Cook Islands(Rarotongan: Kūki ‘Airani)

 

 

 

Cook Islands Beach banner

 

Cook Islands

Flag of The Cook Islands

 

The Cook Islands (Rarotongan: Kūki ‘Airani;  Penrhyn: Kūki Airani) is 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.  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.  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.

 

Backpacking Avarua

 

Beach on Rarotonga

 

The Cook Islands' main population centres are on the island of Rarotonga (10,863 in 2021). 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.  The last Australian census recorded 28,000 Cook Islanders living in Australia, many with Australian citizenship.  With over 168,000 visitors to the islands in 2018, tourism is the country's main industry and leading element of its economy, ahead of offshore banking, pearls, and marine and fruit exports.

 

Etymology

The Cook Islands comprise 15 islands split between two island groups, which have been called individual names in indigenous languages including Cook Islands Māori and Pukapukan throughout the time they have been inhabited. The first name given by Europeans was Gente Hermosa (beautiful people) by Spanish explorers to Rakahanga in 1606.

 

The islands as a whole are named after British Captain James Cook, who visited during the 1770s and named Manuae "Hervey Island" after Augustus Hervey, 3rd Earl of Bristol. The southern island group became known as the "Hervey Islands" after this. In the 1820s, Russian Admiral Adam Johann von Krusenstern referred to the southern islands as the "Cook Islands" in his Atlas de l'Ocean Pacifique. The entire territory (including the northern island group) was not known as the "Cook Islands" until after its annexation by New Zealand in the early 20th century. In 1901, the New Zealand parliament passed the Cook and other Islands Government Act, demonstrating that the name "Cook Islands" only referred to some of the islands. However, this situation had changed by the passage of the Cook Islands Act 1915, which defined the Cooks' area and included all presently included islands.

 

The islands' official name in Cook Islands Māori is Kūki 'Āirani, a transliteration of the English name.

 

History

Confiscation and destruction of idol gods by European missionaries in Rarotonga, 1837

 

The Cook Islands were first settled around AD 1000 by Polynesian people who are thought to have migrated from Tahiti,  an island 1,154 kilometres (717 mi) to the northeast of the main island of Rarotonga.

 

The Cook Islands became aligned to the United Kingdom in 1890, largely because of the fear of British residents that France might occupy the islands as it already had Tahiti.

 

Cook_Islands_Annexation_Ceremony

Governor Lord Ranfurly reading the annexation proclamation to Queen Makea on 7 October 1900.

 Governor of New Zealand Lord Ranfurly reading the annexation proclamation to Queen Makea, with the British Resident Walter Gudgeon looking on, at the ceremony 7th October 1900. In the background are British Bluejackets and marines.

 

In 1901 the islands were included within the boundaries of the Colony of New Zealand  by Order in Council  under the Colonial Boundaries Act, 1895 of the United Kingdom. The boundary change became effective on 11 June 1901, and the Cook Islands have had a formal relationship with New Zealand since that time.

 

When the British Nationality and New Zealand Citizenship Act 1948 came into effect on 1 January 1949, Cook Islanders who were British subjects automatically gained New Zealand citizenship. The islands remained a New Zealand dependent territory until the New Zealand Government decided to grant them self-governing status. On 4 August 1965, a constitution was promulgated.

 

Geography

Penrhyn_Aerial

Carte de Penrhyn (Tongareva) - îles Cook/Map of Penrhyn (Tongareva) -Cook Islands

 

Aerial photograph of Pukapuka Atoll in the Cook Islands,

photographed from Air Rarotonga's Embraer Bandeirante Aircraft that infrequently services this remote atoll.

 

Carte de Pukapuka (îles Cook)/map of Pukapuka (Cook Islands)

Manihiki Aerial

 

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Location of the islands of Cook Islands

Cook_Islands,_administrative_divisions

 

Palmerston Island map

Carte topographique d'Aitutaki/Topographic map of Aitutaki

 

 

Tapuaetai (One Foot Island) on the southern part of Aitutaki

 

Map of Mangaia

 

Map of Mauke (Cook Islands)

 

Map of Mitiaro Island, Cook Islands

 

Carte d'Atiu (topographie et tapere)/Map of Atiu (topography and tapere)

 

 

Map of the Cook Islands

 

The Cook Islands are in the South Pacific Ocean, north-east of New Zealand, between American Samoa and French Polynesia. There are 15 major islands spread over 2,200,000 km2 (850,000 sq mi) of ocean, divided into two distinct groups: the Southern Cook Islands and the Northern Cook Islands of coral atolls.

 

The Cook Islands consist of 15 islands and two reefs.

 

Politics and foreign relations

The parliament building of the Cook Islands, formerly a hotel

 

The Cook Islands are a representative democracy with a parliamentary system in an associated state relationship with New Zealand. Executive power is exercised by the government, with the Prime Minister as head of government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Parliament of the Cook Islands. While the country is de jure unicameral, there are two legislative bodies with the House of Ariki acting as a de facto upper house.

 

The head of state is the King of New Zealand, who is represented in the Cook Islands by the King's Representative.

 

The islands are self-governing in "free association" with New Zealand. Under the Cook Islands constitution, New Zealand cannot pass laws for the Cook Islands. Rarotonga has its own foreign service and diplomatic network. Cook Islands nationals have the right to become citizens of New Zealand and can receive New Zealand government services when in New Zealand.

 

On 25 September 2023, the Cook Islands and the United States of America established diplomatic relations under the leadership of Prime Minister Mark Brown at a ceremony in Washington, DC.

 

Aerial view of Muri lagoon in Rarotonga 

Aerial of Aitutaki island lagoon, Cook Islands

 

Defence and police

The Cook Islands Police Service polices its own waters, and shares responsibility for defence with New Zealand, in consultation with the Cook Islands Government and at its request. The total offshore EEZ is about 2 million square kilometres.  Vessels of the Royal New Zealand Navy can be employed for this task including its Protector-class offshore patrol vessels.  These naval forces may also be supported by Royal New Zealand Air Force aircraft, including P-8 Poseidons.

 

In 2024, the Cook Islands' efforts to join the Commonwealth of Nations as a full member were "ongoing" but, despite this, the government was unable to secure an invitation to attend the 2024 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Samoa.

 

 

Language

The languages of the Cook Islands include English, Cook Islands Māori (or "Rarotongan"), and Pukapukan. Dialects of Cook Islands Māori include Penrhyn; Rakahanga-Manihiki; the Ngaputoru dialect of Atiu, Mitiaro, and Mauke; the Aitutaki dialect; and the Mangaian dialect.

 

Cook Islands Māori and its dialectic variants are closely related to both Tahitian and to New Zealand Māori. Pukapukan is considered closely related to the Samoan language.

 

English and Cook Islands Māori are official languages of the Cook Islands; per the Te Reo Maori Act. The legal definition of Cook Islands Māori includes Pukapukan.