Government of Niue
| Country name: | conventional long form: none conventional short form: Niue former: Savage Island |
| Dependency status: | self-governing in free association with New Zealand since 1974; Niue fully responsible for internal affairs; New Zealand retains responsibility for external affairs and defense; however, these responsibilities confer no rights of control and are only exercised at the request of the Government of Niue |
| Government type: | self-governing parliamentary democracy |
| Capital: | name: Alofi geographic coordinates: 19 01 S, 169 55 W time difference: UTC+12 (17 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
| Administrative divisions: | none; note - there are no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the US Government, but there are 14 villages at the second order |
| Independence: | on 19 October 1974, Niue became a self-governing parliamentary government in free association with New Zealand |
| National holiday: | Waitangi Day (Treaty of Waitangi established British sovereignty over New Zealand), 6 February (1840) |
| Constitution: | 19 October 1974 (Niue Constitution Act) |
| Legal system: | English common law; note - Niue is self-governing, with the power to make its own laws |
| Suffrage: | 18 years of age; universal |
| Executive branch: | chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); represented by Governor General of New Zealand Anand SATYANAND (since 23 August 2006); the UK and New Zealand are represented by New Zealand High Commissioner John BRYAN (since May 2000) head of government: Premier Young VIVIAN (since 1 May 2002) cabinet: Cabinet consists of the premier and three ministers elections: the monarch is hereditary; premier elected by the Legislative Assembly for a three-year term; election last held 12 May 2005 (next to be held in May 2008) election results: Young VIVIAN reelected premier; percent of Legislative Assembly vote - Young VIVIAN 85%, O'Love JACOBSEN 15% |
| Legislative branch: | unicameral Legislative Assembly (20 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve three-year terms; six elected from a common roll and 14 are village representatives) elections: last held 30 April 2005 (next to be held in April 2008) election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NA |
| Judicial branch: | Supreme Court of New Zealand; High Court of Niue |
| Political parties and leaders: | Alliance of Independents or AI; Niue People's Action Party or NPP [Young VIVIAN] |
| Political pressure groups and leaders: | NA |
| International organization participation: | ACP, FAO, IFAD, OPCW, PIF, Sparteca, SPC, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WMO |
| Diplomatic representation in the US: | none (self-governing territory in free association with New Zealand) |
| Diplomatic representation from the US: | none (self-governing territory in free association with New Zealand) |
| Flag description: | yellow with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant; the flag of the UK bears five yellow five-pointed stars - a large one on a blue disk in the center and a smaller one on each arm of the bold red cross |