The Cook Islands are named from a Russian naval chart of the early 1880s, after Captain James Cook, who visited the islands in 1773 and 1779. The Cook Islands became a British protectorate in 1888.
By 1900, administrative control was transferred to New Zealand; in 1965 residents chose self-government in free association with New Zealand.
The Cook Islands contain fifteen islands in the group spread over a vast area in the South Pacific. The majority of islands are low coral atolls in Northern Group, with Rarotonga, a volcanic island in the Southern Group, as the main administration and government centre. The main Cook Islands language is Rarotongan Māori. There are some variations in dialect in the 'outer' islands.

Television
In 2006, the British television station Channel 4 broadcast the TV series show Shipwrecked, which was filmed in the Cook Islands.
Also, in Fall 2006 , the 13th season of CBS's Survivor TV series was filmed in the Cook Islands over the summer of the same year (see: Survivor: Cook Islands).