Editing Cook Islands (section)

==Geography==
{{Main|Geography of the Cook Islands}}

[[File:Wyspy Cooka.png|thumb|Map of the Cook Islands]]

The Cook Islands are in the South Pacific Ocean, north-east of New Zealand, between [[American Samoa]] and [[French Polynesia]]. There are 15 major islands spread over {{convert|2200000|km2|-4|abbr=on}} of ocean, divided into two distinct groups: the [[Geography of the Cook Islands#Southern Cook Islands|Southern Cook Islands]] and the [[Northern Cook Islands]] of [[coral]] [[atoll]]s.<ref>"Cook Islands Travel Guide" (with description), ''World Travel Guide'', Nexus Media Communications, 2006. Webpage: [http://www.worldtravelguide.net/country/65/country_guide/Australia-and-South-Pacific/Cook-Islands.html WTGuide-Cook-Islands] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061026060558/http://www.worldtravelguide.net/country/65/country_guide/Australia-and-South-Pacific/Cook-Islands.html |date=26 October 2006 }}.</ref>

The islands were formed by [[volcanism|volcanic activity]]; the northern group is older and consists of six atolls, which are sunken volcanoes topped by coral growth. The climate is [[oceanic climate|moderate]] to [[tropical climate|tropical]]. The Cook Islands consist of 15 islands and two reefs. From March to December, the Cook Islands are in the path of tropical cyclones, the most notable of which were the cyclones [[Cyclone Martin (1997)|Martin]] and [[Cyclone Percy|Percy]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Cook Islands climate: average weather, temperature, precipitation, best time|url=https://www.climatestotravel.com/climate/cook-islands|access-date=11 August 2020|website=www.climatestotravel.com}}</ref> Two [[Ecoregion#Terrestrial|terrestrial ecoregions]] lie within the islands' territory: the [[Central Polynesian tropical moist forests]] and the [[Cook Islands tropical moist forests]].<ref name="DinersteinOlson2017">{{cite journal|last1=Dinerstein|first1=Eric|last2=Olson|first2=David|last3=Joshi|first3=Anup|last4=Vynne|first4=Carly|last5=Burgess|first5=Neil D.|last6=Wikramanayake|first6=Eric|last7=Hahn|first7=Nathan|last8=Palminteri|first8=Suzanne|last9=Hedao|first9=Prashant|last10=Noss|first10=Reed|last11=Hansen|first11=Matt|last12=Locke|first12=Harvey|last13=Ellis|first13=Erle C|last14=Jones|first14=Benjamin|last15=Barber|first15=Charles Victor|last16=Hayes|first16=Randy|last17=Kormos|first17=Cyril|last18=Martin|first18=Vance|last19=Crist|first19=Eileen|last20=Sechrest|first20=Wes|last21=Price|first21=Lori|last22=Baillie|first22=Jonathan E. M.|last23=Weeden|first23=Don|last24=Suckling|first24=Kierán|last25=Davis|first25=Crystal|last26=Sizer|first26=Nigel|last27=Moore|first27=Rebecca|last28=Thau|first28=David|last29=Birch|first29=Tanya|last30=Potapov|first30=Peter|last31=Turubanova|first31=Svetlana|last32=Tyukavina|first32=Alexandra|last33=de Souza|first33=Nadia|last34=Pintea|first34=Lilian|last35=Brito|first35=José C.|last36=Llewellyn|first36=Othman A.|last37=Miller|first37=Anthony G.|last38=Patzelt|first38=Annette|last39=Ghazanfar|first39=Shahina A.|last40=Timberlake|first40=Jonathan|last41=Klöser|first41=Heinz|last42=Shennan-Farpón|first42=Yara|last43=Kindt|first43=Roeland|last44=Lillesø|first44=Jens-Peter Barnekow|last45=van Breugel|first45=Paulo|last46=Graudal|first46=Lars|last47=Voge|first47=Maianna|last48=Al-Shammari|first48=Khalaf F.|last49=Saleem|first49=Muhammad|display-authors=6|title=An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm|journal=BioScience|volume=67|issue=6|year=2017|pages=534–545|issn=0006-3568|doi=10.1093/biosci/bix014|pmid=28608869|pmc=5451287}}</ref>

{| class="sortable wikitable"
! Island<br />group 
! Island
! Area<br />(km<sup>2</sup>)
! Population<br />census 2021
! Density<br />per km<sup>2</sup>
|-
| [[Northern Cook Islands|Northern]]
| [[Penrhyn atoll|Penrhyn]]
| style='text-align:right;' | 9.8
| style='text-align:right;' | 230
| style='text-align:right;' | 23.5
|-
| [[Northern Cook Islands|Northern]]
| [[Rakahanga]]
| style='text-align:right;' | 4.1
| style='text-align:right;' | 81
| style='text-align:right;' | 19.8
|-
| [[Northern Cook Islands|Northern]]
| [[Manihiki]]
| style='text-align:right;' | 5.4
| style='text-align:right;' | 207
| style='text-align:right;' | 38.3
|-
| [[Northern Cook Islands|Northern]]
| [[Pukapuka]]
| style='text-align:right;' | 1.3
| style='text-align:right;' | 456
| style='text-align:right;' | 350.8
|-
| [[Northern Cook Islands|Northern]]
| [[Tema Reef]] (submerged)
| style='text-align:right;' | 0
| style='text-align:right;' | 0
| style='text-align:right;' | –
|-
| [[Northern Cook Islands|Northern]]
| [[Nassau (Cook Islands)|Nassau]]
| style='text-align:right;' | 1.3
| style='text-align:right;' | 92
| style='text-align:right;' | 70.8
|-
| [[Northern Cook Islands|Northern]]
| [[Suwarrow]]
| style='text-align:right;' | 0.4
| style='text-align:right;' | 0
| style='text-align:right;' | –
|-
| [[Geography of the Cook Islands#Southern Cook Islands|Southern]]
| [[Palmerston Island|Palmerston]]
| style='text-align:right;' | 2.1
| style='text-align:right;' | 25
| style='text-align:right;' | 11.9
|-
| [[Geography of the Cook Islands#Southern Cook Islands|Southern]]
| [[Aitutaki]]
| style='text-align:right;' | 18.3
| style='text-align:right;' | 1,776
| style='text-align:right;' | 97.0
|-
| [[Geography of the Cook Islands#Southern Cook Islands|Southern]]
| [[Manuae (Cook Islands)|Manuae]]
| style='text-align:right;' | 6.2
| style='text-align:right;' | 0
| style='text-align:right;' | -
|-
| [[Geography of the Cook Islands#Southern Cook Islands|Southern]]
| [[Takutea]]
| style='text-align:right;' | 1
| style='text-align:right;' | 0
| style='text-align:right;' | -
|-
| [[Geography of the Cook Islands#Southern Cook Islands|Southern]]
| [[Mitiaro]]
| style='text-align:right;' | 22.3
| style='text-align:right;' | 155
| style='text-align:right;' | 7.0
|-
| [[Geography of the Cook Islands#Southern Cook Islands|Southern]]
| [[Atiu]]
| style='text-align:right;' | 26.9
| style='text-align:right;' | 382
| style='text-align:right;' | 14.2
|-
| [[Geography of the Cook Islands#Southern Cook Islands|Southern]]
| [[Mauke]]
| style='text-align:right;' | 18.4
| style='text-align:right;' | 249
| style='text-align:right;' | 13.5
|-
| [[Geography of the Cook Islands#Southern Cook Islands|Southern]]
| [[Winslow Reef, Cook Islands|Winslow Reef]] (submerged)
| style='text-align:right;' | 0
| style='text-align:right;' | 0
| style='text-align:right;' | –
|-
| [[Geography of the Cook Islands#Southern Cook Islands|Southern]]
| [[Rarotonga]]
| style='text-align:right;' | 67.1
| style='text-align:right;' | 10,863
| style='text-align:right;' | 161.9
|-
| [[Geography of the Cook Islands#Southern Cook Islands|Southern]]
| [[Mangaia]]
| style='text-align:right;' | 51.8
| style='text-align:right;' | 471
| style='text-align:right;' | 9.1
|-
! Total 
! Total
! style='text-align:right;' | 236.7
! style='text-align:right;' | 14,987
! style='text-align:right;' | 63.3
|}

Note: The table is ordered from north to south. Population figures from the 2021 census.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.mfem.gov.ck/census |title=Cook Islands Ministry of Finance and Economic Management, 2021 Census |access-date=11 November 2017 |archive-date=28 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170828062044/http://www.mfem.gov.ck/census |url-status=dead }}</ref>