Shopping on line can be easy, simple and save you lots of money. It can also take a lot of your time, frustrate you, and result in unwanted purchases. Now the same can be said for regular high street shopping, but with the vast opportunity presented by the Internet it will pay you to spend a few minutes reading this and understanding how to better optimize your Cook Islands shopping experience:
1. Compare - without doubt the biggest advantage that the Cook Islands offers shoppers today is the ability to compare thousands of Cook Islands at a time. This is a great thing, but not necessarily all the time! Too much can be daunting at times so take advantage of the great comparison sites and where possible let them do the hard work for you.
2. Research - if it has been said it will be on the internet. Ignorance is no longer a justifiable reason for buying the wrong thing. Take the time to research in detail everything that you could possible want to know about
3. Testimonials - don't know anybody that has bought a Cook Islands? Wrong! If the Cook Islands is good the internet will let you know. Use the Internet as a friend and get testimonials before you buy.
4. Questions - Got a question about Cook Islands then search the Forums, FAQ's, Blogs etc. Don't be afraid to ask .....
5. Reputation - Never heard of the company selling Cook Islands? Don't worry, no reason why you should know every company in the world, but you know someone that does! Use the internet to find out what people are saying about Cook Islands and build up a picture of their reputation for sales, returns, customer service, delivery etc.
6. Returns - still worried that even after all of the above your Cook Islands wont be what you want? Check out the returns policy. There is so much competition now that someone, somewhere is bound to offer the terms that you are comfortable with.
7. Feedback - happy with your Cook Islands then let people know, after all you are depending on others people input in your buying decision, so why not give a little back.
8. Security - check for the yellow padlock on the Cook Islands site before you buy, and the s after http:/ /i.e. https:// = a secure site
9. Contact - got a question about Cook Islands, or want to leave a comment then check out the sites contact page. Reputable companies have them and respond.
10. Payment - ready to pay for your Cook Islands, then use your credit card or PayPal! Be aware of companies that don't accept them, there may be genuine reasons but given the huge amount of choice you have when buying online there is no reason at all not to buy via credit card or PayPal.
{{Infobox Country or territory|native_name = Cook Islands
Kūki 'Āirani|common_name = Cook Islands|image_flag = Flag of the Cook Islands.svg|image_coat = Cook islands coa.png|image_map = LocationCookIslands.png|national_motto =|national_anthem =
Te Atua Mou EGod is Truth]|latd=21 |latm=12 |latNS=S |longd=159 |longm=46 |longEW=W|largest_city = capital|official_languages =
English languageCook Islands Māori|leader_name1 = [Elizabeth II of New Zealand|leader_title2 = Queen's Representative|leader_name3 = [Jim Marurai|established_event1 = Self-government in free association with [New Zealand [1965([Cook Islands dollar also used)]|calling_code = 682|footnotes =-->
The
Cook Islands (Cook Islands Māori:
Kūki 'Āirani) are a self-governing parliamentary democracy in free association with New Zealand. The fifteen small islands in this Pacific Ocean country have a total land area of 240 square kilometres (92.7
square mile), but the Cook Islands Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers 1.8 million square kilometres (0.7 million
square mile) of ocean. A View from the Cook Islands SOPAC
The main population centres are on the island of Rarotonga (
c.10,000), where there is an international airport. There is also a much larger population of Cook Islanders in New Zealand, particularly the North Island; in the 2006 census, 58,008 self-identified as being of ethnic
Cook Island Māori descent.
With over 90,000 visitors travelling to the islands in 2006,
tourism is the country's number one industry, and the leading element of the economy of the Cook Islands, far ahead of offshore banking, pearls, marine and fruit exports.
Defence is the responsibility of
New Zealand, in consultation with the Cook Islands and at its request. In recent times, the Cook Islands has adopted an increasingly independent foreign policy.
Politics
The politics of the Cook Islands takes place in a framework of a Parliamentary system Representative democracy
associated state, whereby the Monarchy in New Zealand, represented in the Cook Islands by the
Queen's Representative, is
Head of State and the Chief Minister is the head of government. There is a pluriform multi-party system and the islands are self-governing in free association with New Zealand and fully responsible for internal affairs. New Zealand retains some responsibility for external affairs, in consultation with the Cook Islands. In recent years the Cook Islands has taken on more of its own external affairs and as of
2005 has diplomatic relations in its own name with eighteen other countries. Executive power is exercised by the government.
Legislative power is vested in both the
government and the
Parliament of the Cook Islands.
The Cook Islands are not United Nations full members but participate in
WHO and UNESCO.
The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
Notable Dates in Cook Island History
1596 - Spaniard Alvaro de Mendana is the first European to sight the islands.
1773 - Captain James Cook explores the islands and names them the Hervey Islands. Fifty years later they are renamed in his honour.
1821 - English and Tahitian missionaries arrive, become the first non-native settlers.
1888 - Cook Islands are proclaimed a British protectorate and a single federal parliament is established.
1901 - The Cook Islands are annexed to New Zealand.
1924 - The All Blacks
Invincibles stop in Rarotonga on their way to the United Kingdom and play a friendly match against a scratch Rarotongan team.
1946 - Legislative Council is established. For the first time since 1912, the territory has direct representation.
1965 - The Cook Islands become a self-governing territory in free association with New Zealand. Albert Henry, leader of the Cook Islands Party, is elected as the territory's first prime minister.
1974 - Albert Henry is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II
1979 - Sir
Albert Henry is found guilty of electoral fraud and stripped of his premiership and his knighthood. Tom Davis becomes Premier.
1981 - Constitution is amended. Parliament grows from 22 to 24 seats and the parliamentary term is extended from four to five years. Tom Davis is knighted.
1985 - Rarotonga Treaty is open for signing in the Cook Islands creating a nuclear free zone in the South Pacific.
1986 - In January 1986, following the rift between New Zealand and the USA in respect of the ANZUS security arrangements Prime Minister Tom Davis declared the Cook Islands a neutral country, because he considered that New Zealand (which has control over the islands' defence and foreign policy) was no longer in a position to defend the islands. The proclamation of neutrality meant that the Cook Islands would not enter into a military relationship with any foreign power, and, in particular, would prohibit visits by US warships. Visits by US naval vessels were allowed to resume by Henry's Government.
1991 The Cook Islands signed a treaty of friendship and co-operation with France, covering economic deyelopment, trade and surveillance of the islands' EEZ. The establishment of closer relations with France was widely regarded as an expression of the Cook Islands' Government's dissatisfaction with existing arrangements with New Zealand which was no longer in a position to defend the Cook Islands.
1995 The French Government resumed its Programme of nuclear-weapons testing at Mururoa Atoll in September 1995 upsetting the Cook Islands. Henry was fiercely critical of the decision and dispatched a vaka (traditional voyaging canoe) with a crew of Cook Islands' traditional warriors to protest near the test site. The tests were concluded in January 1996 and a moratorium was placed on future testing by the French government.
1997 - Full diplomatic relations established with China.
1997 - In November, Cyclone Martin kills at least six people; 80% of buildings are damaged and the black pearl industry suffered severe losses.
2000 - Full diplomatic relations concluded with France.
2002 - Prime Minister Terepai Maoate is ousted from government following second vote of no-confidence in his leadership.
2004 - Prime Minister Robert Woonton visits China; Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao grants $16m in development aid.
2006 - Parliamentary elections held. The Democratic Party keeps majority of seats in parliament, but parliament is unable to meet due to petitions filed by the Cook Islands Party over alleged voting irregularities.
Geography
The Cook Islands are in the South Pacific Ocean, north-east of New Zealand, between French Polynesia and Fiji. There are fifteen major islands, spread over 2.2 million square kilometres of ocean, divided into two distinct groups: the Southern Cook Islands, and the Northern Cook Islands of
Atoll."Cook Islands Travel Guide" (with description),
World Travel Guide, Nexus Media Communications, 2006. Webpage: WTGuide-Cook-Islands.
The islands were formed by volcanic activity; the northern group is older and consists of six atolls (sunken volcanoes topped by
coral growth). The climate is moderate to tropical.
The fifteen islands are grouped as follows:
- Low islands of the Southern group
- Northern Cook Islands
- Manihiki
- Nassau (Cook Islands)
- Palmerston Island
- Penrhyn Island also known as Tongareva
- Pukapuka
- Rakahanga
- Suwarrow also called Suvorov
History
.The Cook Islands were first settled in the 6th Century
A.D. by Polynesian people who migrated from nearby Tahiti, to the southeast. Cook Islands Samoa2007.com
Spain ships visited the islands in the late sixteenth century; the first written record of contact with the Islands came with the sighting of
Pukapuka by Spanish sailor
Álvaro de Mendaña in 1595 who called it
San Bernardo ("
Saint Bernard"). Another Spaniard,
Pedro Fernández de Quirós, made the first recorded European landing in the islands when he set foot on
Rakahanga in
1606, calling it
Gente Hermosa ("Beautiful People").
British navigator Captain
James Cook arrived in 1773 and
1779 and named the islands the
Hervey Islands; the name "Cook Islands", in honour of Cook, appeared on a Russian naval chart published in the 1880s. Cook Islands Government website
In 1813, John Williams, a missionary on the
Endeavour (not the same ship as that of Cook), made the first official sighting of the
Rarotonga. TEN DECADES: The Australasian Centenary History of the London Missionary Society, Rev. Joseph King (Word document)
The first recorded landing by Europeans was in 1814 by the Cumberland; trouble broke out between the sailors and the Islanders and many were killed on both sides. History of the Cook Islands
The islands saw no more Europeans until missionaries arrived from England in 1821. Christianity quickly took hold in the culture and many islanders continue to be Christian believers today.
The Cook Islands became a United Kingdom protectorate at their own request in
1888, mainly to thwart French expansionism. They were transferred to
New Zealand in 1901. They remained a New Zealand protectorate until 1965, at which point they became a
Self-government territory in free association with New Zealand. In that year,
Albert Henry of the Cook Islands Party was elected as the first
Prime Minister. Sir Albert Henry led the country until he was accused of vote-rigging. He was succeeded in 1978 by Tom Davis of the Democratic Party (Cook Islands).
Today, the Cook Islands are essentially independent ("self-governing in free association with New Zealand") but are still officially placed within New Zealand's sovereignty. New Zealand is tasked with overseeing the country's foreign relations and defence. The Cook Islands are one of three New Zealand Dependent territory, along with Tokelau and
Niue.
On June 11, 1980, the
United States signed a treaty with New Zealand specifying the maritime border between the Cook Islands and
American Samoa and also relinquishing its claim to the islands of
Penrhyn Island, Pukapuka (Danger), Manihiki, and
Rakahanga.
In 2006, the British television station Channel 4 broadcast the show
Shipwrecked (TV series), filmed in the Cook Islands. The thirteenth season of CBS's
Survivor series was also filmed in the Cook Islands during the summer of 2006. It was broadcast in the autumn of 2006 as
Survivor: Cook Islands.
In 2007, Les Stroud host/creator of the television show Survivorman taped an episode in the Cook Islands, surviving on his own for 7 days.
Culture
{| class="toccolours" border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="align:left; margin:0.5em 0 0 0; border-style:solid; border:1px solid #7f7f7f; border-right-width:2px; border-bottom-width:2px; border-collapse:collapse; font-size:95%;"|+
Holidays!style="background:#efefef; border-bottom:2px solid gray;" | Date!style="background: #efefef; border-bottom: 2px solid gray;"| Name|-| January 1 ]| January 2 ]| The Friday before
Easter Sunday ]| The day after Easter Sunday ]|
April 25 ]| The first Monday in June ||
Queen's Birthday || Constitution Day| [October 26 ] || Christmas || [Boxing Day|}
Sport
Rugby union is the most popular sport in the Cook Islands with
football (soccer) and rugby league also popular.
Miscellaneous
A popular art form on the islands is Tivaivai, often likened to
quilting.
See also
{{columns |width=300px|col1 =
|col2 =
-->
References
External links
- Cook Islands Government
- Cook Islands Government (summary)
- Cook Islands Tourism Corporation
- Open Directory Project - Cook Islands directory category
- Comprehensive Cook Islands site with news section
- Detailed and non-commercial website
- Cook Islands National Environment Service
- Cook Islands Biodiversity Database
- Photographs of CI banknotes including unique 3 dollar bill
{{Template group|title = Geographic locale|list =-->
{{Infobox Country or territory|native_name = Cook Islands
Kūki 'Āirani|common_name = Cook Islands|image_flag = Flag of the Cook Islands.svg|image_coat = Cook islands coa.png|image_map = LocationCookIslands.png|national_motto =|national_anthem =
Te Atua Mou EGod is Truth]|latd=21 |latm=12 |latNS=S |longd=159 |longm=46 |longEW=W|largest_city = capital|official_languages =
English languageCook Islands Māori|leader_name1 = [Elizabeth II of New Zealand|leader_title2 =
Queen's Representative|leader_name3 = [Jim Marurai|established_event1 = Self-government in free association with [New Zealand [1965([Cook Islands dollar also used)]|calling_code = 682|footnotes =-->
The
Cook Islands (Cook Islands Māori:
Kūki 'Āirani) are a self-governing parliamentary democracy in free association with
New Zealand. The fifteen small islands in this Pacific Ocean country have a total land area of 240 square kilometres (92.7
square mile), but the Cook Islands
Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers 1.8 million square kilometres (0.7 million square mile) of ocean. A View from the Cook Islands SOPAC
The main population centres are on the island of
Rarotonga (
c.10,000), where there is an international airport. There is also a much larger population of Cook Islanders in New Zealand, particularly the North Island; in the 2006 census, 58,008 self-identified as being of ethnic
Cook Island Māori descent.
With over 90,000 visitors travelling to the islands in 2006, tourism is the country's number one industry, and the leading element of the
economy of the Cook Islands, far ahead of offshore banking, pearls, marine and fruit exports.
Defence is the responsibility of New Zealand, in consultation with the Cook Islands and at its request. In recent times, the Cook Islands has adopted an increasingly independent foreign policy.
Politics
The politics of the Cook Islands takes place in a framework of a Parliamentary system
Representative democracy associated state, whereby the Monarchy in New Zealand, represented in the Cook Islands by the Queen's Representative, is
Head of State and the Chief Minister is the
head of government. There is a pluriform multi-party system and the islands are self-governing in free association with New Zealand and fully responsible for internal affairs. New Zealand retains some responsibility for external affairs, in consultation with the Cook Islands. In recent years the Cook Islands has taken on more of its own external affairs and as of 2005 has diplomatic relations in its own name with eighteen other countries.
Executive power is exercised by the government.
Legislative power is vested in both the
government and the
Parliament of the Cook Islands.
The Cook Islands are not
United Nations full members but participate in WHO and
UNESCO.
The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
Notable Dates in Cook Island History
1596 - Spaniard Alvaro de Mendana is the first European to sight the islands.
1773 - Captain James Cook explores the islands and names them the Hervey Islands. Fifty years later they are renamed in his honour.
1821 - English and Tahitian missionaries arrive, become the first non-native settlers.
1888 - Cook Islands are proclaimed a British protectorate and a single federal parliament is established.
1901 - The Cook Islands are annexed to New Zealand.
1924 - The All Blacks
Invincibles stop in Rarotonga on their way to the United Kingdom and play a friendly match against a scratch Rarotongan team.
1946 - Legislative Council is established. For the first time since 1912, the territory has direct representation.
1965 - The Cook Islands become a self-governing territory in free association with New Zealand. Albert Henry, leader of the Cook Islands Party, is elected as the territory's first prime minister.
1974 - Albert Henry is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II
1979 - Sir Albert Henry is found guilty of electoral fraud and stripped of his premiership and his knighthood. Tom Davis becomes Premier.
1981 - Constitution is amended. Parliament grows from 22 to 24 seats and the parliamentary term is extended from four to five years. Tom Davis is knighted.
1985 - Rarotonga Treaty is open for signing in the Cook Islands creating a nuclear free zone in the South Pacific.
1986 - In January 1986, following the rift between New Zealand and the USA in respect of the ANZUS security arrangements Prime Minister Tom Davis declared the Cook Islands a neutral country, because he considered that New Zealand (which has control over the islands' defence and foreign policy) was no longer in a position to defend the islands. The proclamation of neutrality meant that the Cook Islands would not enter into a military relationship with any foreign power, and, in particular, would prohibit visits by US warships. Visits by US naval vessels were allowed to resume by Henry's Government.
1991 The Cook Islands signed a treaty of friendship and co-operation with France, covering economic deyelopment, trade and surveillance of the islands' EEZ. The establishment of closer relations with France was widely regarded as an expression of the Cook Islands' Government's dissatisfaction with existing arrangements with New Zealand which was no longer in a position to defend the Cook Islands.
1995 The French Government resumed its Programme of nuclear-weapons testing at Mururoa Atoll in September 1995 upsetting the Cook Islands. Henry was fiercely critical of the decision and dispatched a vaka (traditional voyaging canoe) with a crew of Cook Islands' traditional warriors to protest near the test site. The tests were concluded in January 1996 and a moratorium was placed on future testing by the French government.
1997 - Full diplomatic relations established with China.
1997 - In November, Cyclone Martin kills at least six people; 80% of buildings are damaged and the black pearl industry suffered severe losses.
2000 - Full diplomatic relations concluded with France.
2002 - Prime Minister Terepai Maoate is ousted from government following second vote of no-confidence in his leadership.
2004 - Prime Minister Robert Woonton visits China; Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao grants $16m in development aid.
2006 - Parliamentary elections held. The Democratic Party keeps majority of seats in parliament, but parliament is unable to meet due to petitions filed by the Cook Islands Party over alleged voting irregularities.
Geography
The Cook Islands are in the South Pacific Ocean, north-east of New Zealand, between
French Polynesia and Fiji. There are fifteen major islands, spread over 2.2 million square kilometres of ocean, divided into two distinct groups: the Southern Cook Islands, and the Northern Cook Islands of
Atoll."Cook Islands Travel Guide" (with description),
World Travel Guide, Nexus Media Communications, 2006. Webpage: WTGuide-Cook-Islands.
The islands were formed by volcanic activity; the northern group is older and consists of six
atolls (sunken volcanoes topped by
coral growth). The climate is moderate to tropical.
The fifteen islands are grouped as follows:
- Low islands of the Southern group
- Northern Cook Islands
- Manihiki
- Nassau (Cook Islands)
- Palmerston Island
- Penrhyn Island also known as Tongareva
- Pukapuka
- Rakahanga
- Suwarrow also called Suvorov
History
.The Cook Islands were first settled in the
6th Century A.D. by
Polynesian people who migrated from nearby Tahiti, to the southeast. Cook Islands Samoa2007.com
Spain ships visited the islands in the late sixteenth century; the first written record of contact with the Islands came with the sighting of
Pukapuka by Spanish sailor
Álvaro de Mendaña in 1595 who called it
San Bernardo ("Saint Bernard"). Another Spaniard, Pedro Fernández de Quirós, made the first recorded European landing in the islands when he set foot on
Rakahanga in
1606, calling it
Gente Hermosa ("Beautiful People").
British navigator Captain
James Cook arrived in
1773 and
1779 and named the islands the
Hervey Islands; the name "Cook Islands", in honour of Cook, appeared on a Russian naval chart published in the 1880s. Cook Islands Government website
In 1813, John Williams, a missionary on the
Endeavour (not the same ship as that of Cook), made the first official sighting of the
Rarotonga. TEN DECADES: The Australasian Centenary History of the London Missionary Society, Rev. Joseph King (Word document)
The first recorded landing by Europeans was in 1814 by the Cumberland; trouble broke out between the sailors and the Islanders and many were killed on both sides. History of the Cook Islands
The islands saw no more Europeans until missionaries arrived from England in 1821. Christianity quickly took hold in the culture and many islanders continue to be Christian believers today.
The Cook Islands became a United Kingdom protectorate at their own request in
1888, mainly to thwart French expansionism. They were transferred to New Zealand in
1901. They remained a New Zealand protectorate until 1965, at which point they became a Self-government territory in
free association with New Zealand. In that year,
Albert Henry of the
Cook Islands Party was elected as the first Prime Minister. Sir Albert Henry led the country until he was accused of vote-rigging. He was succeeded in
1978 by Tom Davis of the Democratic Party (Cook Islands).
Today, the Cook Islands are essentially independent ("self-governing in free association with New Zealand") but are still officially placed within New Zealand's sovereignty. New Zealand is tasked with overseeing the country's foreign relations and defence. The Cook Islands are one of three New Zealand Dependent territory, along with Tokelau and
Niue.
On June 11, 1980, the United States signed a treaty with New Zealand specifying the maritime border between the Cook Islands and
American Samoa and also relinquishing its claim to the islands of
Penrhyn Island,
Pukapuka (Danger),
Manihiki, and
Rakahanga.
In 2006, the British television station Channel 4 broadcast the show
Shipwrecked (TV series), filmed in the Cook Islands. The thirteenth season of CBS's
Survivor series was also filmed in the Cook Islands during the summer of 2006. It was broadcast in the autumn of 2006 as
Survivor: Cook Islands.
In 2007,
Les Stroud host/creator of the television show
Survivorman taped an episode in the Cook Islands, surviving on his own for 7 days.
Culture
{| class="toccolours" border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="align:left; margin:0.5em 0 0 0; border-style:solid; border:1px solid #7f7f7f; border-right-width:2px; border-bottom-width:2px; border-collapse:collapse; font-size:95%;"|+
Holidays!style="background:#efefef; border-bottom:2px solid gray;" | Date!style="background: #efefef; border-bottom: 2px solid gray;"| Name|-|
January 1 ]| January 2 ]| The Friday before Easter Sunday ]| The day after
Easter Sunday ]| April 25 ]| The first Monday in June ||
Queen's Birthday || Constitution Day| [October 26 ] ||
Christmas || [Boxing Day|}
Sport
Rugby union is the most popular sport in the Cook Islands with
football (soccer) and rugby league also popular.
Miscellaneous
A popular art form on the islands is Tivaivai, often likened to
quilting.
See also
{{columns |width=300px|col1 =
|col2 =
-->
References
External links
- Cook Islands Government
- Cook Islands Government (summary)
- Cook Islands Tourism Corporation
- Open Directory Project - Cook Islands directory category
- Comprehensive Cook Islands site with news section
- Detailed and non-commercial website
- Cook Islands National Environment Service
- Cook Islands Biodiversity Database
- Photographs of CI banknotes including unique 3 dollar bill
{{Template group|title = Geographic locale|list =-->
The Cook Islands, South Pacific: An independent non-commercial travel ...
Non commercial site providing a detailed guide to all 15 islands in the group with tips and advice for travellers.
Cook Islands language
Five languages are spoken in the Cook Islands - Cook Islands Maori, Pukapukan, Penrhynese, English and Rakahanga-Manihiki.
Cook Islands Tourism - Home
Official site of the Cook Islands Tourism Corporation. Includes general information, lists of tourist related businesses, activities, and travel planner.
Cook Islands Holiday & Hotels Planner - Pacific Travel Guides
Tourist information and travel guide to help plan a vacation to the Cook Islands. Includes beach guide, wedding facts and accommodation reviews.
Cook Islands - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Cook Islands (Cook Islands Māori: Kūki 'Āirani) are a self-governing parliamentary democracy in free association with New Zealand. The fifteen small islands in this South ...
Turquoise Holidays > Cook Islands > Introduction
Like jewels in the South Pacific, these fifteen idyllic islands lie in the centre of the Polynesian triangle flanked to the west by Tonga and Samoa and to the east by Tahiti and ...
Cook Islands: untapped paradise?
The article by Ron Crocombe on foreign investment in the Cook Islands attracted responses from islanders in the Pacific, Indian Ocean and Caribbean.
Cook Islands Government Online
Where On Earth is the Cook Islands? The Cook Islands comprises 15 widely-dispersed islands in the South Pacific Ocean between French Polynesia and Fiji.
Cook Islands Government Online
Managed by the Office of the Prime Minister. Provides monthly updates, latest news, and contact information for the Cabinet, Ministries, and Agencies.
Cook Islands SMS
Cheap Cook Islands SMS text messaging from CardBoardFish. Specialists in low cost SMS termination and hard to reach destinations. Covers over 700 GSM, 3G, CDMA, IDEN and Satellite ...
