nition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99% (1980 est.)
male: NA%
female: NA%

Government New Zealand

Country name:
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: New Zealand
abbreviation: NZ

Government type:
parliamentary democracy

Capital:
Wellington

Administrative divisions:
16 regions and 1 territory*; Auckland, Bay of Plenty, Canterbury,
Chatham Islands*, Gisborne, Hawke's Bay, Manawatu-Wanganui,
Marlborough, Nelson, Northland, Otago, Southland, Taranaki, Tasman,
Waikato, Wellington, West Coast

Dependent areas:
Cook Islands, Niue, Tokelau

Independence:
26 September 1907 (from UK)

National holiday:
Waitangi Day (Treaty of Waitangi established British sovereignty
over New Zealand), 6 February (1840)

Constitution:
consists of a series of legal documents, including certain acts of
the UK and New Zealand Parliaments, as well as The Constitution Act
1986, which is the principal formal charter; adopted 1 January 1987,
effective 1 January 1987

Legal system:
based on English law, with special land legislation and land courts
for the Maori; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations

Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:
chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952),
represented by Governor General Dame Silvia CARTWRIGHT (since 4
April 2001)
head of government: Prime Minister Helen CLARK (since 10 December
1999) and Deputy Prime Minister Michael CULLEN (since NA July 2002)
cabinet: Executive Council appointed by the governor general on the
recommendation of the prime minister
elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor general
appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the
leader of the majority party or the leader of a majority coalition
is usually appointed prime minister by the governor general; deputy
prime minister appointed by the governor general

Legislative branch:
unicameral House of Representatives - commonly called Parliament
(120 seats; 69 members elected by popular vote in single-member
constituencies including 7 Maori constituencies, and 51 proportional
seats chosen from party lists, all to serve three-year terms)
elections: last held 17 September 2005 (next to be held not later
than 15 November 2008)
election results: percent of vote by party - NZLP 41.1%, NP 39.1%,
NZFP 5.72%, Green Party