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| Independence Year : Population : 20000 Life Expectancy : 71.1 Capital : 583 GNP : 100.00 GNP Old : 0.00 Local Name : The Cook Islands Government Form :Nonmetropolitan Territory of New Zealand Location : Oceania, group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, about one-half of the way from Hawaii to New Zealand Terrain : low coral atolls in north; volcanic, hilly islands in south Climate : tropical; moderated by trade winds Ethnic Group : Cook Island Maori (Polynesian) 87.7%, part Cook Island Maori 5.8%, other 6.5% (2001 census) Religions : Cook Islands Christian Church 55.9%, Roman Catholic 16.8%, Seventh Day Saint 7.9%, Church of Latter Day Saints 3.8%, other Protestant 5.8%, other 4.2%, unspecified 2.6%, none 3% Official Website : www.cook-islands.com | 
Genral Information - Cook Islands
COOK Islanders are true Polynesians, the finest seafarers of the vast Pacific, voyagers on frail canoes who felt at home on the ocean and who travelled across its huge wastes in search of new lands and new beginnings.The journeys undertaken by these stone age people in their fragile craft dwarf the voyages of exploration boasted of by the Portuguese, Spanish, British, Dutch, and French. Over-population on many of the tiny islands of Polynesia led to these oceanic migrations.
THE written history of the Cooks began with the sighting of Pukapuka by the Spaniard Alvaro de Mendaña in 1595 followed by a landing on Rakahanga in 1606 by another Spanish explorer, Pedro Quiros. The British arrived off Pukapuka in 1764 and named it Danger Island because they could not land. This was a very active time in Pacific exploration with the British and French seeking greater prestige as maritime powers. THE bluestockings and Rechabites were next to arrive – the missionaries. John Williams of the London Missionary Society landed on Aitutaki in 1821. Williams used Tahitian converts to carry his message to the Cook Islanders and they took to this task with great enthusiasm and were extremely successful. Williams was later killed and eaten on Erromango in the New Hebrides, now known as Vanuatu, but by then his work had been followed up and the gospels were well and truly embedded in the people's psyche. FRANCE'S armed takeover of Tahiti and the Society Islands in 1843 caused considerable apprehension among the Cook Islands' ariki (chiefs) and led to requests from them to the British for protection in the event of French attack. This nervousness continued for many years and the call for protection was repeated in 1865 in a petition to Governor Grey of New Zealand. DEMOCRACY in the Pacific is a delicate flower. Some believe that occidental democratic systems of government sit uneasily with the traditional power structures of Polynesia, Melanesia and Micronesia. As many Western countries are now re-examining their own democracies sometimes with the objective of giving ordinary people a greater say in the workings of government, traditional Polynesian countries often find it uncomfortable having to cope with calls for more accountability from their political leaders. |
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