the time, chieftains exercised political influence as far away as Samoa. Tonga is the South Pacific's last Polynesian kingdom. Its executive branch includes the prime minister and the cabinet, which becomes the Privy Council when presided over by the monarch. In intervals between legislative sessions, the Privy Council makes ordinances, which become law if confirmed by the legislature. The governors of Ha'apai and Vava'u are appointed to their offices and serve as ex officio members of the cabinet. Tongans, a Polynesian group with a very small mixture of Melanesian, represent more than 98% of the inhabitants. The rest are European, mixed European, and other Pacific Islanders. There are also about a thousand Chinese immigrants. Now you know some history about Tonga!

Mackenzie K. Southern Hemisphere Blog

The Pacific consists of many islands. One of the main islands is Fiji. Fiji is located in the South Pacific. Fiji itself is made up of over 322 islands! It offerers fabulous resorts and hotels, good food and accommodations, night life, historical sites, hiking, camping, snorkeling, surfing, and scuba diving. You can travel around Fiji many ways. Some of these ways include small plane, catamaran, copra boat, outboard canoe, open-sided bus, and air-conditioned coach. Fiji has so much to offer that you would barley scratch the surface if you vacationed there for a full month! Not to mention, it is a visitor friendly country with uncrowded, inexpensive facilities with outgoing people who speak english, so your trip can be that much more relaxing and makes communication a breeze!