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Cook Islands

(Encyclopedia)Cook Islands, island group (2015 est. pop. 17,000), 90 sq mi (234 sq km), S Pacific, SE of Samoa; a self-governing state in free association with New Zealand. It consists of 15 small islands and is co...

Cook, James

(Encyclopedia)Cook, James, 1728–79, English explorer and navigator. The son of a Yorkshire agricultural laborer, he had little formal education. After an apprenticeship to a firm of shipowners at Whitby, he joine...

Austral Islands

(Encyclopedia)Austral Islands ô´strl [key], volcanic island group (2002 pop. 6,386), South Pacific, part of French Polynesia. They are sometimes known as the Tubuai Islands. The group comprises seven islands, p...

Cook, Ebenezer

(Encyclopedia)Cook, Ebenezer, fl. 1708, American author. Virtually nothing is known about his life. He is the author of The Sot-Weed Factor (1708), a satirical poem concerning an Englishman's visit to Maryland. Sot...

Cook, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Cook, Thomas, 1808–92, English travel agent. In Leicester in 1841 he founded a travel agency under his name. The idea of the guided tour met with quick success, and by 1852 Cook had moved his office...

Cook, Mount

(Encyclopedia)Cook, Mount, New Zealand: see Aorangi, Mount.

Cook Strait

(Encyclopedia)Cook Strait, channel, c.15 mi (24 km) wide, between the North Island and the South Island, New Zealand. It was first explored in 1770 by Capt. James Cook.

Society Islands

(Encyclopedia)Society Islands, island group (2002 pop. 214,445), South Pacific, a part of French Polynesia. The group comprises the Windward Islands and the Leeward Islands (total land area c.650 sq mi/1,680 sq km)...

Queen Charlotte Islands

(Encyclopedia)Queen Charlotte Islands, archipelago of several large and many small islands, off the coast of W British Columbia, Canada. The main islands are Graham and Moresby. Masset on Graham Island is the main ...

Penrhyn

(Encyclopedia)Penrhyn: see Cook Islands.