Difference Between Australia and New Zealand

Australia vs New Zealand

Australia and New Zealand are two countries located in the Oceania in the Southern Hemisphere. Both countries used to have ties with the British Colony which in turn gave them eerily similar flags, quite similar but culturally different.

Australia

Australia was founded to be a penal colony and is a very large country with lengthy distances from one place to another. The immigrants inhabiting Australia nowadays are mostly from Lebanon, Italy and Greece. As for the government, Australia maintains one in each State but still has the prevailing Federal government. In terms of education, schooling varies from state to state in Australia.

New Zealand

New Zealand was founded to be a religious colony. It is a land filled with glaciers, very fertile soil and lakes. The immigrants in New Zealand mostly came from the Pacific Islands but have recently been getting immigrants from different parts of Asia. Government-wise, this country only has one which is parliamentary democracy. In New Zealand, there is a national curriculum being followed in all of their schools.

Difference between Australia and New Zealand

Two countries in close proximity, one might think they all have nothing but similarities. Think again. Australia’s educational system is different from state to state. On the other hand, New Zealand has a lone curriculum that all school in their nation follows. There are long spanning droughts in Australia, New Zealand has droughts that only last for a short period of time. The immigrants in Australia mostly came from European countries; the ones in New Zealand came from the Pacific Islands. While there is a government in each state of Australia, New Zealand only has one.

These differences aside, these two neighboring countries are very friendly to each other. They have differences but not so much as to be THAT much different from each other.

	Australia	New Zealand
Population	21.5 million (approx)	4.25 million (Approx)
Area	7.74 million sq. km (6th largest in the world) Deserts cover large part of the area and population concentrated along Eastern and Southeastern coast	267,710 sq. km Mountainous with coastal plains
Economy	GDP per capita $41,300 (2010) World rank 17 Export – 29% of global coal	GDP per capita $28,000 (2010) World rank 51 Export – Dairy product, meat
Exchange Rate	1AUD =1.115 USD (2010)	1NZD =0.713 USD (2010)
Climate	temperate in South & East, tropical in North	temperate, earthquakes are common
Ethnic proportion	White 92%, Asian 7%, Aboriginal & other 1%	White 56.8%, Asian 8%, Maori 7.4%, Pacific Islanders 4.6%,
Migrants	World rank 14 Mainly from Lebanon, Italy, Greek and South East Asia	World rank 37 Mainly from Pacific Islands
Language	English (specific accent)	English, Maori
Government	State Governments and Federal Government with Constitutional Monarchy	Single Parliamentary democracy with Constitutional Monarchy
Culture	多文化的社会,谦虚, place high value on relationship, direct in dealings,	Friendly, extend hospitality, reserved initially, concerned about environment, Egalitarian