Cook Islands

Map of the Cook Islands

Where the Cook Islands are in the world

Flag of the Cook Islands

Coat of arms of the Cook Islands

The Cook Islands are a group of islands in the southern Pacific. They form an independent state, but have strong ties with New Zealand. The 15 small islands have a total land surface of 240 square kilometers. About 18.000 people live on the islands, most of them from tourism. The largest island, Rarotonga, also holds the territory's capital, Avarua.

The nation also has a distinctive Polynesian language known as Cook Island Maori, which is closely related to the Maori language of New Zealand and to the Tahitian language.^[1]

Foreign relations: Relations with the United States were started in 2023. Relations with China were started earlier.

History: The Rarotonga Treaty was signed in 1986; Cook Islands is (as of the 2020s) still in an area that is supposed to be without any nuclear weapons.

A beach on Rarotonga
A photo taken from Aituaki

Cook Islands Media

National Anthem of the Cook Islands
U.S. Navy Band - God Save the King
Governor Lord Ranfurly reading the annexation proclamation to Queen Makea on 7 October 1900
Map of the Cook Islands (labels in Polish)
Tiare māori, the national flower of the Cook Islands
The parliament building of the Cook Islands, formerly a hotel
Prime Minister Henry Puna with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Rarotonga, 31 August 2012
Map of the islands of Cook Islands
Vaka councils of Rarotonga, 1997–2008
Carte topographique d'Aitutaki/Topographic map of Aitutaki