e
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:
13 regions; Auckland, Bay of Plenty, Canterbury, Gisborne-Hawke's
Bay, Manawatu-Wanganui, Nelson-Marlborough, Northland, Otago,
Southland, Taranaki, 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 and The Constitution Act 1986
which is the principal formal charter

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 27 July 2002 (next to be held NA 2005)
election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party -
NZLP 52, NP 27, NZFP 13, ACT New Zealand 9, Green Party 9, UF 8,
other 2

Judicial branch:
High Court; Court of Appeal

Political parties and leaders:
ACT New Zealand [Richard PREBBLE]; Green Par