New Zealand Government

Country Name conventional long form: none conventional short form: New Zealand abbreviation: NZ
Government type:
parliamentary democracy and a Commonwealth realm
Capital:
name: Wellington geographic coordinates: 41 28 S, 174 51 E time difference: UTC+12 (17 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in September; ends first Sunday in April note: New Zealand is divided into two time zones - New Zealand standard time (12 hours in advance of UTC), and Chatham Islands time (45 minutes in advance of New Zealand standard time)
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 the UK)
National holiday:
Waitangi Day (Treaty of Waitangi established British sovereignty over New Zealand), 6 February (1840); ANZAC Day (commemorated as the anniversary of the landing of troops of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps during World War I at Gallipoli, Turkey), 25 April (1915)
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 Anand SATYANAND (since 23 August 2006) head of government: Prime Minister John KEY (since 19 November 2008); Deputy Prime Minister Bill ENGLISH (since 19 November 2008) cabinet: Executive Council appointed by the governor general on the recommendation of the prime minister (For more information visit the World Leaders website ) elections: the monarchy is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of a majority coalition 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 (usually 120 seats; 70 members elected by popular vote in single-member constituencies including 7 Maori constituencies, 50 proportional seats chosen from party lists; serve three-year terms) elections: last held on 8 November 2008 (next to be held not later than 27 November 2011) election results: percent of vote by party - National Party 44.9%, Labor Party 34%, Green Party 6.7%, NZ First 4%, ACT Party 3.7%, Maori 2.4%, Progressive 0.9%, United Front 0.9%, other 6.6%; seats by party - National Party 58, Labor Party 43, Green Party 9, ACT Party 5, Maori 5, Progressive 1, United Front 1 note: results of 2008 election saw the total number of seats increase to 122
Judicial branch:
Supreme Court; Court of Appeal; High Court; note - judges appointed by the governor general
Political parties and leaders:
ACT New Zealand [Rodney HIDE]; Green Party [Russel NORMAN and Metiria TUREI]; Maori Party [Tariana TURIA and Dr. Pita SHARPLES]; New Zealand National Party [John KEY]; New Zealand First Party or NZ First [Winston PETERS]; New Zealand Labor Party [Phil GOFF]; Jim Anderton's Progressive Party [James (Jim) ANDERTON]; United Future New Zealand [Peter DUNNE]
Political pressure groups and leaders:
Women's Electoral Lobby or WEL other: apartheid groups; civil rights groups; farmers groups; Maori; nuclear weapons groups; women's rights groups
International organization participation:
ADB, ANZUS (US suspended security obligations to NZ on 11 August 1986), APEC, ARF, ASEAN (dialogue partner), Australia Group, BIS, C, CP, EAS, EBRD, FAO, FATF, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NSG, OECD, OPCW, Paris Club (associate), PCA, PIF, Sparteca, SPC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIS, UNMIT, UNTSO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Michael K. MOORE chancery: 37 Observatory Circle NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 328-4800 FAX: [1] (202) 667-5227 consulate(s) general: New York, Santa Monica
Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador David HUEBNER embassy: 29 Fitzherbert Terrace, Thorndon, Wellington mailing address: P. O. Box 1190, Wellington; PSC 467, Box 1, APO AP 96531-1034 telephone: [64] (4) 462-6000 FAX: [64] (4) 499-0490 consulate(s) general: Auckland
Flag description:
blue with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant with four red five-pointed stars edged in white centered in the outer half of the flag; the stars represent the Southern Cross constellation
National anthem:
name: "God Defend New Zealand" lyrics/music: Thomas BRACKEN [English], Thomas Henry SMITH [Maori]/John Joseph WOODS note: adopted 1940 as national song, adopted 1977 as co-national anthem; New Zealand has two national anthems with equal status; as a commonwealth realm, in addition to "God Defend New Zealand," "God Save the Queen" serves as a national anthem (see United Kingdom); "God Save the Queen" normally is played only when a member of the royal family or the governor-general is present; in all other cases, "God Defend New Zealand" is played
Government - note:
while not an official symbol, the Kiwi, a small native flightless bird, represents New Zealand https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/nz.html