Cook Islands
country in the South Pacific Ocean in free association with New Zealand
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.
![](https://cdn.statically.io/img/upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7d/Cook_Islands-CIA_WFB_Map.png/220px-Cook_Islands-CIA_WFB_Map.png)
![](https://cdn.statically.io/img/upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/LocationCookIslands.png)
![](https://cdn.statically.io/img/upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/35/Flag_of_the_Cook_Islands.svg/250px-Flag_of_the_Cook_Islands.svg.png)
![](https://cdn.statically.io/img/upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c2/Coat_of_arms_of_the_Cook_Islands.svg/250px-Coat_of_arms_of_the_Cook_Islands.svg.png)
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]
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A beach on Rarotonga
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A photo taken from Aituaki
References
change- ↑ "Regions and territories: Cook Islands". 8 December 2010. BBC News. Retrieved 12 March 2011.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cook Islands.