Cook Islands

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Cook Islands

Image:Cook islands flag large.png Image:Cookislands coa.jpg Flag of the Cook Islands Coat of Arms of the Cook Islands
Official Language	English
Capital	Avarua
Head of State	Queen Elizabeth II
Queen's Representative	Sir Frederick Goodwin KBE
Prime Minister	Jim Marurai
Area	240 km²
Population (July 2005 Estimate)	21,388
Independence  – Date	None; became self-governing in free association with New Zealand August 4, 1965.
National anthem	Te Atua Mou E (God is Truth)
Currency	New Zealand dollar (NZD). Also, have local $5, $2, 50¢, 20¢, 10¢, and 5¢ coins that can't be used elsewhere.
Time zone	UTC -10
Calling Code	682
Internet TLD	.ck
Image:Cw-map.gif
Map of The Cook Islands
Image:Cookislands church.jpg
The Matavera Christian Church in Rarotonga

The Cook Islands are a self-governing parliamentary democracy in free association with New Zealand. The 15 small islands in this South Pacific Ocean have a total land area of 240 km².

Tourism drives the economy as the country's number one industry, far ahead of offshore banking, pearls, marine and fruit exports. A popular art form on the islands is tivaivai, often likened to quilting.

Defense is the responsibility of New Zealand, in consultation with the Cook Islands and at its request.

Contents 1 Geography 2 Culture 3 See also 4 External links

Geography

Geography of the Cook Islands

• High Cook Islands
  • Aitutaki
  • Atiu
  • Mauke
  • Rarotonga (capital)
  • Mangaia
• Low islands of the Southern group
  • Manuae
  • Takutea
  • Mitiaro

Northern Cook Islands

• Penrhyn Island also known as Tongareva or Mangarongaro
• Rakahanga
• Manihiki
• Pukapuka
• Nassau
• Suwarrow also called Suvorov
• Palmerston Island

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
July	Rarotonga Gospel Day
August 4	Constitution Day
October 26	Gospel Day
December 25	Christmas
December 26	Boxing Day

See also

• Communications in the Cook Islands
• Demographics of the Cook Islands
• Economy of the Cook Islands
• History of the Cook Islands
• Politics of the Cook Islands
• Transport in the Cook Islands

External links

• Cook Islands Government
• Cook Islands Tourism Corporation
• Cook Islands, the best kept secret in the Pacific Ocean
• Cook Islands Government (summary)
• Finding Cook Islands
• Jane's Cook Islands Home Page
• KiaOrana.com — Cook Islands information with images and maps
• Map of the Cook Islands
• World Factbook entry on The Cook Islands
• Cook Islands National Environment Service
• Cook Islands Biodiversity Database

The Realm of New Zealand	Image:Flag of New Zealand.svg
Cook Islands | New Zealand | Niue | Ross Dependency | Tokelau

Island groups in Polynesia
Aotearoa (New Zealand) | Cook Islands | French Polynesia Fr. | Hawai‘i U.S. | Loyalty Islands Fr. | Niue N.Z. | Rapa Nui (Easter I.) Chile | Samoa (American) U.S. incl. Swains I. | Samoa (independent) | Tokelau N.Z. | Tonga | Tuvalu | Wallis and Futuna Fr.
In the Federated States of Micronesia: In the extreme north of Fiji: In Papua New Guinea: In the Solomon Islands: In Vanuatu:		Kapingamarangi | Nukuoro Rotuma Nuguria | Nukumanu | Takuu Anuta | Ontong Java | Pileni | Rennell | Sikaiana | Tikopia Emae | Mele

Countries in Oceania
Image:Australia.png	Australia : Australia · Norfolk Island
Image:Melanesia.png	Melanesia : Fiji · New Caledonia · Papua New Guinea · Solomon Islands · Vanuatu
Image:Micronesia.png	Micronesia : Guam · Kiribati · Marshall Islands · Northern Mariana Islands · Federated States of Micronesia · Nauru · Palau
Image:Polynesia.png	Polynesia : American Samoa · Cook Islands · French Polynesia · New Zealand · Niue · Pitcairn · Samoa · Tokelau · Tonga · Tuvalu · Wallis and Futuna