Pacific Islands News Association

News Feature : Push for Pacific coalition on climate displacement [21/06/2018 - Fiji]
Business News : Fij unions walkout [21/06/2018 - Fiji]
News : Vanuatu President asks US for military base [21/06/2018 - Vanuatu]
News : Eight EU countries signal openness to increased Paris climate pledge [21/06/2018 - Belgium]
Sports News : Chile sevens seek inspiration in Fiji [21/06/2018 - Fiji]
News Feature : China’s Pacific presence improves Australian aid [21/06/2018 - Australia]
News Feature : Our Oceania: ‘Part of being there for your kids is being healthy' [21/06/2018 - Northern Mariana Islands]
Business News : Samoa Parliament passes budget [21/06/2018 - Samoa]
Business News : North Pacific working towards stronger Public financial Management [21/06/2018 - Micronesia, Federated States of]
News : Powerful 6.1-magnitude quake strikes Vanuatu [21/06/2018 - Vanuatu]
News : PNG Prime Minister Peter O'Neill meets with Xi Jinping; praises China's Belt and Road initiative [21/06/2018 - China]
News : Tonga’s cyclone Gita recovery receives significant boost [21/06/2018 - Tonga]
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Country profile - Cook Islands

Cook Islands flag

The 15 volcanic islands and coral atolls of the Cook Islands are scattered over 770,000 square miles of the South Pacific, between American Samoa to the west and French Polynesia to the east.

A former British protectorate, the territory is a self-governing state in free association with New Zealand.

Its economy centres on tourism; the territory's natural assets include fine beaches and volcanic mountains.

More than twice as many native Cook Islanders live in New Zealand than live in the islands themselves. Most of them have left in search of a brighter economic future. As New Zealand citizens they can also live in Australia.

The government has encouraged islanders to return. Businesses have been involved in the drive. But the population level has continued to fall.

Black pearls are the chief export. Agriculture, the sale of fishing licences to foreign fleets and offshore finance are also key revenue earners.

The Cook Islands are prone to tropical storms; Hurricane Martin devastated the northern islands in 1997 causing substantial losses for the black pearl industry.

Named after Captain Cook, who explored them in 1773, the islands were once autonomous, home to tribes of mixed Polynesian ancestry. Governments still seek advice on matters of culture, custom and land ownership from a council of hereditary leaders known as the House of Ariki.

Additional information