Cook Islands

For other uses, see Cook Islands (disambiguation) and Cook Island.

Cook Islands
Anthem: Te Atua Mou Ē
"God is Truth"
Location of The Cook Islands
Capital
and largest city
Avarua
21°12′S 159°46′W / 21.200°S 159.767°W / -21.200; -159.767
Official languages
  • English
  • Cook Islands Māori (including Pukapukan[a])
Spoken languages
  • English (86.4%)
  • Cook Islands Māori (76.2%)
  • other (8.3%)[1]
Ethnic groups
(2016 census[2])
Demonym(s)Cook Islander
GovernmentUnitary constitutional monarchy
• Monarch
Charles III
Sir Tom Marsters
Mark Brown
Tou Travel Ariki
LegislatureParliament
Free association with New Zealand
4 August 1965
• UN recognition of independence in foreign relations
1992[3]
Area
• Total
236.7 km2 (91.4 sq mi) (unranked)
Population
• 2021 census
15,040[4] (223rd)
• Density
63.3/km2 (163.9/sq mi) (138th)
GDP (nominal)2020 estimate
• Total
US$384 million[5] (not ranked)
• Per capita
US$21,994 (not ranked)
CurrencyNew Zealand dollar (NZD)
Cook Islands dollar (formerly)
Time zoneUTC–10 (CKT)
Drives onleft
Calling code+682
ISO 3166 codeCK
Internet TLD.ck
  1. ^ As per the Te Reo Maori Act.

The Cook Islands (Rarotongan: Kūki ‘Airani;[6] Penrhyn: Kūki Airani[7]) are an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of 15 islands whose total land area is approximately 236.7 square kilometres (91 sq mi). The Cook Islands' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers 1,960,027 square kilometres (756,771 sq mi) of ocean.[8] Avarua is its capital.

The Cook Islands is self-governing while in free association with New Zealand. Since the start of the 21st century, the Cook Islands has directed its own independent foreign and defence policy, and also has its own customs regulations. Like most members of the Pacific Islands Forum it has no armed forces, but the Cook Islands Police Service owns a Guardian Class Patrol Boat, CIPPB Te Kukupa II, provided by Australia, in order to police its waters. In recent decades, the Cook Islands have adopted an increasingly assertive and distinct foreign policy, and a Cook Islander, Henry Puna, served as Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum from 2021 to 2024.[9][10] Most Cook Islanders are also citizens of New Zealand, but they also have the status of Cook Islands nationals, which is not given to other New Zealand citizens. The Cook Islands have been an active member of the Pacific Community since 1980.

The Cook Islands' main population centres are on the island of Rarotonga (10,863 in 2021).[4] The Rarotonga International Airport, the main international gateway to the country, is located on this island. The census of 2021 put the total population at 14,987. There is also a larger population of Cook Islanders in New Zealand and Australia: in the 2018 New Zealand census, 80,532 people said they were Cook Islanders, or of Cook Islands descent.[11] The last Australian census recorded 28,000 Cook Islanders living in Australia, many with Australian citizenship.[12] With over 168,000 visitors to the islands in 2018,[13] tourism is the country's main industry and leading element of its economy, ahead of offshore banking, pearls, and marine and fruit exports.

  1. ^ "Cook Islands". The World Factbook (2024 ed.). Central Intelligence Agency. 26 October 2021. (Archived 2021 edition.)
  2. ^ "Census of Population & Dwellings 2016 Results". Ministry of Finance & Economic Management. 2016. Table 2: Social Characteristics – Sheet 2.3. Archived from the original on 12 July 2021. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
  3. ^ UN the World Today (PDF) and Repertory of Practice of United Nations Organs Supplement No. 8; p. 10 Archived 19 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ a b "2021 Census of Population and Dwellings". Cook Islands Statistics Office. Section 3 of download. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  5. ^ UNCTAD. "UNCTADstat – General Profile: Cook Islands". UNCTADstat. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
  6. ^ Cook Islands Maori dictionary by Jasper Buse & Raututi Taringa, Cook Islands Ministry of Education (1995) p. 200
  7. ^ "Search result: "Cook Islands"". Cook Islands Languages. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
  8. ^ Fisheries, Ecosystems and Biodiversity. Sea Around Us
  9. ^ "Cook Islands". France in New Zealand. 13 March 2014. Archived from the original on 27 June 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2015. Since 2001, the Cook Islands has complete sovereignty in managing their Foreign affairs according to the common declaration of 6 April 2001.
  10. ^ "Statement of the Forum Chair, Cook Islands PM Mark Brown on the Transition in Leadership at the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat". forumsec.org. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
  11. ^ "2018 Census ethnic group summaries – Cook Islands Maori". Statistics New Zealand. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  12. ^ "Ancestry 1st response (ANC1P)". Australian Bureau of Statistics. 15 October 2021. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  13. ^ "Cook Islands welcome more visitors". Radio New Zealand. February 2019. Archived from the original on 8 September 2019.