Cook Islands Fact Sheet May, 2014 Country name The Cook Islands Capital Avarua Population 19,569 (in 2006) Size 240 km² (0.6% Japan) Weather Tropical Languages English Cook Islands Māori Sports Scuba diving, beach activity Shopping Black pearls Other Uses the New Zealand Dollar 15 islands Formed in 1965 No power at night This content is under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. By Douglas P Perkins. https://dperkins.org. Locator map modified from one by OCHA. CC-BY 3.0. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cook_Islands_-_Location_Map_%282013%29_-_COK_-_UNOCHA.svg Scuba diving picture by Jenny. CC-BY 2.0. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flickr_-_JennyHuang_-_Palau_Land%5E3.jpg Black pearls by Jennifergaglione. Public Domain. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Keshi11.jpg Sunset picture by Robert Young. CC-BY 2.0. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sunset_from_Akaiami.jpg Hillside picture by Mr Bullitt. CC-BY 2.5. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aitutaki_from_top_2006.jpg Cook Islands closeup map uses OpenStreetMap and MapQuest tiles. http://www.openstreetmap.org/relation/2184233#map=6/-15.528/-164.355&layers=Q http://www.mapquest.com