A new name for New Zealand's two islands?

New Zealand has a problem! The names for the two islands (imaginatively entitled North and South) were never legally registered, and so the country is trying to decide what to call them. There are many suggestions already for this; click on the title for a link to a news article about the dilemma. My current favourite is from a Texan: Not Australia and Still Not Australia. Can you do better? Post your ideas here...

Population terms revision game

Click here for full screen version

Geography in the news

Check out the new widget on the side which brings together all of the Geography in the news releases. Many thanks to Russel Tarr for this fab device!

Indians race for the polls!

No, this story doesn't have anything to do with the Arctic or Antarctica but in fact India's 15th general election. Over 700 million people are entitled to vote in India and with so many votes to count, results will not be available until the 16th May. Watch this space for any updates. More info on the different regions within India can be found on the title link!

GeoTube

Just found out about GeoTube which as the name suggests is a collection of Geography videos. My personal favourite would have to be any of the 'Hottest place on Earth' series which have been recently televised on BBC1.Click on the title link to go to the website.

Update on L'Aquila earthquake

The images to the left show L'Aquila before and after the earthquake using Google Earth street view. Local officials have claimed that the death toll has risen to 250 people. This is the worst earthquake to have hit Italy in 30 years. There have been claims by angry Italian residents that not enough education on how to survive an earthquake is given by the government. The Telegraph newspaper reports, "Public anger was growing, with many people saying there had been impending signs of a large quake and they should have been warned to prepare for the worst."

"It's a scandal, what's happened," said Maria Francesco, of L'Aquila. "For the past three months there have been regular tremors, and they've been getting stronger and stronger."

Italy's national Geophysical Institute said 280 aftershocks had been recorded since the main quake at 3.32am local time on Monday morning.

For more pictures of before and after click on the title link.

Quaking in their boot!

An earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale has struck L'Aquila, 60 miles from Rome, the capital city of Italy. Latest news reports are suggesting that 27 people have lost their lives. Powerful earthquakes are relatively rare in Italy but don't forget earthquakes of a magnitude of 6 and over can cause serious damage to buildings. For more information of this earthquake click on the title link.

Hill Sheep Farming

This is Laura Keough's (Year 10) homework on Hill Sheep Farming. Enjoy!