COOK ISL​AN​DS FACT FILE

IN A TUITUI SHELL*

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ABOUT THE COUNTRY

Location

The capital island of Rarotonga is about 1,870 miles (3,010 kms) northeast of Auckland, New Zealand, 708 mls (1,140 kms) southwest of Tahiti, 1,429 mls (2,300 kms) east of Fiji and  2,939 mls (4,730 kms) south of Hawaii. The Islands are located in the South Pacific Ocean and defined geographically as between 156-167° West and 8-23° South.

Territory

The total land area of the country is just 236.7 square kms (91.4 square miles).  But the Cook Islands' exclusive economic zone  - the territorial waters  - stretches for nearly 2 million square kilometres (772,395 square miles).  That's slightly bigger than Indonesia or Mexico and nearly three times the size of Texas!   And those waters are also the world's largest designated shark and whale sanctuary

Islands

The nation is actually 15 separate islands and two - Takutea and Manuae - are uninhabited (special permission is needed to visit). 1,433 kms (891 miles) separate the most northerly island (Penrhyn/Tongareva) from the most southerly (Mangaia)

Time Zone

The islands are 10 hours behind GMT. Daylight saving time is not observed - in other words, the clock doesn't go back or forward at any time. Remember that as you travel to the Islands you will cross the international dateline and either gain or lose a day as part of your journey

Language

English and Cook Islands Maori are the official languages.  About 90% of Islanders can read, write and speak both languages. There are 13 letters in the Cook Islands Maori alphabet and two distinctive signs (the glottal stop and the macron) which change the sound and meaning of some words.  On the Northern island of Pukapuka, they have their own language.  Only about 2,000 people in the world speak Pukapukan

MORE ABOUT COOK ISLANDS LANGUAGES

In a tuitui shell?

* The tuitui is the fruit of the candlenut tree which was introduced to the Islands by the early Polynesians. It's nearly as prolific as the coconut palm. The nut is inside a very hard shell. Before candles, Islanders pierced the nuts with wooden skewers and set light to them. They burn very slowly and last for hours. Well, I thought it was more interesting than saying "in a nutshell"!   Photo: Gerald McCormack/Cook Islands Biodiversity Database