Cook Islands

The Cook Islands are a self-governing parliamentary democracy in free association with New Zealand. The fifteen small islands in this South Pacific Ocean country have a total land area of 240 square kilometers, but the Cook Islands Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers 1.8 million square kilometers of ocean.

The Cook Islands had been inhabited by natives long before British and Tahitian missionaries arrived in 1821. The British made it as its protectorate in 1888 and annexed it to New Zealand in 1901. The Cook Islands become a self-governing territory in free association with New Zealand in 1965. Defense is the responsibility of New Zealand, in consultation with the Cook Islands and at its request. In recent times, the Cook Islands have adopted an increasingly independent foreign policy.

With over 90,000 visitors traveling to the islands in 2006, tourism is the country's number one industry, and the leading element of the economy, far ahead of offshore banking, pearls, marine and fruit exports.