thumb|300px|Map showing the two chains of the Cook Islands

The Cook Islands is located in Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean, about halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand. The country can be divided into two groups: the Southern Cook Islands and the Northern Cook Islands. Rarotonga in the southern group is the main island. All the other islands are known collectively as the Pa Enua or Outer Islands.

The land areas of the southern islands range in size up to the Rarotonga, while none of the northern islands are bigger than . The most populous islands are Rarotonga with a population of 11,000 and Aitutaki with 1,800; none of the other islands have more than 500, and a few are uninhabited.

Two terrestrial ecoregions lie within the Cook Islands territory: the Central Polynesian tropical moist forests and the Cook Islands tropical moist forests.

Islands and reefs

{| class="sortable wikitable"

! Islandgroup

! Island

! Area(km2)

! Population

! Density (/km2)

|-

| Northern

| Penrhyn atoll

| style='text-align:right;' | 10

| style='text-align:right;' | 233

| style='text-align:right;' | 24

|-

| Northern

| Rakahanga

| style='text-align:right;' | 4

| style='text-align:right;' | 81

| style='text-align:right;' | 20

|-

| Northern

| Manihiki

| style='text-align:right;' | 5

| style='text-align:right;' | 215

| style='text-align:right;' | 40

|-

| Northern

| Pukapuka

| style='text-align:right;' | 1

| style='text-align:right;' | 456

| style='text-align:right;' | 351

|-

| Northern

| Tema Reef (submerged)

| style='text-align:right;' | 0

| style='text-align:right;' | 0

| style='text-align:right;' | –

|-

| Northern

| Nassau

| style='text-align:right;' | 1

| style='text-align:right;' | 92

| style='text-align:right;' | 71

|-

| Northern

| Suwarrow

| style='text-align:right;' | 0.4

| style='text-align:right;' | 0

| style='text-align:right;' | 0

|-

| Southern

| Palmerston

| style='text-align:right;' | 2

| style='text-align:right;' | 25

| style='text-align:right;' | 12

|-

| Southern

| Aitutaki

| style='text-align:right;' | 18

| style='text-align:right;' | 1,782

| style='text-align:right;' | 97

|-

| Southern

| Manuae

| style='text-align:right;' | 6

| style='text-align:right;' | 0

| style='text-align:right;' | 0

|-

| Southern

| Takutea

| style='text-align:right;' | 1

| style='text-align:right;' | 0

| style='text-align:right;' | 0

|-

| Southern

| Mitiaro

| style='text-align:right;' | 22

| style='text-align:right;' | 155

| style='text-align:right;' | 7

|-

| Southern

| Atiu

| style='text-align:right;' | 27

| style='text-align:right;' | 383

| style='text-align:right;' | 14

|-

| Southern

| Mauke

| style='text-align:right;' | 18

| style='text-align:right;' | 249

| style='text-align:right;' | 14

|-

| Southern

| Winslow Reef (submerged)

| style='text-align:right;' | 0

| style='text-align:right;' | 0

| style='text-align:right;' | –

|-

| Southern

| Rarotonga

| style='text-align:right;' | 67

| style='text-align:right;' | 10,898

| style='text-align:right;' | 162

|-

| Southern

| Mangaia

| style='text-align:right;' | 52

| style='text-align:right;' | 471

| style='text-align:right;' | 9

|-

! Total

! Total

! style='text-align:right;' | 237

! style='text-align:right;' | 15,040

! style='text-align:right;' | 64

|}

The table is ordered from north to south, but can be re-ordered by any column. Figures are from the 2021 census.

Climate

The climate is tropical, moderated by trade winds, with a dry season from April to November and a more humid season from December to March.The World Factbook. CIA. The islands are in the path of tropical cyclones from December to March, the most notable of which were cyclones Martin (1997) and Percy (2005).

Statistics

Area

Land:

Area - comparative

1.3 times the size of Washington, DC

Coastline

Maritime claims

Territorial sea:

Continental shelf: or to the edge of the continental margin

Exclusive economic zone:

Terrain

Low coral atolls in north; volcanic, hilly islands in south

Elevation extremes

Lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m

Highest point: Te Manga

Natural resources

coconuts

fresh water

Land use

Arable land: 4.17%

Permanent crops: 4.17%

Other: 91.67% (2012 est.)

Natural hazards

Typhoons (November to March)

Tsunamis (Year-round)

Time Zone

UTC -10 (GMT -10)

Environment - international agreements

Party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection

See also

  • List of ecoregions in the Cook Islands
  • List of lakes of the Cook Islands
  • List of mountains in the Cook Islands
  • List of rivers of the Cook Islands

References

  • Maritime Boundaries