Cook Islanders
Encyclopedia
Cook Islands
The Cook Islands is a self-governing parliamentary democracy in the South Pacific Ocean in free association with New Zealand...
, which is composed of 15 islands and atolls in Polynesia
Polynesia
Polynesia is a subregion of Oceania, made up of over 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are termed Polynesians and they share many similar traits including language, culture and beliefs...
in the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
.
Citizenship and nationality
From a legal standpoint, there is no such thing as a Cook Islands citizenshipCitizenship
Citizenship is the state of being a citizen of a particular social, political, national, or human resource community. Citizenship status, under social contract theory, carries with it both rights and responsibilities...
. The Cook Islands is a country in free association
Associated state
An associated state is the minor partner in a formal, free relationship between a political territory with a degree of statehood and a nation, for which no other specific term, such as protectorate, is adopted...
with New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
and is part of the Realm of New Zealand
Realm of New Zealand
The Realm of New Zealand is the entire area in which the Queen in right of New Zealand is head of state. The Realm comprises New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Niue, Tokelau and the Ross Dependency in Antarctica, and is defined by a 1983 Letters Patent constituting the office of Governor-General of New...
. As such, Cook Islanders are New Zealand citizens.
The Cook Islands does not issue its own passport
Passport
A passport is a document, issued by a national government, which certifies, for the purpose of international travel, the identity and nationality of its holder. The elements of identity are name, date of birth, sex, and place of birth....
s, a privilege usually assumed by virtually all sovereign countries, but places this responsibility in the hands of the New Zealand Government which issues passports for New Zealand citizens
New Zealand passport
New Zealand passports are issued to New Zealand citizens for the purpose of international travel. The Department of Internal Affairs is responsible for issuing New Zealand passports.-History:...
who are also Cook Islands nationals.
On the other hand, Cook Islands nationality is differentiated from that of the rest of the New Zealand citizens.
These provisions setting out qualifications for the status of a permanent resident of the Cook Islands are supplemented by other legislation to regulate the granting of permanent resident status to others, qualifications to be held by a permanent resident, and conditions under which that status may be withdrawn.
Nationality in this sense may be distinguished from citizenship. While it does not have distinct citizenship legislation, the Cook Islands has determined under its own laws who are its nationals and what the privileges are they enjoy by virtue of that status. Cook Islanders possess New Zealand citizenship with the full rights and privileges that status entails. At the same time, however, the Cook Islands has determined its own distinct nationality which, in effect, does not grant New Zealand citizens the same rights and privileges enjoyed by Cook Islanders in New Zealand.
Ethnicity
Well over 90 per cent of Cook Islanders are either of full or partial descent of the native Polynesian people of the islands, who are known as Cook Islands Māori. Cook Islands Māori are related to the Māori of New Zealand and to the native peoples of French PolynesiaFrench Polynesia
French Polynesia is an overseas country of the French Republic . It is made up of several groups of Polynesian islands, the most famous island being Tahiti in the Society Islands group, which is also the most populous island and the seat of the capital of the territory...
. Some Cook Islanders are also of other Polynesian, European (Papa'a), or Asian descent.
See also
- Cook Islands permanent residencyCook Islands permanent residencyCook Islands permanent residents are residents of the Cook Islands who hold permanent residency visas and who are not ethnic Cook Islanders.By law, a maximum of 650 Cook Islands Permanent Residence certificates may be in effect at any one moment...
- Arrangement between US and the Compact of Free Association states