Cook Islands

The islands were settled by Polynesian voyagers around a thousand years or more ago, the same seafaring people whose migrations populated the wider Pacific and from whom the New Zealand Maori also descend. European contact came in the eighteenth century, and the islands were named after the British navigator Captain James Cook. They became a British protectorate and were then placed under New Zealand administration. In 1965 the Cook Islands became self-governing in free association with New Zealand, taking control of its own government while retaining close ties to its larger neighbour.

The Cook Islands consists of 15 islands divided into a southern and a northern group, scattered across a huge expanse of the South Pacific. The southern islands, including the main island of Rarotonga, are mostly higher volcanic islands, green and mountainous, ringed by lagoons and reefs, while the northern islands are low coral atolls enclosing lagoons. Rarotonga, with its central peaks cloaked in rainforest and its surrounding reef, is the heart of the nation, while the famous lagoon of Aitutaki is among the most beautiful in the world, drawing visitors to its turquoise waters.

The flag of the Cook Islands is blue with the British Union Jack in the upper hoist corner and a circle of fifteen white stars on the fly. The blue represents the Pacific Ocean and the peaceful nature of the islanders, the Union Jack reflects the historical links with Britain and the continuing association with New Zealand and the Commonwealth, and the fifteen stars stand for the fifteen islands that make up the nation, arranged in a ring to symbolise their unity. The flag thus expresses both the country's heritage and its island make-up.

The Cook Islands is a strongly Christian country, the result of missionary work in the nineteenth century, with the majority belonging to the Cook Islands Christian Church, a Protestant church descended from the early missions, which is central to community and village life, alongside Roman Catholic and other denominations. Church services, with their renowned hymn singing, are an important part of island culture, and Sunday is widely observed. Traditional Polynesian beliefs and customs survive within the now firmly Christian character of the islands, blending into the local way of life.

Cook Islands cuisine is Polynesian, based on the produce of the islands and the sea. Fish and seafood, abundant in the lagoons and ocean, are central, often eaten raw and marinated in coconut cream and lime in the dish ika mata, while staples include taro, breadfruit, and other root crops, along with pork and chicken. Food is traditionally cooked in an earth oven called an umu for feasts. Tropical fruits and the ever-present coconut feature throughout, in a cuisine that reflects both the island environment and the communal traditions of Polynesian life.

Agriculture in the Cook Islands centres on the cultivation of taro, the traditional staple, along with other root crops, breadfruit, coconuts, and a range of tropical fruits and vegetables, grown both for food and, in the past, for export. The black pearl, cultured in the lagoons of the northern islands, has been a notable product and export. With a small land area, however, the modern economy depends far more on tourism, which draws visitors to the beaches and lagoons of Rarotonga and Aitutaki, and on fishing and the licensing of its waters, than on farming.

The Polynesian settlement of the islands, their naming after Captain Cook, the era of British and New Zealand administration, and the achievement of self-government in free association with New Zealand in 1965 are the key chapters of the country's history. Since then the Cook Islands has developed its own identity and growing international presence, establishing diplomatic relations with many countries and participating in regional and international affairs in its own right, even as its people retain New Zealand citizenship and the two nations remain closely bound together.

The Cook Islands has a resident population of only around 15,000 people, the great majority Cook Islands Maori, a Polynesian people closely related to the New Zealand Maori, speaking the Cook Islands Maori language alongside English. The population is concentrated on the main island of Rarotonga, home to the capital, Avarua, while the outer islands hold smaller communities. A striking feature of the nation is that far more Cook Islanders live abroad, especially in New Zealand and Australia, than in the islands themselves, drawn away by opportunity, so that the homeland's population has gradually declined.