Cook Islands.

The Cook Islands is a nation of self-governing islands in the South Pacific that operates in free association with New Zealand. This means that while the Cook Islands remains a free, independent state, New Zealand acts on the Cook Islands' behalf in certain governmental matters, including foreign affairs and national defense. This is due to the Cook Islands' small population. The total population of the Cook Islands in 2016 was variously estimated to be between 9,500 and 21,000 people. These discrepancies may reflect, in part, the large population of New Zealanders who still identify as Cook Islanders. In 2016, 58,000 New Zealanders self-identified as being of Cook Islander heritage, more than twice the population of the Cook Islands itself. The islands are very small and consist of a land mass of only 91 square miles. However, the 15 islands are spread out over a large area of ocean the size of India. The Cook Islands lacks many natural resources, and its economy is dependent upon tourism and offshore banking as a result. Global location of the Cook Islands. By TUBS [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons Sunset from Akaiami, Cook islands By Robert Young (Flickr: Sunset from Akaiami) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons