The Cook Islands 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 can be divided into two groups: the Southern Cook Islands and the Northern Cook Islands. The country is located in Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean, about halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand.
The flag of the Cook Islands, officially known as the Cook Islands Ensign, is based on the traditional design for former British colonies in the Pacific region. It is a blue ensign containing the Union Flag in the upper left, and on the right, fifteen stars in a ring. The Union Flag is symbolic of the nation's historic ties to the United Kingdom and to the Commonwealth of Nations. The stars stand for the fifteen islands that make up the Cook Islands. The blue represents the ocean and the peaceful nature of the inhabitants.
Cook Islands Māori is an Eastern Polynesian language that is the official language of the Cook Islands. Cook Islands Māori is closely related to New Zealand Māori, but is a distinct language in its own right. Cook Islands Māori is simply called Māori when there is no need to disambiguate it from New Zealand Māori, but it is also known as Māori Kūki ʻĀirani or, controversially, Rarotongan. Many Cook Islanders also call it Te reo Ipukarea, literally "the language of the Ancestral Homeland".
Japan Cricket Association, a Japanese non-profit organization, is the governing body for cricket in Japan. It was originally formed in 1984 and registered as NPO in 2001. The Association operates the Japan national cricket team and the Japan women's national cricket team, and organises domestic cricket in Japan. It has been an Associate Member of the International Cricket Council since 2005, belonging to the East-Asia Pacific region, under the International Cricket Council's development program and in 2024, rejoined as a member of the Asian Cricket Council. The headquarters of the Association are in Minato-ku, Tokyo.
The House of Ariki is a parliamentary body in the Cook Islands. It is composed of Cook Islands high chiefs (ariki), appointed by the King's Representative. While it functions in a similar way to the House of Lords and the Senate of Canada, the country's parliament is officially unicameral. There are up to twenty-four members, representing different islands of the Cooks.
The Cook Islands Federation was created in 1891, after the Kingdom of Rarotonga was given the island of Aitutaki. It lasted until 1901, when it was given to New Zealand.
A Tapere or Sub-District is a low level of traditional land subdivision on five of the Southern Cook Islands, comparable to the ahupua'a of the main Hawaiian Islands or to the kousapw of Pohnpei. Among the populated raised islands, only Mitiaro is not subdivided into tapere. The remaining Southern Cook Islands, Manuae, Palmerston and Takutea are atolls and/or uninhabited, and therefore not subject to this type of traditional subdivision. The atolls of the Northern Cook Islands are subdivided into motu, instead.
Te Ariki Terau Mana Strickland BEM was a Cook Island educator and politician. He was the Minister of Education in the first Cook Islands government after self-government was obtained in 1965.
Marguerite Nora Eikura Kitimira Story,, was the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of the Cook Islands from 1965 to 1979. She was the first female cabinet member in the Cook Islands and the first woman in the Commonwealth to become speaker of a national parliament.
Akava'ine is a Cook Islands Māori word which has come, since the 2000s, to refer to transgender people of Māori descent from the Cook Islands.
The sport of football in the country of Cook Islands is run by the Cook Islands Football Association, a full member of the OFC and FIFA. The association administers the national football team. CIFA registered 13 full members as in football clubs, 6 Rarotonga Football Clubs ; 7 Island associations Aitutaki Football Association, Atiu Football Association, Mangaia Football Association, Mauke Football Association, Mitiaro Football Association, Pukapuka Football Association and Rakahanga Football Association; and 3 associate members, Manihiki, Nassau and Penrhyn.
The Cook Islands women's national cricket team represents the Cook Islands, an associated state of New Zealand, in international women's cricket. It is organised by the sport's governing body in the country, the Cook Islands Cricket Association (CICA), which has been an affiliate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) since 2000.
The popularity of cricket in Oceania varies from place to place – in some countries, it is the national sport, while in others it is not played at all. A number of Oceanian countries are members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), and participate in tournaments organised by the ICC East Asia-Pacific (EAP) development program. The other major regional competition is the cricket tournament at the Pacific Games, which is open to ICC non-members.
General elections were held in the Cook Islands in May 1961.
Legislative Council elections were held in the Cook Islands in 1947, the first after the establishment of the new legislature.
Taio Shipping is a shipping company in the Cook Islands. It is the islands' main inter-island shipping company, and operates freight and passenger services between Rarotonga and the outer islands, with services once or twice a month to Atiu, Mitiaro, Mauke and Mangaia, once every two months to Penrhyn, Rakahanga and Manihiki, and once every two and a half months to Palmerston and Pukapuka.
Severe Tropical Cyclone Peni was the first and only tropical cyclone to impact and cause significant damage to the Cook Islands in the 1990 South Pacific cyclone season. A shallow area of low-pressure began to develop near Rakahanga, an island in the Cook Island chain. The storm had also formed on the South Pacific convergence zone. The storm was first recognized on February 12, and had received tropical cyclone characteristics on the 13th. At 21:00 UTC, the storm was recognized as Tropical Cyclone Peni. The storm then took a path southwest towards the Cook Islands, Peni made a narrow turn and passed close to Aitutaki. Peni had gained hurricane status on the 15th, at 06:00 UTC. Peni had been able to keep hurricane characteristics until February 17, when it was downgraded to a storm, and soon, was declared extratropical. The name Peni was retired from the naming list.
There are fifteen Cook Islands, all being related to extinct volcanoes that have erupted in the volcanic hotspot highway of the south-central Pacific Ocean. Low islands include six of the more northern islands that are atolls, and four of the more southern being uplifted coral islands. Rarotonga, the largest island of the group is a mountainous volcanic island. Rock formations include late Pliocene to more recent volcanics, Oligocene and Miocene reefs and middle Tertiary limestone underlying atolls More recent emergence of the coral reefs is characterised in several cases consistent with sealevel fall at Mangaia, of at least 1.7 m in the last 3400 years. The northern Suwarrow Atoll rim has portions of reef dated to between 4680 and 4310 years B.P. and at the northeast of the atoll the three ridges are dated from the land out at 4220 years B.P., 3420 years B.P. and from 1250 years B.P. On Mitiaro the centre of the reef flat has regions dated 5140–3620 years B.P.
Cook Islands Television is the oldest television station in the Cook Islands. Founded in 1990, it broadcasts from Rarotonga, where Avarua, the national capital, is located.
