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, Mangaia, Atiu, Aitutaki, Mauke, Mitiaro, and Manuae and Te-Au-o-tu) and the Northern Cook islands (Nassau, Palmerston, Penrhyn, Manihiki, 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. English is the official language and Maori is also spoken.

Economy

Agriculture employs about one third of the people. Fruits and vegetables are grown, and pigs and poultry are raised. Food processing, tourism, and fishing are the major industries. Black pearls, copra, papayas, citrus fruits and juices, coffee, fish, clothing, and handicrafts are the principal exports. Foodstuffs, textiles, fuels, timber, and capital goods are imported. Beginning in the 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. Large numbers of workers emigrate to New Zealand and their remittances are also an important source of income. Government spending is important to the economy, and more than 60% of the labor force work in the public sector. The Maoris generally work their own land.

Government

The Cook Islands are governed under the constitution of 1965. The monarch of Great Britain and Northern Island is the head of state and appoints a British representative. The prime minister heads the government. There is a bicameral parliament. Members of the 25-seat Legislative Assembly are elected by popular vote for five-year terms. The 15-member House of Ariki (hereditary chiefs) is a purely consultative body that advises on traditional matters. New Zealand, represented by a high commissioner, 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 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 Kūki 'Āirani
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem Te Atua Mou E God is Truth
Capital (and largest city)		Avarua 21°12′S, 159°46′W
Official languages		English Cook Islands Māori
Government		Constitutional monarchy
-	Head of State	Queen Elizabeth II
-	Queen's Representative	Sir Frederick Goodwin
-	Prime Minister	Jim Marurai
Associated state
-	Self-government in free association with New Zealand	4 August 1965
Area
-	Total	km² (209th)  sq mi
Population
-	Mar 2006 estimate	18,700 (218th (2005))
-	2001 census	18,027
-	Density	76/km² (117th)  /sq mi
GDP (PPP)		2005 estimate
-	Total	$183.2 million (not ranked)
-	Per capita	$9,100 (not ranked)
Currency		New Zealand dollar (Cook Islands dollar also used) (NZD)
Time zone		(UTC-10)
Internet TLD		.ck
Calling code		[[+682]]

The Cook Islands (Cook Islands Māori: Kūki 'Āirani) are a self-governing parliamentary democracy in free association with New Zealand. The fifteen small islands in this South Pacific Ocean country have a total land area of 240 square kilometres (92.7 sq mi), but the Cook Islands Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers 1.8 million square kilometres (0.7 million sq mi) of ocean.^[1]

The main population centres are on the island of Rarotonga (c.10,000), where there is an international airport. There is also a much larger population of Cook Islanders in New Zealand, particularly the North Island; in the 2006 census, 58,008 self-identified as being of ethnic Cook Island Māori descent.^[2]

With over 90,000 visitors travelling to the islands in 2006, tourism is the country's number one industry, and the leading element of the economy, far ahead of offshore banking, pearls, marine and fruit exports.

Defence is the responsibility of New Zealand, in consultation with the Cook Islands and at its request. In recent times, the Cook Islands has adopted an increasingly independent foreign policy.

Politics

Main article: Politics of the Cook Islands

The politics of the Cook Islands takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic associated state, whereby the Queen of New Zealand, represented in the Cook Islands by the Queen's Representative, is Head of State and the Chief Minister is the head of government. There is a pluriform multi-party system and the islands are self-governing in free association with New Zealand and fully responsible for internal affairs. New Zealand retains some responsibility for external affairs, in consultation with the Cook Islands. In recent years the Cook Islands has taken on more of its own external affairs and as of 2005 has diplomatic relations in its own name with eighteen other countries. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Parliament of the Cook Islands.

The Cook Islands are not United Nations full members but participate in WHO and UNESCO.

The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.

Notable Dates in Cook Island History

1596 - Spaniard Alvaro de Mendana is the first European to sight the islands.

1773 - Captain James Cook explores the islands and names them the Hervey Islands. Fifty years later they are renamed in his honour.

1821 - English and Tahitian missionaries arrive, become the first non-native settlers.

1888 - Cook Islands are proclaimed a British protectorate and a single federal parliament is established.

1901 - The Cook Islands are annexed to New Zealand.

1924 - The All Blacks Invincibles stop in Rarotonga on their way to the United Kingdom and play a friendly match against a scratch Rarotongan team.

1946 - Legislative Council is established. For the first time since 1912, the territory has direct representation.

1965 - The Cook Islands become a self-governing territory in free association with New Zealand. Albert Henry, leader of the Cook Islands Party, is elected as the territory's first prime minister.

1974 - Albert Henry is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II

1979 - Sir Albert Henry is found guilty of electoral fraud and stripped of his premiership and his knighthood. Tom Davis becomes Premier.

1981 - Constitution is amended. Parliament grows from 22 to 24 seats and the parliamentary term is extended from four to five years. Tom Davis is knighted.

1985 - Rarotonga Treaty is open for signing in the Cook Islands creating a nuclear free zone in the South Pacific.

1986 - In January 1986, following the rift between New Zealand and the USA in respect of the ANZUS security arrangements Prime Minister Tom Davis declared the Cook Islands a neutral country, because he considered that New Zealand (which has control over the islands' defence and foreign policy) was no longer in a position to defend the islands. The proclamation of neutrality meant that the Cook Islands would not enter into a military relationship with any foreign power, and, in particular, would prohibit visits by US warships. Visits by US naval vessels were allowed to resume by Henry's Government.

1991 The Cook Islands signed a treaty of friendship and co-operation with France, covering economic deyelopment, trade and surveillance of the islands' EEZ. The establishment of closer relations with France was widely regarded as an expression of the Cook Islands' Government's dissatisfaction with existing arrangements with New Zealand which was no longer in a position to defend the Cook Islands.

1995 The French Government resumed its Programme of nuclear-weapons testing at Mururoa Atoll in September 1995 upsetting the Cook Islands. Henry was fiercely critical of the decision and dispatched a vaka (traditional voyaging canoe) with a crew of Cook Islands' traditional warriors to protest near the test site. The tests were concluded in January 1996 and a moratorium was placed on future testing by the French government.

1997 - Full diplomatic relations established with China.

1997 - In November, Cyclone Martin kills at least six people; 80% of buildings are damaged and the black pearl industry suffered severe losses.

2000 - Full diplomatic relations concluded with France.

2002 - Prime Minister Terepai Maoate is ousted from government following second vote of no-confidence in his leadership.

2004 - Prime Minister Robert Woonton visits China; Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao grants $16m in development aid.

2006 - Parliamentary elections held. The Democratic Party keeps majority of seats in parliament, but parliament is unable to meet due to petitions filed by the Cook Islands Party over alleged voting irregularities.

Geography

Main article: Geography of the Cook Islands

The Cook Islands are in the South Pacific Ocean, north-east of New Zealand, between French Polynesia and Fiji. There are fifteen major islands, spread over 2.2 million square kilometres of ocean, divided into two distinct groups: the Southern Cook Islands, and the Northern Cook Islands of coral atolls.^[3]

The islands were formed by volcanic activity; the northern group is older and consists of six atolls (sunken volcanoes topped by coral growth). The climate is moderate to tropical.

The fifteen islands are grouped as follows:

• High Cook Islands
  • Aitutaki
  • Atiu (Enua-Manu or Island of Birds)
  • Mangaia
  • Mauke (Akatokamanava)
  • Rarotonga (with capital, Avarua)

• Low islands of the Southern group
  • Manuae
  • Mitiaro
  • Takutea

• Northern Cook Islands
  • Manihiki
  • Nassau
  • Palmerston Island
  • Penrhyn Island also known as Tongareva
  • Pukapuka
  • Rakahanga
  • Suwarrow also called Suvorov

History

Main article: History of the Cook Islands

The Cook Islands were first settled in the 6th Century A.D. by Polynesian people who migrated from nearby Tahiti, to the southeast.^[4]

Spanish ships visited the islands in the late sixteenth century; the first written record of contact with the Islands came with the sighting of Pukapuka by Spanish sailor Álvaro de Mendaña in 1595 who called it San Bernardo ("Saint Bernard"). Another Spaniard, Pedro Fernández de Quirós, made the first recorded European landing in the islands when he set foot on Rakahanga in 1606, calling it Gente Hermosa ("Beautiful People").

British navigator Captain James Cook arrived in 1773 and 1779 and named the islands the Hervey Islands; the name "Cook Islands", in honour of Cook, appeared on a Russian naval chart published in the 1880s.^[5]

In 1813, John Williams, a missionary on the Endeavour (not the same ship as that of Cook), made the first official sighting of the island of Rarotonga.^[6]

The first recorded landing by Europeans was in 1814 by the Cumberland; trouble broke out between the sailors and the Islanders and many were killed on both sides.^[7]

The islands saw no more Europeans until missionaries arrived from England in 1821. Christianity quickly took hold in the culture and many islanders continue to be Christian believers today.

The Cook Islands became a British protectorate at their own request in 1888, mainly to thwart French expansionism. They were transferred to New Zealand in 1901. They remained a New Zealand protectorate until 1965, at which point they became a self-governing territory in free association with New Zealand. In that year, Albert Henry of the Cook Islands Party was elected as the first Prime Minister. Sir Albert Henry led the country until he was accused of vote-rigging. He was succeeded in 1978 by Tom Davis of the Democratic Party.

Today, the Cook Islands are essentially independent ("self-governing in free association with New Zealand") but are still officially placed within New Zealand's sovereignty. New Zealand is tasked with overseeing the country's foreign relations and defence. The Cook Islands are one of three New Zealand dependencies, along with Tokelau and Niue.

On June 11, 1980, the United States signed a treaty with New Zealand specifying the maritime border between the Cook Islands and American Samoa and also relinquishing its claim to the islands of Penrhyn Island, Pukapuka (Danger), Manihiki, and Rakahanga.

In 2006, the British television station Channel 4 broadcast the show Shipwrecked, filmed in the Cook Islands. The thirteenth season of CBS's Survivor series was also filmed in the Cook Islands during the summer of 2006. It was broadcast in the autumn of 2006 as Survivor: Cook Islands.

In 2007, Les Stroud host/creator of the television show Survivorman taped an episode in the Cook Islands, surviving on his own for 7 days.

Culture

See also: Music of the Cook Islands

Holidays

Date	Name
January 1	New Year's Day
January 2	Day after New Year's Day
The Friday before Easter Sunday	Good Friday
The day after Easter Sunday	Easter Monday
April 25	ANZAC Day
The first Monday in June	Queen's Birthday
during July	Rarotonga Gospel Day
August 4	Constitution Day
October 26	Gospel Day
December 25	Christmas
December 26	Boxing Day

Sport

See also: Rugby union in the Cook Islands

See also: Rugby league in the Cook Islands

See also: Cook Islands national football team

Rugby union is the most popular sport in the Cook Islands with football and rugby league also popular.^{[citation needed]}

Miscellaneous

A popular art form on the islands is Tivaivai, often likened to quilting.

See also

Communications in the Cook Islands Cook Islands Boy Scout Association Cook Islands Diplomatic Missions Demographics of the Cook Islands Economy of the Cook Islands

Polynesian culture History of the Cook Islands Music of the Cook Islands Politics of the Cook Islands Transport in the Cook Islands

References

External links

• Cook Islands Government
• Cook Islands Government (summary)
• Cook Islands Tourism Corporation
• Open Directory Project - Cook Islands directory category
• Comprehensive Cook Islands site with news section
• Detailed and non-commercial website
• Cook Islands National Environment Service
• Cook Islands Biodiversity Database
• Photographs of CI banknotes including unique 3 dollar bill

Geographic locale

Realm of New Zealand Cook Islands · New Zealand · Niue · Ross Dependency · Tokelau Polynesia Polynesian triangle Austral Islands · Cook Islands · Easter Island · Gambier Islands · Hawaiian Islands · Loyalty Islands · Marquesas · New Zealand · Pitcairn Islands · Sala y Gómez · Samoan Islands · Society Islands · Tokelau · Tonga · Tuamotus · Tuvalu · Wallis and Futuna Islands Polynesian outliers and peripheral cultures Anuta · Emae · Futuna · Kapingamarangi · Mele · Nuguria · Nukumanu · Nukuoro · Ontong Java · Ouvéa · Pileni · Rennell · Rotuma · Sikaiana · Takuu · Tikopia Countries and territories of Oceania Australasia Australia · Christmas Island · Cocos (Keeling) Islands · New Zealand1 · Norfolk Island Melanesia Fiji · Indonesia (Maluku Islands) · New Caledonia · Papua New Guinea2 · Solomon Islands · Vanuatu Micronesia Federated States of Micronesia · Guam · Kiribati · Marshall Islands · Nauru · Northern Mariana Islands · Palau Polynesia American Samoa · Cook Islands · French Polynesia · Niue · Pitcairn · Samoa · Tokelau · Tonga · Tuvalu · Wallis and Futuna 1 Often included in Polynesia · 2 New Guinea is often included in Australasia Austronesian-speaking countries and territories Formosan  Republic of China Malayo-Polynesian  American Samoa  Brunei  Burma  Cambodia  Christmas Island  Cocos (Keeling) Islands  Cook Islands  Easter Island  East Timor  Fiji  French Polynesia  Guam  Hainan Island  Hawaii  Indonesia  Kiribati  Madagascar  Malaysia  Marshall Islands  FS Micronesia  Nauru  New Caledonia  New Zealand  Niue  Northern Mariana Islands  Orchid Island  Palau  Papua New Guinea  Pattani  Philippines  Samoa  Singapore  Solomon Islands  Suriname  Tokelau  Tonga  Tuvalu  Vanuatu  Vietnam