New Zealand Government

The political system of New Zealand can be described as a representative parliamentary democracy. New Zealand is also considered a constitutional monarchy in which the Queen or King of England as the official the head of state. The legislative branch of government in New Zealand is based on precedents set by the United Kingdom's Westminster.

Elections in New Zealand take place every three years. Parliamentary representatives are elected through a regional electorate system, and the Prime Minister is elected by the national party vote and will also be the leader of the party with the most votes. The first modern elections of New Zealand took place in 1853, and New Zealand was also the first country to grant women the right to vote in 1893.

The parliament of New Zealand is located in the capital of Wellington in the North Island of the country. There are 120 seats in the parliament of New Zealand made up of 71 electorate seats, decided by regional representation, and 49 list seats. The list seats are determined by the proportion of party votes that any one party receives. Ministerial positions within the government are always filled by members of this parliament. Although the Queen is considered to be the head of state, she is rarely ever present and is represented by a Governor-General.

New Zealand has a multiparty system. However, the two post prominent parties are the Labour and the National.

This page was last modified on May 1st, 2018

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Published on 2019-11-06


Capital	Wellington
Languages	English (de facto official) 89.8%, Maori (de jure official) 3.5%, Samoan 2%, Hindi 1.6%, French 1.2%, Northern Chinese 1.2%, Yue 1%, other or not stated 20.5%, New Zealand Sign Language (de jure official)
Ethnic Groups	European 71.2%, Maori 14.1%, Asian 11.3%, Pacific peoples 7.6%, Middle Eastern, Latin American, African 1.1%, other 1.6%, not stated or unidentified 5.4%
Religion	Christian 44.3% (Catholic 11.6%, Anglican 10.8%, Presbyterian and Congregational 7.8%, Methodist, 2.4%, Pentecostal 1.8%, other 9.9%), Hindu 2.1%, Buddhist 1.4%, Maori Christian 1.3%, Islam 1.1%, other religion 1.4% (includes Judaism, Spiritualism and New Age religions, Baha'i, Asian religions other than Buddhism), no religion 38.5%, not stated or unidentified 8.2%, objected to answering 4.1%
Government	Parliamentary democracy (New Zealand Parliament) under a constitutional monarchy; a Commonwealth realm
Independance	26 September 1907 (from the UK)
Area	268,838.00 km²
Water Area	4,301.00 km²
Land Area	264,537.00 km²
Population	4,474,549.00
Location	Oceania, islands in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of Australia
GDP(PPP)	$175,000,000,000.00 (USD)
GDP (Per Capita)	$37,100.00 (USD)
Export Partners	Its major export partners are China, Australia, and the United States.
Export Commodities	Its main exports are dairy products, meat and edible offal, logs and wood articles.
Import Partners	Its major import partners are China, Australia, and the United States.
Import Commodities	Its major imports include petroleum and products, mechanical machinery, and vehicles.
Climate	Temperate with sharp regional contrasts
Terrain	Predominately mountainous with large coastal plains
Learn More	New Zealand

New Zealand Government

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