Pacific Islands News Association

News Feature : Courage needed to stop sexual abuse epidemic in Samoa [21/09/2017 - Samoa]
News Feature : Pacific governments commit to advance early childhood development to provide the best start to life for all children [21/09/2017 - Fiji]
Business News : IFC-led survey reveals value of PNG’s Tourism sector [21/09/2017 - Papua New Guinea]
News : Nauru President calls on North Korea to have dialogue with disputing countries in the Korean Peninsula [21/09/2017 - United States]
News : Least Developed Countries Group Push for Decisive Climate Action at United Nations General Assembly [21/09/2017 - United States]
News : Ballot date set for Fiji's Confederation of Public Sector Unions [21/09/2017 - Fiji]
News Feature : Milestone moment for Nuclear free Pacific [21/09/2017 - Fiji]
News Feature : ‘UN reformer’ Guterres must do more on climate change [21/09/2017 - United States]
News Feature : The US proposes to expose key Pacific marine protected areas to commercial fishing [21/09/2017 - Samoa]
Business News : Samoa Airways set for Auckland to Faleolo Airport maiden flight [21/09/2017 - Samoa]
Business News : PNG Mining Tuke optimistic about Mining Act review [21/09/2017 - Papua New Guinea]
News : Haitian President backs Paris climate accord [21/09/2017 - United States]
Sponsored : Oceania National Olympic Committees (ONOC)

Should Fiji return to the Pacific Islands Forum

You need to login to participate in our polls.

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