What is Cook Islands?
[[File:Cook Islands-CIA WFB Map.png|thumb|right|Map of the Cook Islands]] [[File:locationCookIslands.png|thumb|Where the Cook Islands are in the world]] [[File:Flag of the Cook Islands.svg|thumb|250px|Flag of the Cook Islands]] [[File:Coat of arms of the Cook Islands.svg|thumb|250px|Coat of arms of the Cook Islands]] The '''Cook Islands''' are a group of [[island]]s in the southern [[Pacific]]. They form an independent state, but have strong ties with [[New Zealand]]. The 15 small islands have a total land surface of 240 square kilometers. About 18.000 people live on the islands, most of them from [[tourism]]. The largest island, Rarotonga, also holds the territory's capital, [[Avarua]]. The nation also has a distinctive [[Polynesia]]n language known as Cook Island Maori, which is closely related to the [[Maori language]] of New Zealand and to the [[Tahitian language]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Regions and territories: Cook Islands|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/country_profiles/3697804.stm|work=8 December 2010|publisher=BBC News|accessdate=12 March 2011}}</ref> [[Foreign relations]]: Relations with the United States were started in 2023. Relations with China were started earlier. History: The [[Rarotonga]] Treaty was signed in 1986; Cook Islands is (as of the 2020s) still in an area that is supposed to be without any [[nuclear weapons]]. <gallery> Image:Rarotonga Cook Islands.jpg|A beach on Rarotonga Image:Aitutaki from top 2006.jpg|A photo taken from Aituaki </gallery> ==References== {{reflist}} {{commonscat}} {{Cook Islands}} {{Pacific Islands}} {{Commonwealth nations|nocategory=yes}} {{authority control}} {{geo-stub}} [[Category:Cook Islands| ]] [[Category:Commonwealth dependent states]]