Showing posts with label British Empire. Show all posts
Showing posts with label British Empire. Show all posts

March 11 - Commonwealth Day in Tuvalu

(Second Monday in March)
Posted on March 11, 2019


The flag of the Commonwealth
of Nations
The Commonwealth is a grouping of 53 nations. Almost all of these member nations were former territories (aka colonies) of the British Empire. The British Empire held onto its territories and colonies, basically, with political and military power, but the Commonwealth is completely voluntary. According to a 1949 declaration, all the member countries are considered "free and equal" - and that includes Britain (the United Kingdom) itself.

What's the Commonwealth for? Well, the nations have no legal obligations to one another - they don't HAVE to defend one another, for example - but are united by the English language and some aspects of culture, ties from history, and shared values of democracy, human rights, and the rule of law. Some people say that it's a friendly way for nations to stay in touch without having any formal obligations to one another.

If you want to know more about what the Commonwealth is actually for, check out this link. Note: not everyone agrees about what it's for and whether it should even exist!

The Commonwealth nations include large nations such as Canada, Australia, and India; medium-size nations such as Zambia, New Zealand, and Malaysia, as well as teeny nations such as Antigua and Barbuda, Seychelles, and Nauru. They include nations from all six inhabited continents, which means that the Commonwealth is spread widely across the world.


One of the teeny nations is Tuvalu. Unlike most Commonwealth nations, Commonwealth Day is actually an official public holiday, with events for kids, games, and other special celebrations in Funafuti, which is the capital city.

Check out some info about this island nation:

Located in the South Pacific, about halfway between Hawaii and Australia, Tuvalu is an island nation made up of three reef islands and six atolls. The reef islands are platform reefs, which can develop when the seabed is close enough to the surface of the ocean for coral reefs to flourish. The atolls, on the other hand, form when a volcanic island develops a fringing reef (a coral reef that stretches around or most of the way around the island) - and then the volcanic  island itself erodes away or sinks below the surface of the water in some sort of tectonic action. Atolls look like a ring of "land" or reef surrounding a central lagoon.



Tuvalu is very low-lying and has poor soil. The economy includes coconut trees, pulaka (a starchy food that is a bit like taro and that can be grown in pits of composted soil below the water table, fishing, and sailors who work on the ships of other nations.

Steamed pulaka
The people of Tuvalu are mostly Polynesian.



Tuvalu is too remote to get many tourists. But it's lovely, isn't it?





Tuvalu is so low-lying that global warming might cause enough sea-level rise to completely eliminate it. Ecotourism might be a growing thing for Tuvalu - many people in the world DO value protecting the environment and keeping climate relatively stable!





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May 24 – Commonwealth Day in Belize

Posted on May 24, 2018


This holiday goes back to Queen Victoria's birthday (see link below) and her position as the head of Great Britain. Actually, in Victoria's time, all the lands and nations and territories associated with Britain - lands spread all over the world, everywhere from Africa and Asia to the Americas and the South Pacific - made up the British Empire. And Queen Victoria's birthday was called Empire Day. 


The British Commonwealth of Nations is what is left of the former British Empire. Great Britain is supposedly just one of 53 Commonwealth members. All the members are independent, self-governing nations.

And one of the Commonwealth nations is Belize.



Celebrating this holiday includes horse races, a cycle race, and flag raising ceremonies.

Being part of the British Commonwealth, and being the former British Honduras, the official language is English. But there are several recognized languages, including Belizean Creole, Garifuna, Mayan languages, and Spanish. More than half of the population speaks two or more languages.

Belize is known for Mayan temple ruins, the Great Blue Hole ocean sinkhole, and wonderful coral reefs:

One of the largest Mayan cities in all of Central America is Xunatunich. The center of the ancient city is more than one square mile and includes six plazas. There are 26 palaces and temples!!



The Great Blue Hole was considered one of the top five scuba diving spots in the world by famous ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau. The area once formed on dry land, a cave with stalactites and stalagmites, formed by eroded limestone (karst). Eventually the sea level began to rise, and the cave system was flooded by ocean waters. 

The sinkhole is between 124 and 125 meters (407 - 410 feet) at its deepest point.




The Belize Barrier Reef is a part of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System - the third largest coral reef system in the world!



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September 26 – New Dominions Join the Empire

Posted on September 26, 2016

When I say, “the Empire,” I don't mean the horrible galaxy-wide dictatorship that Strikes Back in the Star Wars movies – that's fictional – instead, I mean the British Empire, which straddled the globe in the 1800s and the early 1900s. It was made up of a variety of dominions, colonies, protectorate, mandates, plus other territories.



On this date in 1907, two new “New” dominions joined the British Empire:

New Zealand and Newfoundland.

First, what's a dominion?

It was a semi-independent political unit. British dominions were considered to be under the British Crown (in modern times, Queen Elizabeth II), but they were governed by locally-elected governments. They shared a common citizenship and collaborated on foreign affairs and defense.

Since World War II, there is no more “British Empire.” All the dominions became fully independent of the United Kingdom, although they remain in the Commonwealth of Nations and still have Queen Elizabeth II as their reigning sovereign.

Now, what do you know about New Zealand and Newfoundland?

For each question, answer “New Zealand” or “Newfoundland” or “both”:

  1. It is now part of Canada (joined in 1949).

  1. It was the filming location for ALL of the scenes of The Lord of the Rings movies.

  1. Its capital (Wellington) is the southernmost capital city in the world.

  1. There are no land snakes there.
  1. It consists of one or more islands.
  2. On 9-11, the horrible terrorist attack in New York City and other U.S. places on September 11, 2001, thirty-nine U.S.-bound airplanes were diverted there, and about 6,600 travelers were stranded there for three days! They were taken into private homes and treated with hospitality that is still remembered today.
  3. It's known for its native kiwi bird – the bird is such a national icon that people who live there are called “Kiwis.”
  4. It has its own time zone, 30 minutes offset from neighboring time zones.
  5. It is home to more species of penguins than any other country.
  6. It has a dog breed named after it.

  7. Its population is largely descended from British settlers. Of course there are also people descended from aboriginal or native peoples.


  1.  Its flag:



  2. Its flag:


  3. Its scenery:


  4. Its scenery:



ANSWERS:
1) Newfoundland - 2) New Zealand - 3) New Zealand – 4) Both - 5) Both - 6) Newfoundland - 7) New Zealand - 8) Newfoundland - 9) New Zealand - 10) Newfoundland - 11) Both - 12) Newfoundland - 13) New Zealand - 14) New Zealand - 15) Newfoundland



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