The land of the Kiwis, New Zealand is a true treat for tourists with serene beaches to rocky mountainous landscapes, exciting night life to rustic country sides and gushing geysers and volcanoes to snow clad mountains. It is surrounded by the Pacific Ocean and consists essentially of two large islands, namely the North Island and South Island, which are separated by the Cook Strait. There also are numerous smaller ones, of which the largest is Stewart Island and is often referred to as the ‘third island’. Especially keeping tourism in mind, for ease of locating places the country has been divided into 24 regions. New Zealand is a democracy headed by the Governor General, with a multi party system; there also exists a constitutional monarchy

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The picturesque island group of Labuan in Malaysia comprises of a main island called Pulau Labuan and six smaller islands, and is located off the north-western coast of Borneo. It is naturally blessed with a pleasant tropical climate all year round, which makes it a preferred tourist destination. There however is a rather long and tumultuous history linked to Labuan; in the 1800’s it was part of the Brunei Sultanate and thereafter, after being colonies under the British and the Japanese for over a century, Labuan became independent and joined Malaysia in the year 1963. Since then this island has garnered much attention, especially after it was declared an International Offshore Financial Centre in the year 1990.

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Hong Kong, administrative region of China, consisting of a mainland portion located on the nation’s southeastern coast and about 235 islands. Hong Kong is bordered on the north by Guangdong Province and on the east, west, and south by the South China Sea. Hong Kong was a British dependency from the 1840s until July 1, 1997, when it passed to Chinese sovereignty as the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR).

The British control of Hong Kong began in 1842, when China was forced to cede Hong Kong Island to Britain after the First Opium War. In 1984 Britain and China signed the Sino-British Joint Declaration, which stipulated that Hong Kong return to Chinese rule in 1997 as the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China. The Joint Declaration and a Chinese law called the Basic Law, which followed in 1990, offer for the SAR to operate with a high degree of economic autonomy for 50 years beyond 1997.
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