Lying in the middle of the South Pacific 3000 km (1900 miles) from New Zealand, the Cook Islands are a combination of 24 coral atolls and volcanic islands. Achieving self-government in 1965, they have adopted a diversified economy focusing primarily on tourism and banking, but with significant trade in giant clams and pearls.

Depopulation is of serious concern as over 40,000 of the indigenous Maori population have migrated, seeing greater opportunities beyond the islands, and now live in New Zealand and Australia. This outflow of labor poses a serious problem for the islands' future development, although remittances to relatives form an important source of income.

The government, headed since 2002 by centrist Prime Minister Robert Woonton, is advised by a traditional council known as the House of Ariki. It is seeking a program of political reform including devolving administration to the outer islands and cutting back an expensive bureaucracy.