Home
News
In Focus
Business
Metro
Nation
World
Sports
Feature
Opinion
View more »Opinion Columns
Wan LixinOpinion deputy editor of Shanghai Daily
Restaurants get off to a quick start thanks to game-changing policies
High service charges on event ticket refunds call for further regulation
Sunday
- Subscribe
Related News
Names of New Zealand islands 'illegal'
Source: Agencies |
April 22, 2009, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
EXPERTS searching for alternative Maori names for New Zealand's two main islands were startled to find that their commonly used English names - North Island and South Island - were never made legal, officials said yesterday.
To repair the 200-year-old oversight, the country's Geographic Board, which assigns and approves names for all New Zealand places, said it would take steps to legally name the two South Pacific islands that make up more than 95 percent of the country's land mass.
The board had spent several years exploring a process for formally recognizing alternative Maori names for each island when it noticed that the islands had never been given official names, board chairman Don Grant said.
"We therefore want to formalize alternative Maori names and, at the same time, make the naming of North and South islands official," Grant said.
On early official maps and documents, the islands are marked with Maori names. North Island is labeled "Te Ika a Maui," meaning the fish of Maui, the Maori god of the sea. "Te Wai Pounamu," jade stone waters, for South Island, also appeared on early maps and documents.
South Island is also known locally as "the Mainland," while North Island is also called "Pig Island" for its population of wild pigs.
To repair the 200-year-old oversight, the country's Geographic Board, which assigns and approves names for all New Zealand places, said it would take steps to legally name the two South Pacific islands that make up more than 95 percent of the country's land mass.
The board had spent several years exploring a process for formally recognizing alternative Maori names for each island when it noticed that the islands had never been given official names, board chairman Don Grant said.
"We therefore want to formalize alternative Maori names and, at the same time, make the naming of North and South islands official," Grant said.
On early official maps and documents, the islands are marked with Maori names. North Island is labeled "Te Ika a Maui," meaning the fish of Maui, the Maori god of the sea. "Te Wai Pounamu," jade stone waters, for South Island, also appeared on early maps and documents.
South Island is also known locally as "the Mainland," while North Island is also called "Pig Island" for its population of wild pigs.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
