The Cook Islands

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Flag Coat of arms
Anthem: Te Atua Mou E
God is Truth

The Cook Islands are a self-governing parliamentary democracy in free
association with New Zealand. 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.

The main population centres are on the island of Rarotonga (14,153 as of
2006), 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.

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.

Politics of the Cook Islands

The politics of the Cook Islands takes place in a framework of a
parliamentary representative democratic associated state, whereby the Queen
of New Zealand, represented in the Cook Islands by the Queen's
Representative, is Head of State and the Chief Minister is the head of
government. There is a pluriform multi-party system and the islands are
self-governing in free association with New Zealand and fully responsible
for both internal and external affairs. New Zealand no longer has any
responsibility for external affairs. As of 2005, it has diplomatic relations
in its own name with eighteen other countries. Executive power is exercised
by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and
the Parliament of the Cook Islands.

The Cook Islands are not United Nations full members but participate in WHO
and UNESCO, and are an associate member of the Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP).

The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.

Geography

The Cook Islands are in the South Pacific Ocean, north-east of New Zealand,
between French Polynesia and Fiji. There are fifteen major islands, spread
over 2.2 million square kilometres of ocean, divided into two distinct
groups: the Southern Cook Islands, and the Northern Cook Islands of coral
atolls. The islands were formed by volcanic activity; the northern group is
older and consists of six atolls (sunken volcanoes topped by coral growth).
The climate is moderate to tropical.

The 15 islands and two reefs are grouped as follows:

* Southern Cook Islands:

o Nga-pu-Toru ("Three Roots", the group name for the easternmost
islands of Southern Group)
+ Atiu (Enua Manu or Island of Birds)
+ Ma'uke (Akatokamanava)
+ Mitiaro (Nukuroa)

o Remaining islands of the South:
+ Aitutaki (Araura Enua)
+ Mangaia (Auau Enua)
+ Rarotonga (Tumutevarovaro) and also with the capital,
Avarua.
+ Palmerston Island (Pamati) (sometimes grouped with the
Northern Group)
+ Manuae
+ Takutea
+ Winslow Reef (submerged)

* Northern Cook Islands:

o Manihiki (Te Fuinga O niva)
o Nassau ( Te Nuku o Ngalewu )
o Penrhyn Island (Tongareva or Mangarongaro)
o Pukapuka (Te Ulu o te Watu)
o Rakahanga (Tapuahua)
o Suwarrow also called Suvorov
o Tema Reef (submerged)

Administrative subdivisions

There are island councils on all of the inhabited outer islands (Outer
Islands Local Government Act 1987, with amendments up to 2004 and Palmerston
Island Local Government Act 1993) except Nassau, which is governed by
Pukapuka (Suwarrow, with only one caretaker living on the island, also
governed by Pukapuka, is not counted with the inhabited islands in this
context). Each council is headed by a mayor.

The ten Outer Islands councils are

Aitutaki (including uninhabited Manuae)
Mangaia
Atiu (including uninhabited Takutea)
Ma'uke
Mitiaro
Manihiki
Penrhyn
Rakahanga
Pukapuka (including Nassau and Suwarrow)
Palmerston

Districts of Rarotonga.

The three vaka councils of main island Rarotonga established in 1997
(Rarotonga Local Government Act 1997), that were also headed by mayors, were
abolished in February 2008, despite much controversy.

The three Vaka councils on the main island Rarotonga were

Te au o tonga (equivalent to Avarua, the national capital of the Cook
Islands)
Puaikura
Takitumu

On the lowest level, there are village committees. Nassau, which is governed
by Pukapuka, has an island committee (Nassau Island Committee), which
advises the Pukapuka Island Council on matters concerning its own island.

History of the Cook Islands

The Cook Islands were first settled in the 6th century A.D. by Polynesian
people who migrated from nearby Tahiti, to the southeast.

Spanish ships visited the islands in the sixteenth century; the first
written record of contact with the Islands came with the sighting of
Pukapuka by Spanish sailor Álvaro de Mendaña in 1595 who called it San
Bernardo (Saint Bernard). Portuguese-Spaniard Pedro Fernández de Quirós,
made the first recorded European landing in the islands when he set foot on
Rakahanga in 1606, calling it Gente Hermosa (Beautiful People).

British navigator Captain James Cook arrived in 1773 and 1777 and named the
islands the Hervey Islands; the name "Cook Islands", in honour of Cook,
appeared on a Russian naval chart published in the 1820s.

In 1813, John Williams, a missionary on the Endeavour (not the same ship as
that of Cook), made the first official sighting of the island of Rarotonga.

The first recorded landing on Rarotonga by Europeans was in 1814 by the
Cumberland; trouble broke out between the sailors and the Islanders and many
were killed on both sides.

The islands saw no more Europeans until missionaries arrived from England in
1821. Christianity quickly took hold in the culture and many islanders
continue to be Christian believers today.

The Cook Islands became a British protectorate at their own request in 1888,
mainly to thwart French expansionism. They were transferred to New Zealand
in 1901. They remained a New Zealand protectorate until 1965, at which point
they became a self-governing territory in free association with New Zealand.
In that year, Albert Henry of the Cook Islands Party was elected as the
first Prime Minister. Sir Albert Henry led the country until he was accused
of vote-rigging. He was succeeded in 1978 by Tom Davis of the Democratic
Party.

Today, the Cook Islands are essentially independent ("self-governing in free
association with New Zealand") but New Zealand is tasked with overseeing the
country's defence.

On June 11, 1980, the United States signed a treaty with the Cook Islands
specifying the maritime border between the Cook Islands and American Samoa
and also relinquishing its claim to the islands of Penrhyn, Pukapuka,
Manihiki, and Rakahanga.

Culture

The languages of the Cook Islands include English, Cook Islands Maori, or
Rarotongan," and Pukapukan. Dialects of Cook Islands Maori include Penrhyn;
Rakahanga-Manihiki; the Ngaputoru dialect of Atiu, Mitiaro, and Mauke; the
Aitutaki dialect; and the Mangaian dialect. Cook Islands Maori and its
dialectic variants are closely related to both Tahitian and to New Zealand
Māori. Pukapukan, by contrast, is considered closely related to the Samoan
language. Both English and Cook Islands Maori are considered official
languages of the Cook Islands.

Art

Carving - Woodcarving is a common art form in the Cook Islands. Sculpture in
stone is much rarer although there are some excellent carvings in basalt by
Mike Tavioni. The proximity of islands in the southern group helped produce
a homogeneous style of carving but which had special developments in each
island. Rarotonga is known for its fisherman's gods and staff-gods, Atiu for
its wooden seats, Mitiaro, Ma'uke and Atiu for mace and slab gods and
Mangaia for its ceremonial adzes. Most of the original wood carvings were
either spirited away by early European collectors or were burned in large
numbers by missionary zealots. Today, carving is no longer the major art
form with the same spiritual and cultural emphasis given to it by the Maori
in New Zealand. However, there are continual efforts to interest young
people in their heritage and some good work is being turned out under the
guidance of older carvers. Atiu, in particular, has a strong tradition of
crafts both in carving and local fibre arts such as tapa. Mangaia is the
source of many fine adzes carved in a distinctive, idiosyncratic style with
the so-called double-k design. Mangaia also produces food pounders carved
from the heavy calcite found in its extensive limestone caves.

Weaving - The outer islands produce traditional weaving of mats, basketware
and hats. Particularly fine examples of rito hats are worn by women to
church on Sundays. They are made from the uncurled immature fibre of the
coconut palm and are of very high quality. The Polynesian equivalent of
Panama hats, they are highly valued and are keenly sought by Polynesian
visitors from Tahiti. Often, they are decorated with hatbands made of
minuscule pupu shells which are painted and stitched on by hand. Although
pupu are found on other islands the collection and use of them in decorative
work has become a speciality of Mangaia. The weaving of rito is a speciality
of the northern island of Penrhyn.

Tivaevae - A major art form in the Cook Islands is tivaevae. This is, in
essence, the art of making of tropical Island scenery handmade patchwork
quilts. Introduced by the wives of missionaries in the 19th century, the
craft grew into a communal activity and is probably one of the main reasons
for its popularity. The Cook Islands make some of the most beautiful
displays of tivaevae the eye can see.

Contemporary Art - The Cook Islands has produced notable and internationally
recognised contemporary artists and the main island of Rarotonga has an
exceptionally vibrant contemporary arts scene. Those born of Cook Islander
heritage include painter (and photographer) Mahiriki Tangaroa, sculptors
Eruera (Ted) Nia (originally a film maker) and master carver Mike Tavioni,
painter (and Polynesian tattoo enthusiast) Upoko'ina Ian George,
Aitutakian-born painter Tim Manavaroa Buchanan, Loretta Reynolds, and
multi-media, installation and community-project artist Ani O'Neil, all of
whom currently live on the main island of Rarotonga. New Zealand-based Cook
Islander artists include Michel Tuffrey, print-maker David Teata, Richard
Shortland Cooper, and Jim Vivieaere, who has mentored many of his
compatriots and is a well-known curator and installation artist. Most of
these artists have studied at university art schools in New Zealand and
continue to enjoy close links with the New Zealand art scene. However, Apii
Rongo, a comparably younger painter, is developing his career entirely on
Rarotonga.

Artists of non-Cook Islander heritage currently working in Rarotonga include
Judith Kunzel, Joan Rolls Gragg and Kay George, who is also known for her
exquisite fabric designs.

On Rarotonga, the main commercial galleries are Beachcomber Contemporary Art
(Taputapuatea, Avarua) run by Ben Bergman, and The Art Gallery ('Arorangi),
run by Kay and Ian George. The Cook Islands National Museum also exhibits
art.

Biology

The National Flower of the Cook Islands is the Tiare māori or Tiale māoli (Penrhyn, Nassau, Pukapuka). The Cook Islands are infested with Polynesian rats. The infestation has devastated the bird population on the islands.