The history of local government in New Zealand can be broadly grouped into three periods, these being the provincial era (1841–1876), the boroughs and counties era (1876–1989), and the districts and regions era (the current era, since 1989).

Provincial era (until 1876)

The original three provinces were established in 1841 by Royal Charter. The New Zealand Constitution Act 1846 reduced the number of provinces to two. The New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 re-divided New Zealand into six provinces, and four additional provinces emerged during the remainder of the Provincial Era. This era came to end with the Abolition of Provinces Act 1876.

Province Established Disestablished Notes Auckland 1853 1876 Canterbury 1853 1876 Hawke's Bay 1858 1876 Formerly part of Wellington Province Marlborough 1859 1876 Formerly part of Nelson Province Nelson 1853 1876 New Leinster 1841 1846 New Zealand Constitution Act 1846 New Munster 1841 1853 New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 New Plymouth 1853 1876 Renamed "Taranaki" in 1859 New Ulster 1841 1853 New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 Otago 1853 1876 Southland 1861 1870 Originally part of, and later reunited with, Otago Province Wellington 1853 1876 Westland 1873 1876 Independent (Westland County) from 1868, and before that part of Canterbury Province

Post-provincial era (1876–1989)

After New Zealand abolished its provinces in 1876, a system of counties similar to other countries' systems was instituted, lasting with little change (except mergers and other localised boundary adjustments) until 1989 when they were reorganised into district councils within a system of larger regions.

The Local Government Act 1974 began the process of bringing urban, mixed, and rural councils into the same legislative framework. Substantial reorganisations under that Act resulted in a shake-up in 1989, which abolished all the counties except for the Chatham Islands County, which survived under that name for a further 6 years but then became a "Territory" under the "Chatham Islands Council".

Borough councils

New Zealand formerly used the term borough to designate self-governing towns of more than 1,000 people, although 19th century census records show many boroughs with populations as low as 200.1881 census summary Note: most of the links go to the area, rather than information about the body referenced.