COOK ISLANDS

227 team members
Adopt-a-country school: Titikaveka College
Accommodation: Titikaveka College
Dining: Titikaveka Sunday School Hall

Capital:     Avarua
Land Area:    238 sq km (15 islands)
Languages:   Cook Island Maori, English
Currency:   NZ Dollar

 

Named after the British navigator Captain James Cook the Cook Islands consist of fifteen islands, with a total land area of 238 km². The nation is situated in the South Pacific Ocean between French Polynesia and Fiji. Avarua is the capital.
The area was first settled in the 6th century by Polynesia people who migrated from Tahiti to the southeast.
Christianity and colonialism later followed in the 18th and 19th century with the region becoming a New Zealand protectorate in 1901.
In 1965 the Cook Islands became a self governing parliamentary democracy in free association with New Zealand.
The people of the Cook Islands speak English and Cook Island Maori.
With a population of 18,700 the Islanders are mainly aligned with New Zealand Maori and are very closely linked culturally and linguistically to French Polynesia Maohi, Rapanui (Easter Island Maori) and Kanaka Maoli of Hawaii.
The Cook Islands is a self-governing state in free association with New Zealand.
The Cook Islands are renowned for their exports of black pearls, marine and fruit exports and offshore banking.
Tourism in becoming increasingly popular following the filming in 2006 of the British TV series ‘Shipwrecked’ and the 13th season of CBS’s ‘Survivor’.