Country name:
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: New Zealand
abbreviation: NZ
Government type:
parliamentary democracy
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 first Sunday in October; ends
third Sunday in March
note: New Zealand is divided into two time zones, including Chatham
Island
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); ANZAC Day (commemorated as the
anniversary of the 1915 landing of troops of the Australian and New
Zealand Army Corps during World War I at Gallipoli, Turkey), 25 April
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