Government type: NA
Capital: none; each atoll has its own administrative center
Administrative divisions: none (territory of New Zealand)
Independence: none (territory of New Zealand)
National holiday: Waitangi Day, 6 February (1840) (Treaty of
Waitangi established British sovereignty over New Zealand)
Constitution: administered under the Tokelau Islands Act of 1948,
as amended in 1970
Legal system: British and local statutes
Suffrage: 21 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); the UK
and New Zealand are represented by Administrator Lindsay WATT (since
NA March 1993)
head of government: Aliki Faipule FALIMATEAO (since NA 1997)
cabinet: the Council of Faipule, consisting of three elected
leaders, one from each atoll; functions as a cabinet
elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; administrator appointed
by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade in New Zealand; the
head of government is chosen from the Council of Faipule and serves
a one-year term
Legislative branch: unicameral General Fono (45 seats—15 from
each of the three atolls; members chosen by each atoll's Council of
Elders or Taupulega to serve three-year terms); note—the Tokelau
Amendment Act of 1996 confers legislative power on the General Fono