Cook Islands, island group (2006 pop. 19,569), 90 sq mi (234 sq km), S Pacific, SE of Samoa; a self-governing state in free association with New Zealand. It consists of 15 small islands and is comprised of two main groups, the Southern (or Lower) Cook islands (Rarotonga Rarotonga , formerly Goodenough's Island, volcanic island (2006 pop. 15,153), 26 sq mi (67 sq km), South Pacific, capital of the Cook Islands.
..... Click the link for more information. , Mangaia, Atiu, Aitutaki, Mauke, Mitiaro, and Manuae and Te-Au-o-tu) and the Northern Cook islands (Nassau, Palmerston, Penrhyn, Manihiki Manihiki , atoll, c.2 sq mi (5.2 sq km), South Pacific, in the Cook Islands. It comprises 12 islets; the whole group that includes Manihiki and Penrhyn is also often designated Manihiki.
..... Click the link for more information. , Rakahanga, Pukapuka, and Suwarrow). The islands were formerly called the Hervey Islands. Avarua on Rarotonga is the administrative center of the group. The Cook Islanders are Maoris, a Polynesian people, and are largely Christians.

Economy

Copra, fresh and canned fruits and fruit juices, clothing, pearl shell, handicrafts, and jewelry are the principal exports. Tourism and food processing are the major industries. Beginning in 1980s the islands also became a popular tax haven and offshore banking center, but in 2003 the government moved to increase regulation of offshore banks as a result of international pressure. Government spending is important to the economy, and some 60% of the labor force work in the public sector. Most imports, largely foodstuffs, textiles, and fuels, come from New Zealand. The Maoris generally work their own land.

Government

The government consists of a prime minister, a cabinet, a 24-member elected legislature, and a 15-member House of Arikis (hereditary chiefs). The latter is a purely consultative body that advises on traditional matters. New Zealand is responsible for foreign affairs and defense in consultation with the Cook Islands government.

History

The southern islands were probably occupied by the Polynesians c.1,500 years ago. Spaniards visited the islands in the late 16th and early 17th cent. Capt. James Cook Cook, James, 1728–79, English explorer and navigator. The son of a Yorkshire agricultural laborer, he had little formal education. After an apprenticeship to a firm of shipowners at Whitby, he joined (1755) the royal navy and surveyed the St.
..... Click the link for more information. sighted some of the islands in 1773; others were not discovered until the 1820s. The London Missionary Society was a powerful influence in the southern islands during the 19th cent. The islands were proclaimed a British protectorate in 1888 and were annexed by New Zealand in 1901. The Cook Islands achieved internal self-government in 1965 and are free to unilaterally declare their complete independence. An economic crisis in the mid-1990s led to outmigration and a significant drop in the islands population.

Cook Islands

Island group (pop., 2005 est.: 13,900), southern Pacific Ocean. Located roughly 2,000 mi (3,000 km) northeast of New Zealand, the 15 islands, scattered from north to south over some 900 mi (1,450 km) of ocean, are divided into a southern group of nine islands, including Raratonga (the seat of government), and a northern group of six. All in the northern group are true atolls; most in the southern group have volcanic interiors. They were probably settled by Polynesians from Tonga and Samoa; there is evidence of a highly organized society c. AD 1100. Capt. James Cook explored many of them during the 1770s. Established as a British protectorate in 1888, they were annexed by New Zealand in 1901. Self-government in free association with New Zealand was achieved in 1965.

Cook Islands

an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean, located in Polynesia. Administratively under New Zealand sovereignty. The 15 islands subdivide into the Northern and Lower Cook groups, situated between 8° and 23°S lat. Area, 240 sq km.

The most important and populated islands of the Lower group are Rarotonga (67 sq km) and Mangaia (52 sq km). The Lower islands are primarily volcanic (maximum elevation, 643 m on Rarotonga). The Northern islands are coral atolls. The climate is tropical trade wind, mild and moist. The difference in seasonal temperatures (7° C) on Rarotonga is one of the lowest on earth. Population, more than 20,000 (1968): primarily Polynesian. There is fishing here, as well as the gathering of copra, pearls, mother-of-pearl, tortoise shells, and arrowroot. Bananas, oranges, and pineapples are grown.

The administrative center is Avarua on Rarotonga. The Cook Islands were discovered in 1773–74 by the British seafarer J. Cook; the Suvorov Atoll was discovered by the Russian seafarer M. P. Lazarev in 1814.

Mentioned in	?		References in periodicals archive	?		Encyclopedia browser	?		Full browser	?
No references found			9780714125800 Tivaivai; the social fabric of the Cook Islands. Tivaivai; the social fabric of the Cook Islands by Reference & Research Book News It always takes you by surprise - my favourite this year was the Cook Islands. Festival all Thai-d up by Evening Gazette (Middlesbrough, England) If you want Polynesian culture, unspoiled by mass tourism, The Cook Islands are where you should go. Places to Go in the South Pacific by Matthew Kepnes / Travel, recreation and leisure community			Conway's Law Conway's Life Conway, Henry Seymour Conway, Hugh Conway, Jill Ker Conway, John Horton Conway, Moncure Daniel Conway, Sir Martin Conway, Thomas Conwell, Russell Conwell, Russell Herman Conwell-Weisskopf equation Conwy cony Conybeare COO cooC cooccurrence matrix Cooch Behar Cooder, Ry Cook Cook County Cook Forest State Park cook house Cook Inlet Cook Islands Cook Strait Cook, David J. Cook, Ebenezer Cook, Frederick Albert Cook, George Cram Cook, James Cook, Joe Cook, Mount Cook, Sir Joseph Cook, Thomas Cook, Will Marion cook-off cookbook Cooke Cooke County Cooke objective Cooke unit Cooke, Alistair Cooke, Ebenezer Cooke, Jay Cooke, John Cooke, Josiah Parsons, Jr. Cooke, Morris Cooke, Sam Cooke, Terence James			Cook County, IL Cook County, Illinois Cook County, Minnesota Cook County, MN Cook Electric's Network Teleprocessing System Cook Forest Cook Forest State Park Cook Forest State Park, Pennsylvania cook goose cook goose cook goose Cook Hammond & Kell Ltd. cook house Cook Inlet Cook Inlet Cook Inlet Cook Inlet Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse Cook Inlet Housing Authority Cook Inlet Information Management Monitoring System Cook Inlet Marine Mammal Council Cook Inlet Real Estate Services Cook Inlet Region, Incorporated Cook Inlet Regional Citizens Advisory Council Cook Inlet Spill Prevention and Response, Inc. Cook Inlet Tribal Council Cook Inlet Tribal Council Inc. Cook Inlet, Alaska Cook Inlet, Alaska Cook Island Maori Cook Islands Cook Islands Christian Church Cook Islands Maori Cook Islands Ministry of Agriculture Cook Islands National Council of Women Cook Islands National Party Cook Islands Noni Marketing Ltd. Cook Islands People's Party Cook Islands Trading Corporation Cook Islands Trust and Banking Corporation Cook Islands Workers Association Incorporated Cook Islands/Military Cook Islands/Military Cook Memorial Public Library District cook out cook out Cook Partisan Voting Index Cook Political Report Cook Post Office cook shop Cook stove Cook Strait Cook Strait Cook Strait Tuatara Cook Strait Tuatara Cook Straits Cook Straits Cook Street Project cook the accounts Cook the books Cook the books