The following
outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the Cook Islands:
Cook Islands – self-governing parliamentary democracy in free association with
New Zealand.[1] The fifteen small islands in this
South Pacific Ocean country have a total land area of 240 square kilometres (92.7 sq mi), but the Cook Islands
Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers 1.8 million square kilometres (0.7 million sq mi) of ocean.[2] The main population centres are on the island of
Rarotonga (c.10,000), where there is an international airport. Defence 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.