hed British sovereignty
over New Zealand), 6 February (1840)

Constitution:

19 October 1974 (Niue Constitution Act)

Legal system:

English common law; note - Niue is self-governing, with the power to
make its own laws

Suffrage:

18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:

chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952);
represented by Governor General of New Zealand Anand SATYANAND
(since 23 August 2006); the UK and New Zealand are represented by
New Zealand High Commissioner John BRYAN (since May 2000)
head of government: Premier Toke TALAGI (since 18 June 2008)
cabinet: Cabinet consists of the premier and three ministers
elections: the monarch is hereditary; premier elected by the
Legislative Assembly for a three-year term; election last held 18
June 2008 (next to be held in 2011)
election results: Toke TALAGI defeats incumbent Young VIVIAN in
Legislative Assembly vote; Toke TALAGI - 14, Young VIVIAN - 5

Legislative branch:

unicameral Legislative Assembly (20 seats; members elected by
popular vote to serve three-year terms; six elected from a common
roll and 14 are village representatives)
elections: last held 7 June 2008 (next to be held in 2011)
election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - 20
independents

Judicial branch:

Supreme Court of New Zealand; High Court of Niue

Political parties and leaders:

Alliance of Independents or AI; Niue People's Action Party or NPP
[Young VIVIAN]

Political pressure groups and leaders:

NA

International organization participation:

ACP, FAO, IFAD, OPCW, PIF, Sparteca, SPC, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WMO

Diplomatic representation in the US:

none (self-governing territory in free association with New Zealand)

Diplomatic representation from the US:

none (self-governing territory in free association with New Zealand)

Flag description:

yellow with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant; the
flag of the UK bears five yellow five-pointed stars - a large star
on a blue disk in the center and a smaller star on each arm of the
bold red cross

Economy
Niue

Economy - overview:

The economy suffers from the typical Pacific island problems of
geographic isolation, few resources, and a small population.
Government expenditures regularly exceed revenues, and the shortfall
is made up by critically needed grants from New Zealand that are
used to pay wages to public employee