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Welcome by M. Ban Ki Moon Countries and territories on
the World Peace March route Oceania and East Asia Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Philippines. Continental Asia Bangladesh, China, India, Israel, Mongolia, Nepal, North Korea, Pakistan, Russian Federation, South Korea, Palestine, Turkey. Europe Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russian Federation, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom. Africa Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Kenya, Mali, Morocco, Mauritania, Mozambique, Niger, Senegal, Togo. America Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, United States, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Dominican Republic, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela. Antarctica The World Peace March
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Abolition 2000
Abolition 2000 is a network of over 2000 organizations in more than 90 countries world wide working for a global treaty to eliminate nuclear weapons. www.abolition2000.org |
Aotearoa – New Zealand Aotearoa is the indigenous name for New Zealand. It is believed that the name came from Hine Te Aparangi – wife of Kupe, the Polynesian explorer credited with having discovered New Zealand. Kupe and his family were forced to leave Hawaiiki – the ancestral homeland of the Maori in eastern Polynesia – and sailed westward in a great canoe named Matahorua. After weeks (possibly months) of sailing without sighting land, Hine Te Aparangi spotted a long white cloud low on the horizon. By this she knew that there was land. Thus Aotearoa means Land of the Long White Cloud.
There is not much evidence that Maori used the name Aotearoa – or any other term – for the country prior to European settlement. Rather they used local and regional names and names for the islands (see below). Following the adoption by European settlers of the name New Zealand for the country in the early 1800s, the name used by many Maori to denote the country as a whole was Nu Tireni a transliteration of New Zealand. For example, Nu Tireni is the term used for the country in Te Tiriti o Waitangi – the Maori version of the Treaty of Waitang which established the relationship between Maori and settlers. However, growing dissatisfaction by Maori in the ongoing violations of the Treaty of Waitangi, led Maori to revert to the original term Aotearoa in the later 20th Century. Following the establishment of the Waitangi Tribunal, the Te Reo Maori (Maori Language) Claim and the resulting Maori Language Act of 1987 which affirmed Maori as an official language of the country, Maori place names including the use of Aotearoa for New Zealand, gained official recognition and wider usage by both Maori and Tau Iwi/Pakeha (non-Maori). Some Maori place names: The North Island is called Te Ika a Maui (the fish of Maui), the South Island is Te Wai Pounamu (the Greenstone Waters) or Te Waka a Maui (Maui’s canoe). Maori legend tells of how Maui (part human and part god) fished up the North Island from under the sea while fishing from a canoe (the South Island). Stewart Island, which lies at the very bottom of New Zealand, is known as Te Punga a Maui (Maui's anchor), as it was the anchor holding Maui's waka as he pulled in the giant fish.
For a map of Maori place names see: |
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World Peace March to start from most peaceful nation on earth! Scoop – NZ June 5 Mundo sin Guerres (World without Wars), an international organisation working to prevent war and promote non-violence, has decided to start a 90-day World March for Peace and Non-violence www.worldmarch.co.nz in New Zealand, the country recently affirmed by the Global Peace Index (GPI) as the most peaceful nation on earth. The World March will start in Wellington, New Zealand's capital city, on Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday 2 October and then travel through 95 countries culminating in Argentina. Thousands of concerts, festivals, forums, and demonstrations are planned to coincide with the march worldwide. Rafael de la Rubia, founder of Mundo sin Guerres and the international spokesperson for the World March says “We chose New Zealand because it is the first country to grant women the right to vote, to legally ban nuclear weapons, and the first and only country to establish a Minister for Disarmament, so we are pleased at the recognition now given to New Zealand by the Global Peace Index.” See World Peace March to start from most peaceful nation on earth! Did You Know?
Fun facts about New Zealand |
