1888 — Cook Islands are proclaimed a British protectorate and a single federal parliament is established. 1900 — The Cook Islands are ceded to the United Kingdom as British territory, except for Aitutaki which was annexed by the United Kingdom at the same time.
It is self-governing in 'free association' with New Zealand. Cook Islands is part of the Realm of New Zealand and the Head of State is the Queen of New Zealand. More than 60,000 Cook Island MÄori live in New Zealand.
They were to recruit Cook Islanders to work rock phosphate deposits on Makatea, in the Society Islands. Workers got a taste of the cash economy, and some spent their earnings on fares to New Zealand.
The Cook Islands (Cook Islands MÄori: KÅ«ki 'Ä€irani) is a self-governing island country in the South Pacific Ocean in free association with New Zealand. It comprises 15 islands whose total land area is 240 square kilometres (93 sq mi).
Geography.
| Group | Southern |
|---|
| Island | Rarotonga |
|---|
| Area km2 | 67 |
|---|
| Population | 13,044 |
|---|
| Density | 194.7 |
|---|
Religion. Christian denominations account for nearly all religious affiliation. Just over half of the population belongs to the Cook Islands Christian (Congregational) Church. Roman Catholicism, Anglicanism, Seventh-day Adventism, and BahÄʾī have smaller numbers of adherents.
Polynesians, including Samoans, Tongans, Niueans, Cook Islands MÄori, Tahitian MÄ'ohi, Hawaiian MÄoli, Marquesans and New Zealand MÄori, are a subset of the Austronesian peoples.
French Polynesia is a sprawling possession of France in the Pacific Ocean, made up of 118 volcanic and coral islands and atolls, including Tahiti. For France this huge stretch of the Pacific - as big as Western Europe - remains strategically valuable.
Ex-ironmonger John Williams hit on the idea of using converted Polynesians to spread the gospel to the islands to the west. He sent two Raiateans to Aitutaki in 1821 and others followed shortly after to Mitiaro, Mangaia, Mauke and Atiu. Finally, Rarotonga fell to the new beliefs.
MÄori are the indigenous people of Aotearoa New Zealand, they settled here over 700 years ago. They came from Polynesia by waka (canoe). New Zealand has a shorter human history than any other country.
The Cook Islands are a combination of 15 islands and atolls located in the middle of the South Pacific with Tonga to the west, and the Society Islands of French Polynesia to the east. The 15 islands are broken up into two groups: The Northern Group: Manihiki, Nassau, Penryhn, Pukapuka, Rakahanga and Suwarrow.
Rarotongan
English
Pukapukan language
To the north, Aitutaki Island has a large lagoon surrounded by coral reefs and sandy islets. Just over 2,000km to the west of the Cook Islands lies Fiji, a Melanesian island nation made up of more than 300 islands and 540 islets in the South Pacific.
Explore The 15 Islands of the Cooks
- Rarotonga. We start off with the one everyone knows, Rarotonga, the most populated of the Cook Islands and home to the capital, Avarua.
- Aitutaki.
- Mitiaro.
- Atiu.
- Mangaia.
- Palmerston.
- Manuae.
- Takutea.
The current population of the Cook Islands is 17,585 as of Wednesday, October 27, 2021, based on the latest United Nations estimates. the Cook Islands population is equivalent to 0.00023% of the total world population.
The Union Jack in the canton of a blue field symbolizes a peaceful ocean nation and recalls the islands' link with the Commonwealth. The white stars symbolize faith in God and the equality of the 15 islands.
Rarotonga Island is elliptical in shape, 11 km east-west and 8 km north—south, and represents the upper 650 m of an oceanic volcano which rises 5000 m above the surrounding seafloor.
