Place details
Place nameCook Islands
Other namesCooks Islands, Islas Cook, Cook, Ilhas, Cook-Inseln, Cook, Îles, COK, CK, ISO184, CW00, Hervey Islands, Cook's Islands
Latitude-20
Longitude-158
SourceThesaurus of Geographic Names
Overview
Widely scattered islands in Pacific, 2000 miles NE of New Zealand; settled by Polynesians 150 BC-1000 AD; charted by Spanish 1595; visited by British Captain Cook, for whom they are named, 1773; gained self-government in association with New Zealand 1965; official language is English, though local Polynesian languages are also widely spoken.