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Cook Islands Country Quiz

Answer these questions about the Pacific island nation of Cook Islands.
Quiz by TenThousand
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Last updated: June 26, 2020
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First submittedAugust 18, 2015
Times taken127
Average score64.3%
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hint
answer
Capital
Avarua
Protectorate of which country 1888-1901
United Kingdom
Dependent territory of which country
1901-1960's
New Zealand
Gained full independence in which year
1965
Population to nearest thousand
15,000
Main island
Rarotonga
Main tourist island
Aitutaki
hint
answer
Main industry
tourism
Currency
NZ dollar
Official languages
English
Cook Islands Maori
First name of explorer
the country is named after
James Cook
Most popular sport
Rugby league
Internet suffix
ck
+1
Level 77
Oct 25, 2015
Nice quiz mate 100% from me. Have visited twice and can't wait to go again.
+1
Level 77
Nov 30, 2015
Speaking of the Cooks Jerry, see how you go http://www.jetpunk.com/user-quizzes/83115/the-islands-of-the-cook-islands
+1
Level 70
Feb 20, 2018
Wow, hope I can visit this place soon
+1
Level 76
Feb 20, 2018
It's my favorite of the Pacific that I've visited (out of the Cooks, Niue, Vanuatu, Fiji, Samoa and Tahiti)
+1
Level 70
Sep 17, 2018
Yay, I‘m pleased to announce that I will stay four days on Rarotonga next summer! It‘s gonna be magnificent!
+1
Level 76
Sep 17, 2018
Enjoy! One tip: There are just 2 bus routes on the island, clockwise and anti-clockwise, and it's worth getting a 10-trip bus pass to get you around (no pun intended).
+1
Level 70
Sep 17, 2018
Hehe, thanks!
+1
Level 70
Sep 17, 2018
Just one question: How can the Cooks be 'fully independent' if New Zealand takes all the defense and foreign affairs? As far as I know, every independent nation of this world is part of the UN. (I don‘t think the Cooks are)
+2
Level 76
Sep 17, 2018
"Independence" is a matter of degree, and in practice every country is interdependent on others to some extent. Here are the nations whose defence and foreign affairs are run by other nations: Cook Islands, Niue and Samoa (New Zealand); Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau (all United States); Andorra (France and Spain); Kiribati (Australia and New Zealand); Monaco (France); Liechtenstein (Switzerland); Nauru (Australia); San Marino (Italy) and Vatican City (Switzerland and Italy). Many other countries sign away their defence sovereignity through defence pacts that oblige them to enter wars they're not directly involved in.
+1
Level 70
Sep 17, 2018
Good, good. But all these countries (except Niue and the Cooks) are actually recognized UN members. So why don‘t these two join the UN? I mean, New Zealand can still be the protective power. Because on the one hand I understand that a place so isolated from the rest of New Zealand wants to have a higher autonomy, but on the other hand, if the Cooks don‘t have (or don‘t want to have) their voice in the 'world parliament' and be dependent on this issue, why aren‘t they just an autonomous region, like Catalonia or South Tyrol within NZ?

I‘m not ranting, I‘m just interested in how that special free association system works. Maybe you can answer that question for me (since you‘re a Kiwi:) - What are possible disadvantages for NZ if NZ would give 100% autonomy to the Cook Islands so that they can join the UN and then start protecting them again? (Like the USA does that with the UN member Marshall Islands). It seems to me that the Cook Islands deserve a seat in the world parliament, right?

+1
Level 70
Sep 17, 2018
Plus, why aren‘t they classified as a JetPunk country?
+2
Level 76
Sep 18, 2018
In our opinion, there is a fallacy in your question, namely the suggestion that a country is not a country unless it is in the United Nations. We think that if (a) a country declares itself to be one, and (b) if enough other countries agree that it is, then it's a country. That said, here's the UN-info re the Cook Islands: As of 2014, the Cook Islands have diplomatic relations in its own name with 43 other countries. The Cook Islands is not a United Nations member state, but, along with Niue, has had their "full treaty-making capacity" recognised by United Nations Secretariat, and is a full member of the WHO and UNESCO UN specialised agencies, is an associate member of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) and a Member of the Assembly of States of the International Criminal Court.
+2
Level 76
Sep 18, 2018
As your second question, the Cook Islands are classified as a Jetpunk country in our quizzes. There are many reasons we do that, but here are just three: (1) Its participation in the UN as described above; (2) When the maritime border between the Cook Islands and American Samoa was agreed to in 1980, that treaty was signed by the United States and the Cook Islands, not New Zealand; and (3) New Zealanders visiting the Cook Islands must clear customs on entry, and their passports are stamped with a 30-day, employment-prohibited, entry permit. These sorts of things establish sufficient independence of foreign policy to, in our view, accept its nationhood. "Jetpunk" (ie Dan) uses different criteria to classify a country as a country, which is not too surprising as there are many, many measures one can use to decide what gets counted and what does not.
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Level 70
Sep 18, 2018
Interesting enough. So, if you argue that 1) when a country declares itself independent and 2) enough other countries recognize them, why isn‘t Palestine a country? Sure, there is a lot of controversy, but they hold territory and are recognized by 136 UN members. I just start to think that JetPunk‘s classification of a "country" is a bit random. If Vatican City is not a UN member, but still part of the quiz, why can‘t Palestine be one? Israel is not recognized by 30 countries and is still in the quiz. And if only 20 or so countries recognize Taiwan, why can‘t the Cooks be in the Countries of the World Quiz? (with 43)
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Level 76
Sep 21, 2018
My thoughts exactly.
+1
Level 68
Sep 30, 2023
Just to add to your argument; the USA has officially recognised the Cook Islands and Niue as sovereign states