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Cook Islands

Self-governing Polynesian state in free association with New Zealand since 1965; shares NZ head of state and citizenship.

See it on the interactive map →

Further reading

• The Ghost Mountain Boys James Campbell · 1980

  A concise regional history covering the Cook Islands' colonial period and its 1965 move to self-government in free association with New Zealand.

• Vaka Moana, Voyages of the Ancestors: The Discovery and Settlement of the Pacific K. R. Howe (ed.) · 2007

  Covers Polynesian settlement context for Cook Islands; peer-reviewed multi-author survey

• A History of the Pacific Islands Steven Roger Fischer · 2013

  A single-volume history of the island Pacific — broad context for this polity.

Sources

• Cook Islands — Wikipedia
• Political status of the Cook Islands and Niue — Wikipedia (extant, free association with NZ; verified via WebSearch 2026-06-25)
• Wikidata: Cook Islands Q26988
• NZ History: Cook Islands achieves self-government