Welcome to the Cook Islands!

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Kia Orana!
 Cook Islanders use this as a greeting and response for both day and nighttime. It roughly translates to:  “May you live long.”
Geography:
The country can be broadly divided into Southern and Northern Groups.
The Southern Group includes the islands of Rarotonga, Aitutaki, Atiu, Mangaia, Manuae, Mauke, Mitiaro,Palmerston and Takutea. Mostly owing to its state as volcanic isles, the Southern Group has fertile soils and lush tropical vegetation. They possesses about 90% of the total land area of the Cook Islands with Rarotonga is the largest island and Takutea is the smallest. As the largest island, Rarotonga houses most of the nation’s population.
The Northern Group includes the islands of Manihiki, Nassau, Penrhyn, Pukapuka, Rakahanga and Suwarrow. All islands except for Nassau, which is a sandy key, are low-lying coral atolls with sparse vegetation as well as a sparse population.
Capital: Avarua

Image courtesy of: http://flagspot.net/images/c/ck.gif

Area: 236 sq km (which is roughly 1.3 times the area of Washington, D.C.)
Language: English is the official language although Cook Islands Maori is heavily used in addition to some Pukapukan and Rakahanga-Manihiki.
Religion: The most widely practiced religion is Christianity, with various branches such as Protestantism, Catholicism, and Seventh-Day Adventism accounting for almost 90% of the nation’s religion.
Currency: The currency is the New Zealand Dollar, which makes much sense considering New Zealand is one of Cook Islands’ greatest monetary supporters.
Location: Between 9 degrees and 22 degrees South Latitude
Climate:  The Cook Islands have a tropical oceanic climate with two mildly distinct seasons where from April to November, it is a drier season with temperatures ranging from twenty to twenty-six degrees Celsius. Conversely, from December to March, the temperature ranges from twenty-two to twenty-eight degrees Celsius as it is generally a more humid season.
Disturbances: The islands are frequently subjected to natural disasters such as severe tropical storms and cyclones that disrupt not only the environment, but the way of life of those living on Cook Islands.
People : Mainly the those residing in the Cook Islands are of Cook Islands Maori descent althought the Polynesians are closely related, ethnically, to the indigenous populations of Tahiti, nearby islands, and New Zealand Maori.
Population: As of July 2013, there is an estimated 10,447 people living on the Cook Islands. In ten years, the population has decreased by almost 10,000 residents. The large decrease may be attributed to the slower economy, forcing people to emigrate to New Zealand for better economic prospects.
Economy: The leading producers of income are: agriculture, exports, and tourism.

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Agriculture employs a quarter of the working population, where they are able to export crops such as copra and citrus fruits.
In addition to crops, the Cook Islands’ leading export is the black pearl.
In recent years, the nation has been advertising itself as an undiscovered paradise
Through these income in addition to remittances from residents who live abroad and the government of New Zealand, the Cook Islands’ economy has been slowly recovering. Despite being an island with little natural resources, facing isolation from international trade due to its location, and underdeveloped infrastructure, they are recovering well.
Introduction of Cook Islands
Cook Islands
Cook Islands Video from the lonely planet (but I don’t really know how to put this video on our website except the way of posting this whole link)
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References: 
“The World Fact Book: Cook Islands.” http://www.cia.gov. 05 June 2013. Web. 11 May 2013.