Oceania/Australia¶
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Australia¶- Coins
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As the age of mammals got underway, the land mass that is mostly Australia was pretty much on its own. This isolation has led to the evolution of some very unique animals, many of which are featured on Australian coins. Great Britain first laid claim to eastern Australia in 1770. In 1942 Australia's autonomy was officially established, although the Aussies had already been running the show themselves for years.
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Cook Islands¶- Coins
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The Cook Islands are 15 islands in the South Pacific Ocean with their own government since 1965, but still under the care of New Zealand (who sends them a yearly allowance, among other things). Capt. James Cook sailed there three times between 1773 and 1777 and he named them after his friend, Admiral Augustus John Hervey. At some unspecified later date, they were renamed the Cook Islands. Most of the islands are low-lying coral atolls, and some volcanic islands. The people export papaya and other fruits, as well as mother of pearl. The biggest part of the economy is tourism.
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Fiji¶- Coins
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Fiji is an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean made up of approximately 322 islands and hundreds of islets. The population lives on 106 of the islands, but the vast majority live on two major islands (Viti Levu and Vanua Levu). The islands were occupied long before the Europeans arrived, but how they arrived and from where remains an important question. The islands became a British colony in 1874, and independence was granted in 1970. Since that time, Fiji has waded through some major political problems including several coups including one as recently as 2000 which resulted in the country being kicked out of the Commonwealth of Nations. Fiji's economy is well developed, yet many of the people still get by day to day. Sugar is the major source of economic income. Fishing, foresty, mining and tourism also play important roles. Fiji ranks 151st for size and 153rd for population (less than one million), yet has a well-developed and capable armed forces that has contributed to United Nations peacekeeping efforts around the world.
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Kiribati¶- Coins
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Kiribati -- pronounced Kiribas -- is a country of about 32 atolls (coral islands) and one regular island situated around the equator in the Pacific Ocean. Although the country's land area is less than 800 sq.km, it is spread over more than 3,000,000 sq.km of ocean. The islands were occupied by a single Micronesian ethnic group for 2,000 years before Europeans arrived. Their language -- Gilbertese -- has no s and the sound is represented by the letters ti.In 1788, British captain Thomas Gilbert crossed the islands, and over 30 years later the islands were named the Gilbert Islands. They became a British protectorate in 1892 and a British colony in 1916. Autonomy was achieved in 1971, with full independence following in 1979. At this time, Kiribati obtained the western Phoenix islands and most of the Line islands from the United States. This resulted in the International Date Line dividing Kiribati between two different days, which is a difficult situation. In 1995, the Date Line was changed to jog around the islands, so they would all be included to the west of the line. This made Kiribati the eastern-most country in the world.
Unfortunately, Kiribati's days are numbered due to Global Warming. Two of the smaller islands disappeared underwater in 1999 and rising ocean levels are decreasing arable land due to increased soil salination. It is only a matter of time before Kiribati disappears beneath the ocean.
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New Caledonia¶- Coins
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New Caledonia is is an overseas territory of France consisting of one main island and several smaller islands in the southwest Pacific ocean. Sometime between 2014 and 2019 the approximately 250,000 residents will decide in a referendum whether to remain an autonomous overseas collectivity or become an independent state.New Caledonia is part of the mostly-submerged continent of Zeelandia, which is part of the ancient super-continent Gondwana. It broke off from Australia between 60-80 million years ago, and today contains unique flora and fauna descended from prehistoric Gondwanan forests.
New Caledonia is also one of the only countries to have two official flags. The one shown here is the Kanak flag, adopted in July 2010. The other official flag is the tri-colour flag of France.
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New Zealand¶- Coins
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New Zealand is a geographically isolated nation in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprised of two main islands, and several smaller islands. This long isolation, along with its varied terrain, resulted in unique flora and fauna many of which could be traced back hundreds of millions of years to Gondwana. Permanent settlement of the islands dates back to only c. 1250 CE, and European contact didn't get going until the late 18th century. Unfortunately, the fauna of the islands have suffered a very high extinction rate due to the influence of humans, including some fifty species of birds.The landscape of New Zealand is as varied as it is dramatic, with huge mountains on the south island, fjords and volcanoes on the north island, and incredible forests and coastlines. A highly developed nation, New Zealand consistently ranks near the top in quality-of-life and human-development indexes.
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Papua New Guinea¶- Coins
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Papua New Guinea occupies the eastern half of the island of New Guinea, just north of Australia (and part of its land mass). Probably the most diverse country on earth, it is estimated that there are more than 1,000 cultural groups among its 7 million inhabitants, including hundreds of indiginous ethnic groups dating back 10,000 years or more. The country's 820 indigenous langugages represent 12% of all languages on earth.Approximately 97% of the land in the country is recognized as belonging to the many different groups of people. Subsistence agriculture provides a living for about 85% of the population, and nearly half the population is illiterate. While poor monetarily, the country is overflowing with cultural wealth. It is also believed that many undiscovered species of plants and animals exist in the largely unexplored interior. The extreme ruggedness of the country is probably what is responsible for the survival of the many cultures, as it has largely prevented the conquering nations from exploiting Papua New Guinea's vast natural resources.
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Tonga¶- Coins
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The Kingdom of Tonga is a 169 island archipelago in the South Pacific ocean. Stretching about 800 km in a north-south direction, 36 of the islands are inhabited. Tonga is the only sovereign monarchy among the island nations of the South Pacific, and has plans to become a constitutional monarchy sometime in 2010. Tonga is the only nation in the region that miraculously avoided being taken over by Europeans (aka "colonisation").Named the sixth most corrupt country on earth in 2008 by Forbes magazine, the monetary part of Tonga's economy is pretty much owned and controlled by the royal family and so-called nobles. The country also relies heavily on remittances from the half of Tongans who live abroad (mainly in Australia, New Zealand, and the United States). In rural Tonga, the people mainly rely on subsistence agriculture.
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Tuvalu¶- Coins
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Tuvalu is a really tiny Polynesian island nation in the Pacific Ocean halfway between Hawaii and Australia. Its four reef islands and five atolls measure 26 square kilometers making it the fourth smallest sovereign nation in the world (Vatican City, Monaco, and Naura are all smaller). With less than 13,000 inhabitants, only Vatican City is smaller by population.With a maximum height of 4.5 m above sea level, only the Maldives has a lower maximum elevation. Tuvalu is extremely susceptible to rising sea levels, and it is estimated that an increase of 20-40 cm would make the islands uninhabitable. Tuvalu's main source of income is foreign aid, and I suspect the government also makes money from the sale of coins (and stamps). While representing regular currency, most of the coins presented here at the Coin Zoo are "proof" coins meant for collectors.
Tuvalu's internet domain is .tv, which is valuable as an abbreviation of television. In 2000, the Tuvalu government negotiated a $50 million, 12-year royalty deal for use of the .tv domain name. They currently receive $1 million dollars per quarter in royalty payments.
