What kind of country is the Cook Islands? What exactly is the difference?

What kind of country is the Cook Islands? What exactly is the difference?

The Cook Islands are also one of the most dispersed countries in the world. The so-called land dispersion refers to the ratio of a country’s maritime exclusive economic zone area to its land area. The Cook Islands consists of 15 islands, with a land area of ??only 240 square kilometers, but its marine exclusive economic zone covers an area of ??1.96 million hectares, which is 8,167 times its land area. Its land dispersion ranks fourth in the world.

The high degree of land dispersion in the Cook Islands also means that its marine resource development potential is huge. Because the name contains the word "islands", the Cook Islands are sometimes mistakenly thought to be just an "archipelago". In fact, the Cook Islands is a sovereign state, and its territorial scope is the Cook Islands.

The Cook Islands, with a total population of only 18,000, has no army and only more than 100 police officers. The Cook Islands remain a Commonwealth country, and its defense and foreign affairs are undertaken by New Zealand, but the latter must follow the former's recommendations and obtain its consent. In 1992, the Cook Islands' diplomatic consciousness was recognized by the United Nations, but it has not yet become a member of the United Nations. Currently, the Cook Islands has established diplomatic relations with more than 50 countries, including China, but has not established diplomatic relations with the United States.

There is no decent agriculture or industry in the Cook Islands. Only tourism has developed rapidly in recent years. In the past few years, this place relied mainly on international aid, and China also provided support here for infrastructure construction such as school bridges. Therefore, the people here are very friendly to Chinese tourists and have implemented a visa-free system. The number of tourists in the Cook Islands has reached 500,000, and the per capita daily consumption is more than 500 US dollars. Today, the Cook Islands has got rid of the history of relying on support, and the per capita GDP has reached 20,000 US dollars.

The tourism resources on the Cook Islands can be said to be unique. The islands here were formed by volcanic eruptions, and are surrounded by numerous natural lagoons. These lagoons are like swimming pools, with shallow and clear water. Visitors can even walk to another island through the lagoons. Swimming in the lagoon is a rare experience.

I have to say that there are also rich fish resources in the Cook Islands. Walking on the beach here, you can see coconut crabs strolling almost everywhere. When you go diving in the sea, you can encounter one or two plump sea cucumbers every two steps. However, for locals, lobsters and crabs are too troublesome to eat because of their shells, while sea cucumbers are ugly and unappetizing. Therefore, local people will only eat fish that look good.