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Polynesia

Cook Islands

The Cook Islands is a self-governing state in free association with New Zealand, in Polynesia. UN Tourism publishes no arrivals figure for it, so Globestamp places its stamp by estimate: Prism, for 50,000 to 500,000 visitors a year.

Cook Islands’s stamp in Globestamp
Prism · 50,000 to 500,000 visitors a year
Stamp finish
Prismplaced by estimate
Area
192 km² (74 sq mi)
Population
17,000Natural Earth estimate
Regions
11in Globestamp’s regions layer
Airports
6with scheduled flights

Does the Cook Islands count as a country?

It depends on the list. The Cook Islands is a self-governing state in free association with New Zealand, so it is not one of the UN’s 193 members, but Globestamp’s list of 250 countries and territories counts it on its own. The Travelers’ Century Club counts it as “Cook Islands (Aitutaki, Penrhyn, Rarotonga)”.

ListCounts the Cook Islands?
UN member states (193)No
Globestamp’s countries and territories (250)Yes
Travelers’ Century Club (330)Yes, as Cook Islands (Aitutaki, Penrhyn, Rarotonga)
European UnionNo
Schengen areaNo

The Cook Islands belongs to New Zealand, but travelers usually count it on its own, because it has its own entry rules, its own flag or its own place on the map. Other places in the same family: Niue and Tokelau.

The Cook Islands stamp

Every country in Globestamp has its own stamp, drawn after a real entry stamp. Its finish shows how few travelers get there. The Cook Islands’s is Prism: the full spectrum with glints, the finish for places with 50,000 to 500,000 visitors a year. UN Tourism has no figure for the Cook Islands, so its finish is placed by hand from what is known of its visitors. See every stamp on the stamp wall, or the rarest on the least-visited countries.

What counts as a visit to the Cook Islands

The common rule among travelers is that you set foot there: an airport layover usually doesn’t count, and a port where you went ashore does. Globestamp counts the Cook Islands when one of your photos was taken on its ground, or just off its coast; a photo taken from a plane never counts. Photos only at an airport make a transit stamp in lighter ink, counted only if you count layovers. Read more in how to count the countries you’ve visited.

Events in the Cook Islands

Total solar eclipses over the Cook Islands that the app knows: 11 July 2010. A photo inside the path of totality that day ticks “Watch a total eclipse”.

Airports

The Cook Islands has 6 airports with scheduled flights, 1 of them large. Each is a dot on Globestamp’s airports layer, and every flight you log adds to how far you’ve flown (try the flight distance calculator).

11 regions to fill in

Globestamp goes deeper than countries: its regions layer splits the Cook Islands into 11 regions (Natural Earth’s first-level divisions), and each one fills in when a photo was taken there.

All 11

Aitutaki · Atiu · Mangaia · Manihiki · Mauke · Mitiaro · Palmerston Island · Penrhyn Atoll · Pukapuka · Rakahanga · Rarotonga

Questions people ask

Is the Cook Islands a country?

It depends on the list. The Cook Islands is a self-governing state in free association with New Zealand, so it is not one of the UN’s 193 members, but Globestamp’s list of 250 countries and territories counts it on its own. The Travelers’ Century Club counts it as “Cook Islands (Aitutaki, Penrhyn, Rarotonga)”.

How many tourists visit the Cook Islands?

UN Tourism, the usual source, publishes no arrivals figure for the Cook Islands. Globestamp places its stamp by estimate, as Prism: 50,000 to 500,000 visitors a year.

How rare is a Cook Islands stamp in Globestamp?

It is printed in Prism, the finish for places with 50,000 to 500,000 visitors a year. The fewer travelers a place receives, the rarer its finish, from plain Ink to Mythic.

Does the Cook Islands count for the Travelers’ Century Club?

Yes. The Travelers’ Century Club counts it as “Cook Islands (Aitutaki, Penrhyn, Rarotonga)”, one of its 330 destinations.

Places as rare as the Cook Islands

Near the Cook Islands

Sources