1. World Geography
Chapter 34
The Pacific World
and Antarctica

2. Chapter 34: The Pacific World and Antarctica
World Geography
Chapter 34: The Pacific World and Antarctica
Section 1: Australia
Section 2: New Zealand and the
Pacific Islands
Section 3: Antarctica
Copyright © 2003 by Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.

3. 1
Australia
How did various migrations to Australia affect population and land use?
Why is Australia’s population clustered in and around its major cities?
How have European settlers changed Australia’s environment?

4. 1
A History of Migration

5. 1
A History of Migration
The first European settlers were British prisoners, many of whom stayed in Australia after their sentences were finished.
After World War II, many immigrants came not just from Britain but also from other European countries and from Southeast Asia.

6. The Aborigines migrated to Australia about 50 thousand years ago.
The Aborigines suffered great losses from European diseases and weapons.

7. Patterns of Settlement1
Patterns of Settlement
Australia’s hot, dry climate affected the country’s settlement and land use patterns.
The vast majority of Australians live in the Urban Rim in the southeast, and 90 percent of the population lives with 100 miles of the ocean.

8. Patterns of Settlement1
Patterns of Settlement
Australia’s population clusters around the seven state capitals and the national capital, Canberra.
Sydney and Melbourne are Australia’s oldest and largest cities, competing for trade and commerce for most of their history.

9. 1
Environmental Change
Aborigines believe that humans were given responsibility for the earth, and they learned to survive in the harsh outback without destroying the fragile ecosystem.

10. The discovery of gold in the outback sparked a gold rush in 1851.
Today, Australia is a source of many minerals, including bauxite, oil, and natural gas.
Many gold seekers stayed to build farms and sheep ranches, and sheep and cattle stations account for most economic activity in the outback today.

11. In the northern regions, artesian wells provide water to cattle stations, and new breeds of cattle are making Australia one of the world’s leading producers of cattle

12. 1
Section 1 Review
Why did the first European settlers come to Australia?
a) They were looking for land to farm.
b) They were looking for gold.
c) They were prisoners transported from Britain.
d) They came in search of a milder climate.
What is the main economic activity in the outback?
a) Mineral extraction
b) Sheep and cattle herding
c) Commercial farming
d) Forestry
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13. 1
Section 1 Review
Why did the first European settlers come to Australia?
a) They were looking for land to farm.
b) They were looking for gold.
c) They were prisoners transported from Britain.
d) They came in search of a milder climate.
What is the main economic activity in the outback?
a) Mineral extraction
b) Sheep and cattle herding
c) Commercial farming
d) Forestry
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14. Guided Reading Answers Section 1
1. Perth
2. isolated on west coast, 1,400 mi from nearest major city
3. Adelaide
4. capital of South Australia and closest city to Perth
5. Sydney
6. Australia’s oldest and largest city
7. Melbourne
8. second largest Australian city and a major manufacturing area
9. Canberra
10. capital of Australia and only major planned city
11. Hobart
12. capital of island state of Tasmania and surrounded by mountains

15. Guided Reading Answers Section 1
13. Brisbane
14. the heart of the ‘Sunshine Coast’
15. Darwin
16. closest city to Asia and vulnerable to cyclone destruction
17. to take what they needed from the land without destroying the environment
18. raising sheep, raising cattle, and mining minerals
19. Aborigines
20. lagoon
21. cyclones
22. outback
23. artesian wells

16. New Zealand and the Pacific Islands2
New Zealand and the Pacific Islands
How has New Zealand’s European majority affected the minority Maori group’s way of life and sense of group identity and the economy of this region?
What kinds of physical characteristics distinguish the two types of Pacific Islands—namely, the high islands and the low islands?

17. 2
New Zealand
The Maori, the first people to come to New Zealand, lived by farming and fishing in fiercely territorial groups.
The Maori began to see themselves as a nation after European settlers arrived and are attempting to reclaim lands that were once theirs.

18. New Zealand’s national identity is rooted in both its British and Polynesian past.

19. 2
The Pacific Islands
The majority of people live in cities along the coast, and three out of four New Zealanders live on North Island.
Farming and cattle and sheep herding are important to the economy.

20. 2
The Pacific Islands
Many Pacific Islands are high islands, the tops of underwater mountains, while others are low islands, ring-shaped atolls in which coral reefs surround an inner lagoon.

21. The islands are divided into three groups: Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia.
Farming, fishing, and tourism are the major economic activities of the islands.

22. After World War II, many islands were divided into trust territories, and most were granted independence in the 1960s and 1970s.

23. Section 2 Review How did European settlement affect Maori culture?
a) The Maori were exterminated.
b) The Maori fragmented into a number of competing groups.
c) The Maori were forced to flee New Zealand.
d) The Maori came to see themselves as a nation.
What are high islands?
a) underwater mountains that break the surface of the ocean
b) offshore pieces of continental crust
c) rings of coral reefs with inner lagoons
d) large sand bars
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24. Section 2 Review How did European settlement affect Maori culture?
a) The Maori were exterminated.
b) The Maori fragmented into a number of competing groups.
c) The Maori were forced to flee New Zealand.
d) The Maori came to see themselves as a nation.
What are high islands?
a) underwater mountains that break the surface of the ocean
b) offshore pieces of continental crust
c) rings of coral reefs with inner lagoons
d) large sand bars
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25. Guided Reading Answers Section 2
1. two large islands formed from volcanic mountains
2. Maori; origin of these people are in dispute
3. mountains and fertile plains
4. marine west coast climate
5. agriculture, with exports of dairy products, wool, lamb, and mutton
6. Auckland, Christchurch, and Wellington
7. high island that are the tips of underwater mountains and low islands formed of coral reefs
8. Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia
9. provides badly needed hard currency
10. farming and fishing
’s and 1970’s
12. hot spring that shoots jets of steam and heated water into the air
13. territory supervised by another nation

26. 3
Antarctica
How do the climate and ice-covered terrain of the continent of Antarctica affect wildlife habitation and human exploration?
Why do many scientists consider Antarctica to be a land of valuable natural resources?

27. 3
The Frozen Continent
Covered in ice, Antarctica is the only major landmass on the earth without permanent human settlements, and few plants and animals can survive the frigid conditions.
Thick ice sheets reflect sunlight rather than absorbing heat, making temperatures frigid, and the climate is also very dry.

28. Moister and warmer conditions near the coasts and mountains permit glaciers to flow.
In several places, thick ice shelves extend out into the ocean, and large blocks often break off into the ocean as icebergs.
Pack ice, a mix of icebergs and other ice, fringes most of Antarctica.

29. In the convergence zone, nutrient-rich deep waters rise and feed krill, which provide food for fish and whales.

30. Interacting With the Land3
Interacting With the Land
Because of its remote location and harsh climate, Antarctica was the last continent to be discovered and explored.
Through the first half of the twentieth century, various nations claimed parts of Antarctica out of national pride or to keep other countries from claiming the continent.

31. Antarctica has coal and other mineral resources, but it would cost too much to exploit them.

32. Scientific information is considered Antarctica’s most valuable resource, and the Antarctic Treaty provides for the peaceful use of the continent and the sharing of scientific research.

33. Section 3 Review How do the Antarctic ice sheets affect the climate?
a) The ice keeps the temperature above freezing.
b) The thick ice raises the surface to warmer elevations.
c) The ice makes the air very moist.
d) The ice reflects heat from the sun, making Antarctica very cold.
Which resource is considered the most valuable in Antarctica?
a) gold
b) oil
c) scientific information
d) uranium
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34. Section 3 Review How do the Antarctic ice sheets affect the climate?
a) The ice keeps the temperature above freezing.
b) The thick ice raises the surface to warmer elevations.
c) The ice makes the air very moist.
d) The ice reflects heat from the sun, making Antarctica very cold.
Which resource is considered the most valuable in Antarctica?
a) gold
b) oil
c) scientific information
d) uranium
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35. Guided Reading Answers Section 3
1. highest average elevation of any continent
2. distorted shape from weight of ice
3. frigid due to reflected light and heat; dry because of relatively high elevation
4. central regions
5. very thick and heavy
6. near the coasts and Transantarctic Mountains
7. slow-moving frozen rivers, often with large cracks
8. extending over coastlines above water
9. thin out and break off into water as icebergs
10. the fringes of Antarctica
11. a mix of icebergs and other floating ice that can stretch out a thousand miles
12. creavasse 13. ice shelf 14. pack-ice
15. convergence zone 16. krill

36. Reviewing Main Ideas Answers
1. Seven of the nation’s largest cities are located on the coasts, mainly in the south and east. Canberra, the capital, is the only major inland city.
2. Aborigines have felt a sacred obligation to protect the fragile outback environment. According to Aboriginal creation stories, the ancestors who created the natural world gave humans the responsibility of taking care of the earth.
3. Sheep wool and cattle products are among Australia’s most important exports. Gold and oil are just some of the many mineral resources mined in Australia’s interior.
4. Livestock products are shipped thousands of miles to foreign markets. New Zealand produces one quarter of the world’s kiwi fruit.

37. 5. Before European settlement of New Zealand, the Maori did not consider themselves a nation. Later, they began to see themselves in this way and have tried to reclaim lands that once were theirs.
6. Melanesia was settled more than 40,000 years ago by Southeast Asians; Micronesia was settled between 3000 and 2000 BC by voyagers from the Philippines, Indonesia, and islands north of New Guinea; Polynesian culture developed during its long isolation in the Tonga and Samoa islands.
7. In the central regions, ice caps or ice sheets average from 5,600 to 7,200 feet thick. Glaciers move down the Transantarctic Mountains to the coast.
8. Antarctica’s location is remote, and its environment is extremely harsh. Although the continent was first sighted in the 1820’s, it was not explored until the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

38. 9. Some countries wanted to expand their colonial empires to the Antarctic frontier and to establish ownership of the continent’s valuable resources. Through the first half of the 20th century, Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, New Zealand, Norway, and the United Kingdom all made claims to parts of Antarctica.