Outline of the Cook Islands

The location of the Cook Islands

An enlargeable map of the Cook Islands

See also: Index of Cook Islands-related articles

The Cook Islands are a self-governing parliamentary democracy in free association with New Zealand.^[1] 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.^[2]

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.^[3]

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 have adopted an increasingly independent foreign policy.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the Cook Islands:

General reference

• Pronunciation:
• Common English country name: The Cook Islands
• Official English country name: The Cook Islands
• Common endonym(s):
• Official endonym(s):
• Adjectival(s): Cook Island
• Demonym(s):
• Etymology: Name of the Cook Islands
• ISO country codes: CK, COK, 184
• ISO region codes: See ISO 3166-2:CK
• Internet country code top-level domain: .ck

Geography of the Cook Islands

An enlargeable topographic map of Rarotonga

Main article: Geography of the Cook Islands

• The Cook Islands are: a territory of New Zealand
• Location:
  • Southern Hemisphere and Eastern Hemisphere
  • Pacific Ocean
    • South Pacific Ocean
      • Oceania
        • Polynesia
  • Time zone: UTC-10
  • Extreme points of the Cook Islands
    • High: Te Manga 652 m (2,139 ft)
    • Low: South Pacific Ocean 0 m
  • Land boundaries: none
  • Coastline: 120 km
• Population of the Cook Islands:
• Area of the Cook Islands:
• Atlas of the Cook Islands

Environment of the Cook Islands

An enlargeable satellite image of Rarotonga

Main article: Environment of the Cook Islands

• Climate of the Cook Islands
• Environmental issues in the Cook Islands
• Ecoregions in the Cook Islands
• Renewable energy in the Cook Islands
• Geology of the Cook Islands
• Protected areas of the Cook Islands
  • Biosphere reserves in the Cook Islands
  • National parks of the Cook Islands
• Wildlife of the Cook Islands
  • Flora of the Cook Islands
  • Fauna of the Cook Islands
    • Birds of the Cook Islands
    • Mammals of the Cook Islands

Natural geographic features of the Cook Islands

Main article: Landforms of the Cook Islands

• Islands of the Cook Islands
• Lakes of the Cook Islands
• Mountains of the Cook Islands
  • Volcanoes in the Cook Islands
• Rivers of the Cook Islands
  • Waterfalls of the Cook Islands
• Valleys of the Cook Islands
• World Heritage Sites in the Cook Islands: None

Regions of the Cook Islands

Main article: Regions of the Cook Islands

Ecoregions of the Cook Islands

Main article: Ecoregions in the Cook Islands

Administrative divisions of the Cook Islands

None

Municipalities of the Cook Islands

• Capital of the Cook Islands: Avarua
• Cities of the Cook Islands

Demography of the Cook Islands

Main article: Demographics of the Cook Islands

Government and politics of the Cook Islands

Main article: Government of the Cook Islands and Politics of the Cook Islands

• Form of government: parliamentary representative democracy within a constitutional monarchy
• Capital of the Cook Islands: Avarua

• Elections in the Cook Islands
  • (specific elections)
• Political parties in the Cook Islands
• Political scandals of the Cook Islands
• Taxation in the Cook Islands

Branches of the government of the Cook Islands

Main article: Government of the Cook Islands

Executive branch of the government of the Cook Islands

• Head of state: President of the Cook Islands
• Head of government: Prime Minister of the Cook Islands
• Cabinet of the Cook Islands

Legislative branch of the government of the Cook Islands

• Parliament of the Cook Islands (bicameral)
  • Upper house: Senate of the Cook Islands
  • Lower house: House of Commons of the Cook Islands

Judicial branch of the government of the Cook Islands

Main article: Court system of the Cook Islands

• Supreme Court of the Cook Islands

Foreign relations of the Cook Islands

Main article: Foreign relations of the Cook Islands

• Diplomatic missions in the Cook Islands
• Diplomatic missions of the Cook Islands

International organization membership

The government of the Cook Islands is a member of:^[1]

African, Caribbean, and Pacific Group of States (ACP) Asian Development Bank (ADB) Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) International Criminal Court (ICCt) International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRCS) International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) International Mobile Satellite Organization (IMSO) International Olympic Committee (IOC) International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (ICRM)

International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) South Pacific Regional Trade and Economic Cooperation Agreement (Sparteca) United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Universal Postal Union (UPU) World Health Organization (WHO) World Meteorological Organization (WMO)

Law and order in the Cook Islands

Main article: Law of the Cook Islands

• Capital punishment in the Cook Islands
• Constitution of the Cook Islands
• Crime in the Cook Islands
• Human rights in the Cook Islands
  • LGBT rights in the Cook Islands
  • Freedom of religion in the Cook Islands
• Law enforcement in the Cook Islands

Military of the Cook Islands

Main article: Military of the Cook Islands

• Command
  • Commander-in-chief
    • Ministry of Defence of the Cook Islands
• Forces
  • Army of the Cook Islands
  • Navy of the Cook Islands
  • Air Force of the Cook Islands
  • Special forces of the Cook Islands
• Military history of the Cook Islands
• Military ranks of the Cook Islands

Local government in the Cook Islands

Main article: Local government in the Cook Islands

History of the Cook Islands

Main article: History of the Cook Islands, Timeline of the history of the Cook Islands, and Current events of the Cook Islands

• Economic history of the Cook Islands
• Military history of the Cook Islands

Culture of the Cook Islands

Main article: Culture of the Cook Islands

• Architecture of the Cook Islands
• Cuisine of the Cook Islands
• Ethnic minorities in the Cook Islands
• Festivals in the Cook Islands
• Humor in the Cook Islands
• Languages of the Cook Islands
• Media in the Cook Islands
• National symbols of the Cook Islands
  • Coat of arms of the Cook Islands
  • Flag of the Cook Islands
  • National anthem of the Cook Islands
• People of the Cook Islands
• Prostitution in the Cook Islands
• Public holidays in the Cook Islands
• Records of the Cook Islands
• Religion in the Cook Islands
  • Buddhism in the Cook Islands
  • Christianity in the Cook Islands
  • Hinduism in the Cook Islands
  • Islam in the Cook Islands
  • Judaism in the Cook Islands
  • Sikhism in the Cook Islands
• World Heritage Sites in the Cook Islands: None

Art in the Cook Islands

• Art in the Cook Islands
• Cinema of the Cook Islands
• Literature of the Cook Islands
• Music of the Cook Islands
• Television in the Cook Islands
• Theatre in the Cook Islands

Sports in the Cook Islands

Main article: Sports in the Cook Islands

• Football in the Cook Islands
• Cook Islands at the Olympics

Economy and infrastructure of the Cook Islands

Main article: Economy of the Cook Islands

• Economic rank, by nominal GDP (2007): 185th (one hundred and eighty fifth)

• Agriculture in the Cook Islands
• Banking in the Cook Islands
  • National Bank of the Cook Islands
• Communications in the Cook Islands
  • Internet in the Cook Islands
• Companies of the Cook Islands

• Currency of the Cook Islands: Cook Islands dollar/New Zealand dollar
  • ISO 4217: NZD

• Economic history of the Cook Islands
• Energy in the Cook Islands
  • Energy policy of the Cook Islands
  • Oil industry in the Cook Islands
• Mining in the Cook Islands
• Tourism in the Cook Islands
• Transport in the Cook Islands

• the Cook Islands Stock Exchange

Education in the Cook Islands

Main article: Education in the Cook Islands

• Nukutere College

Infrastructure of the Cook Islands

• Health care in the Cook Islands
• Transportation in the Cook Islands
  • Airports in the Cook Islands
  • Rail transport in the Cook Islands
  • Roads in the Cook Islands
• Water supply and sanitation in the Cook Islands

See also

Oceania portal

Main article: Cook Islands

• Cook Islands Maori language
• Index of Cook Islands-related articles
• List of Cook Islands-related topics
• List of international rankings
• Outline of geography
• Outline of New Zealand
• Outline of Oceania

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Cook Islands". The World Factbook. United States Central Intelligence Agency. July 2, 2009. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cw.html. Retrieved July 23, 2009. 
2. ^ A View from the Cook Islands SOPAC
3. ^ "QuickStats About Culture and Identity - Pacific Peoples". 2006 Census. Statistics New Zealand. Archived from the original on 2007-08-29. http://web.archive.org/web/20070829173025/http://www.stats.govt.nz/census/2006-census-data/quickstats-about-culture-identity/quickstats-about-culture-and-identity.htm?page=para016Master. Retrieved 2007-06-12. 

External links

Wikimedia Atlas of the Cook Islands

• Cook Islands Government
• Cook Islands Government (summary)
• Cook Islands Tourism Corporation
• Cook Islands at the Open Directory Project
• 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