Countries
Key facts
- Capital
- Avarua
- Region
- Oceania, Polynesia
- Population
- 21,388
- Area
- 240 km²
- Currency
- New Zealand dollar (NZD), Cook Islands dollar (CKD)
- Languages
- English, Maori
- Calling code
- +682
- Internet domain
- .ck
- ISO codes
- CK, COK, 184
- Time zone
- UTC-10:00
- United Nations
- Not a member
Land and position
The Cook Islands covers about 240 square kilometres. By area it ranks 222nd among the 250 countries and territories on this site. It is a little smaller than Saint Pierre and Miquelon and a little larger than American Samoa. It has no land border with any other country. Its centre lies at about 21° south, 160° west, in the southern hemisphere.
People
About 21,388 people live in the Cook Islands (GeoNames figure, year not stated). That makes it the 224th most populous of the 246 places on this site with a figure. On average there are 89 people to each square kilometre. Languages listed for it: English, Maori. A person from the Cook Islands is called Cook Islander.
Money and economy
The currency is the New Zealand dollar (code NZD, symbol $). It is also the main currency of New Zealand, Niue, Pitcairn Islands, Tokelau. Also listed as used here: Cook Islands dollar (CKD).
Time
The Cook Islands uses one time zone, UTC-10:00 (Pacific/Rarotonga). Clocks stay the same all year: there is no daylight saving time.
Time now: loading
Offsets are for January 2026. See Time Zones for a converter.
Largest cities
| City | People |
|---|---|
| Avarua | 13,373 |
City figures are from GeoNames and count the city itself, not the wider urban area. They can be some years old, so use them to see the order of size.
More in Polynesia
American Samoa, French Polynesia, Niue, Pitcairn Islands, Samoa, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu. See the whole region.
Figures were collected on 11 November 2026 from the World Bank, GeoNames and the open countries data set. See About and data sources. Borders and names follow those sources and do not express any view on disputed territory.