Cook Islands

Group of six large and a number of smaller Polynesian islands 2,600 km/1,600 mi northeast of Auckland, New Zealand; area 290 sq km/112 sq mi; population (2000 est) 20,400. Their main products include citrus fruit, copra, bananas, pearl-shell, cultivated (black) pearls, and crafts. Tourism is, however, the chief industry, with large numbers of visitors coming to the islands each year, mainly through Rarotonga international airport. International financial services are also important sources of income. The islands became a self-governing overseas territory of New Zealand in 1965.

The chief island, Rarotonga, is the site of Avarua, the seat of government. Niue, geographically part of the group, is separately administered. The Cook Islands were visited by Captain James Cook in 1773, annexed by Britain in 1888, and transferred to New Zealand in 1901. They have common citizenship with New Zealand, although they are self-governing; the head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, represented (from 2001) by Fred Goodwin, president of the ruling Democratic Alliance Party (DAP); the prime minister (from 2004) is Jim Marurai.

The Cook Islands vary from high volcanic to coral atolls, and are fertile. Geographically, the group falls into two parts: the southern Cooks Rarotonga, Mangaia, Mauke, Mitiaro, the Hervey Islands (Manuae and Te Au-O-Tu), Takutea, Aitutaki, and Atiu; and the northern Cooks Suwarrow, Palmerston, Penrhyn, Manihiki, Rakahanga, Pukapuka (Danger), and Nassau.