September 26 – New Dominions Join the Empire

nPostednon September 26, 2016

nWhennI say, “the Empire,” I don’t mean the horrible galaxy-widendictatorship that Strikes Back in the Star Wars movies –nthat’s fictional – instead, I mean the British Empire, whichnstraddled the globe in the 1800s and the early 1900s. Itnwas made up of a variety of dominions, colonies, protectorate,nmandates, plus other territories.

nOnnthis date in 1907, two new “New” dominions joined the BritishnEmpire:

nNewnZealand and Newfoundland.

nFirst,nwhat’s a dominion?

nItnwas a semi-independent political unit. British dominions werenconsidered to be under the British Crown (in modern times, QueennElizabeth II), but they were governed by locally-elected governments.nThey shared a common citizenship and collaborated on foreign affairsnand defense. n

nSincenWorld War II, there is no more “British Empire.” All thendominions became fully independent of the United Kingdom, althoughnthey remain in the Commonwealth of Nations and still have QueennElizabeth II as their reigning sovereign.

nNow,nwhat do you know about New Zealand and Newfoundland?

nForneach question, answer “New Zealand” or “Newfoundland” orn“both”:

nItn is now part of Canada (joined in 1949).

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nItn was the filming location for ALL of the scenes of The Lord of then Rings movies.

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nItsn capital (Wellington) is the southernmost capital city in the world.

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nTheren are no land snakes there.

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nItn consists of one or more islands.

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nOn 9-11, the horrible terrorist attack in New York City and othernU.S. places on September 11, 2001, thirty-nine U.S.-bound airplanesnwere diverted there, and about 6,600 travelers were stranded therenfor three days! They were taken into private homes and treated withnhospitality that is still remembered today.

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nIt’s known for its native kiwi bird – the bird is such a nationalnicon that people who live there are called “Kiwis.”

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nIt has its own time zone, 30 minutes offset from neighboring timenzones.

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nIt is home to more species of penguins than any other country.

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nIt has a dog breed named after it.

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nIts population is largely descended from British settlers. Of coursen there are also people descended from aboriginal or native peoples.

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Its flag:
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nItsn flag:
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nIts scenery:

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nItsn scenery:

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nANSWERS:

n1)nNewfoundland – 2) New Zealand – 3) New Zealand – 4) Both – 5)nBoth – 6) Newfoundland – 7) New Zealand – 8) Newfoundland – 9)nNew Zealand – 10) Newfoundland – 11) Both – 12) Newfoundland -n13) New Zealand – 14) New Zealand – 15) Newfoundland

nAlsonon this date: