:: Facts and Figures
The Cook Islands group is a self-governing
state in free association with New Zealand. Its mix of Polynesian
tradition and western infrastructure make the Cook islands
one of the most popular tourist destinations in the Pacific.
Facts and Figures
Total Land Area:
Head of State:
Head of Government:
240 km2 of land situated in 2.2 million km2 of
19,000 (It is estimated that more than 30,000
Cook Islanders live in New Zealand)
Cook Islands Maori (a Polynesian language)
Self-governing state in free association with
Queen Elizabeth II (Great Britain)
Prime Minister Dr Robert Woonton
New Zealand dollar
The Cook Islands is a self-governing state. The Cook Islands
has a parliament of 25 members popularly elected for five
years. The government is based on the Westminster system with
a Prime Minister chosen by the majority party in Parliament.
The Prime Minister in turn appoints a cabinet of six ministers.
The House of Ariki - the hereditary chiefs - representing
all the islands, plays a consultative role in traditional
matters such as custom and land tenure.
Under the 1965 constitution, the Cook Islands government
has full responsibility for internal affairs but New Zealand
assumes responsibilities for external affairs and defence.
Cook Islanders are citizens of both the Cook Islands and
New Zealand. As such they can migrate freely to New Zealand
Due to the isolation and the dispersal of the islands, the
lack of agricultural land and a declining population, the
Cook Islands are still largely financially dependent on New
Zealand for economic survival. New Zealand contributed more
than $A5 million in development assistance in 2002/2003.
Tourism is the largest contributor to the economy, however
the government hopes to further develop the marine resources
contained in the Cook Islands' large Exclusive Economic Zone
(EEZ). Growth is expected in: the issuing of fishing licences
to foreign vessels; black pearl farming; and - in the more
distant future - the exploitation of deep sea mineral deposits.
The islands are believed to have been settled from neighbouring
Tahiti around 1200 AD. In those days, each island of the group
was a separate entity.
The first European to come across the archipelago was the
Spaniard Alvaro de Mendana in 1596, but it is the arrival
of the Reverend John Williams, from the London Missionary
Society, in 1821, that has had the deepest influence on Cook
Islands society. The Polynesians seem to have embraced, without
too much resistance, the teachings of the London missionaries
and today 70% of the local population still belong to the
Cook Islands' Christian Church.
To prevent French expansion in the Pacific, the British declared
a protectorate on the islands in 1888. A newly independent
New Zealand annexed the territory in 1901. The country became
self-governing in association with New Zealand on August 4
Charting the Pacific - Links Database (Cook Islands Section)