The Cook Islands are ‘a collection of 15 islets spread over 772,200 square miles (2m square kms) in the South Pacific. Cook Islanders hold New Zealand citizenship, thanks to their country’s “free association” arrangement with the former colonial master. The Cook Islands lost 12% of its population in the past 12 years, as young people seek greener pastures in New Zealand. Spending by tourists accounts for over 60% of the islands’ economy. Around 80% of the visitors (161,000 of them in 2017) are from New Zealand and Australia,’ (The Economist July 21st 2018, p.40, ‘The Cook Islands, A curse in disguise’, abridged).