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The Cook Islands joined the Committee for Coordination of Joint Prospecting for Mineral Resources in South Pacific Offshore Areas (CCOP/SOPAC) in 1973. CCOP/SOPAC became autonomous in 1984 and later changed its name to the South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission SOPAC in 1989.

The Cook Islands are located between latitudes 21° S and 14° S, and between longitudes 159° W and 46° W. The Cook Islands are a Polynesian island group comprising of 15 widely dispersed islands, surrounded by an Exclusive Economic Zone EEZ of 1.8 million square kilometres.

The Cook Islands form two main island groups; the Southern Group of Rarotonga, Aituki, Atiu, Mangaia, Manuae, Mauke, Mitiaro, Palmerston and Takutea and the Northern Group of Manihiki, Nassau, Penrhyn, Pukapuka, Pakahanga and Suwarrow.

The Islands of the Southern Group differ widely in form, structure and relief, which makes it difficult to deduce a generalised geological history that is consistent for the whole group (Wood and Hay, 1970). However, the group include a high mountainous island of Rarotonga, four raised coral islands with volcanic cores (Mangaia, Mauke, Mitiaro and Atiu) one atoll (Manuae) one near atoll with a volcanic core (Aitutaki), and a sand-cay on a coral foundation (Takutea). Several of the islands are isolated submarine mountains, but those between Aitutaki and Mauke form a distinct chain that trends northwest parallel such as the Austral Group to the southeast (Wood and Hay, 1970).

The Northern Group consist of atolls, with one exception, Nassau that is a sand cay on a coral reef foundation. These islands are widely scattered and their surrounding bathymetry shows that some are parts of submarine ranges of volcanic mountains, and others are summits of single volcanic cones rising some 15 000 to 22 000 ft above the ocean bed (Wood and Hay, 1970).

The main sources of drinking water in the volcanic Southern Group of islands are the freshwater lens and catchment of rainwater. The Southern Group has an assured supply of good-quality drinking water. The main source of drinking water in the Northern atolls is rainwater collected in tanks and cisterns. The groundwater resource in the Northern Group is fragile and prone to contamination from human waste and saltwater intrusion. Water supply in the main island of Rarotonga is not presently a major problem (www.sopac.org.fj/Secretariat/Programmes/H2O/member.html#Cooks). The population of Rarotonga uses water catchments in the mountainous interior of the island as their predominant water source.

The Cook Islands’ EEZ has potential for deep-sea mining, with mineral potential discovered in the form of manganese nodules. Mineral potential on-land is not yet known.

The Cook Islands’ climate is tropical and moderated by trade winds. The country experiences two distinct seasons: the dry months from April to November and the wetter humid months from December to March. Natural hazards threaten the Cook Islands in the form of cyclones, storm surge, drought, coastal flooding, river flooding, tsunamis, earthquakes and landslides.

The total population of the Cook Islands stood at 18,027 in 2001. Estimates suggest that the population decreased to 17,800 in mid 2003 (www.spc.org.nc). Cook Islanders are originally Polynesians with close ethnic ties to the indigenous populations of Tahiti and the New Zealand Maori.

The Cook Islands’ economy is one of the strongest in the South Pacific. In 2001, the country’s Gross Domestic Product per capita reached an unprecedented level of NZ$ 10,156 (www.mefem.gov.ck/CISO/Economic). The strength of the Cook Islands’ economy derives from its thriving tourism, pearl, marine resource, agriculture and offshore banking industries. Tourism remains the country’s highest income earner, followed by the pearl and agriculture sectors. The economy is also supported by foreign aid from New Zealand, with whom the Cook Islands has a free association.