Christmas Island Government Profile 2009

Country name

conventional long form: Territory of Christmas Island
conventional short form: Christmas Island

Dependency status

non-self governing territory of Australia; administered from Canberra by the Australian Government Attorney-General's Department

Government type

NA

Capital

name: The Settlement
geographic coordinates: 10 25 S, 105 43 E
time difference: UTC+7 (12 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

Administrative divisions

none (territory of Australia)

Affiliation

(territory of Australia)

Independence

none (territory of Australia)

National holiday

Australia Day, 26 January (1788)

Constitution

Christmas Island Act of 1958-59 (1 October 1958) as amended by the Territories Law Reform Act of 1992

Legal system

under the authority of the governor general of Australia and Australian law

Suffrage

18 years of age

Executive branch

chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952) represented by the Australian governor general
head of government: Administrator Neil LUCAS (since 30 January 2006)
elections: the monarch is hereditary; administrator appointed by the governor general of Australia and represents the monarch and Australia

Legislative branch

unicameral Christmas Island Shire Council (9 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: held every two years with half the members standing for election; last held 20 October 2007 (next to be held in 2009)
election results: percent of vote - NA; seats - independents 9

Judicial branch

Supreme Court; District Court; Magistrate's Court

Political parties and leaders

none

Political pressure groups and leaders

none

International organization participation

none

Diplomatic representation in the US

none (territory of Australia)

Diplomatic representation from the US

none (territory of Australia)

Flag description

territorial flag; divided diagonally from upper hoist to lower fly; the upper triangle is green with a yellow image of the Golden Bosun Bird superimposed, the lower triangle is blue with the Southern Cross constellation, representing Australia, superimposed; a centered yellow disk displays a green map of the island
note: the flag of Australia is used for official purposes

Group

All, APLAA, Caribbean/Oceania, Australia - Oceania