Avarua (meaning "Two Harbours" in
Cook Islands Māori
Cook Islands Māori is an Eastern Polynesian language that is the official language of the Cook Islands. Cook Islands Māori is closely related to New Zealand Māori, but is a distinct language in its own right. Cook Islands Māori is simply ...
) is a
town
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The word "town" shares an o ...
and district in the north of the island of
Rarotonga, and is the national
capital
Capital may refer to:
Common uses
* Capital city, a municipality of primary status
** List of national capital cities
* Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences
* Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used fo ...
of the
Cook Islands
)
, image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg
, capital = Avarua
, coordinates =
, largest_city = Avarua
, official_languages =
, lan ...
.
The town is served by
Rarotonga International Airport (
IATA Airport Code: RAR) and Avatiu Harbour.
The population of Avarua District is 4,906 (
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...
of 2016).
Sub-districts
The district of Avarua is subdivided into 19
tapere (traditional sub-districts) out of 54 for Rarotonga, grouped into 6 Census Districts, listed from west to east.
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...
figures are not available on the tapere level, but only for the so-called Census Districts, also listed from west to east:
[P.H. Curson: "Population Change in the Cook Islands - The 1966 Population Census". In: ''New Zealand Geographer'', Vol. 28, 1972, pp. 51-65, map p.52]
# Nikao-Panama (1,373 inhabitants), covering the taperes of:
## Pokoinu,
##
Nikao (seat of Cook Islands parliament), and
## Puapuautu;
# Avatiu-Ruatonga (951 inhabitants), covering the taperes of:
## Areanu,
## Kaikaveka,
## Atupa,
##
Avatiu (commercial port), and
## Ruatonga;
# Tutakimoa-Teotue (314 inhabitants), covering the tapere of:
## Tutakimoa;
# Takuvaine-Parekura (786 inhabitants), covering the taperes of:
## Tauae
## Takuvaine (
downtown Avarua, seat of Cook Islands government, with Avarua fishing harbour)
# Tupapa-Maraerenga (531 inhabitants), covering the taperes of:
## Ngatipa, and
## Vaikai;
# Pue-Matavera (1,490 inhabitants), covering the taperes of:
## Tapae-I-Uta,
## Tapae
## Pue,
## Punamaia,
## Kiikii, and
## Tupapa.
Climate
Avarua has a
tropical rainforest climate
A tropical rainforest climate, humid tropical climate or equatorial climate is a tropical climate sub-type usually found within 10 to 15 degrees latitude of the equator. There are some other areas at higher latitudes, such as the coast of southe ...
(''Af'') according to the
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...
with high temperatures and rainfall throughout the year.
[Climate Avarua]
Climate-Data.org Although there are no true wet or dry seasons, there is a noticeably wetter stretch from December to April.
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Capitals in Oceania
Districts of the Cook Islands
Populated places in the Cook Islands
Rarotonga