Editing Local government (section)

===New Zealand===
{{Main article|Local government in New Zealand}}

New Zealand has a local government system comprising two complementary sets of local authorities—[[Regions of New Zealand|regional councils]] and [[Territorial authorities of New Zealand|territorial authorities]]. There are 78 local authorities consisting of:
*11 regional councils, which cover much of New Zealand's land area, and
*67 territorial authorities (comprising 53 district councils, 12 [[List of cities in New Zealand|city councils]] and 2 other councils).
Six of the territorial authorities are [[unitary authority|unitary authorities]], which also have the powers of a regional council. They are Auckland Council, Nelson City Council, the Gisborne, Marlborough and Tasman district councils, and Chatham Islands Council.

Regional council areas are based on water catchment areas, whereas territorial authorities are based on community of interest and road access. Within a regional council area there are usually many city or district councils, although city and district councils can be in multiple regional council areas.