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, but distinct from, New Zealand Māori. Cook Islands Māori is called just Māori when there i ...

) is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

and district in the north of the island of

Rarotonga Rarotonga is the largest and most populous of the Cook Islands. The island is volcanic, with an area of , and is home to almost 75% of the country's population, with 10,898 of a total population of 15,040. The Parliament of the Cook Islands, Coo ...

, and is the national

capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

of the

Cook Islands The Cook Islands is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of 15 islands whose total land area is approximately . The Cook Islands' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers of ocean. Avarua is its ...

. The town is served by

Rarotonga International Airport Rarotonga International Airport () is the Cook Islands' main international gateway, located in the town and district of Avarua, Rarotonga, west of the downtown area on the northern coast. Originally built in 1944, the airport was expanded in ...

(

IATA Airport Code An IATA airport code, also known as an IATA location identifier, IATA station code, or simply a location identifier, is a unique three-letter geocode designating many airports, cities (with one or more airports) and metropolitan areas (citie ...

: RAR) and Avatiu Harbour. The population of Avarua District is 4,906 (

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2016).

Sub-districts

The district of Avarua is subdivided into 19

tapere A Tapere or Sub-District is a low level of traditional land subdivision on five of the Southern Cook Islands (Rarotonga, Mangaia, Aitutaki, Atiu, and Mauke), comparable to the ahupua'a of the main Hawaiian Islands or to the kousapw of Pohnpei. ...

(traditional sub-districts) out of 54 for Rarotonga, grouped into 6 Census Districts, listed from west to east.

Census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

figures are not available on the tapere level, but only for the so-called Census Districts, also listed from west to east: # Nikao-Panama (1,373 inhabitants), covering the taperes of: ## Pokoinu, ##

Nikao Nikao is a village settlement on Rarotonga in the Cook Islands. It is located on the north coast to the west of the capital Avarua. Nikao is the home of the Parliament of the Cook Islands, Tereora College (the oldest secondary school), Nikao's ...

(seat of Cook Islands parliament), and ## Puapuautu; # Avatiu-Ruatonga (951 inhabitants), covering the taperes of: ## Areanu, ## Kaikaveka, ## Atupa, ##

Avatiu Avatiu is a settlement on Rarotonga in the Cook Islands. It is located on the north coast to the west of the capital Avarua and is the location of Rarotonga's main port. Notable buildings include a Mormon church and a family history centre and ...

(commercial port), and ## Ruatonga; # Tutakimoa-Teotue (314 inhabitants), covering the tapere of: ## Tutakimoa; # Takuvaine-Parekura (786 inhabitants), covering the taperes of: ## Tauae ## Takuvaine (

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...

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 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 southeast Florida, United States ...

(''Af'') according to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

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.

Sister cities

On 7 June 2024, Prime Minister Mark Brown of the Cook Islands and

Tou Travel Ariki Travel Tou Ariki is a Cook Islands high chief (''ariki'') from Mitiaro. He is currently Kaumaiti Nui (president) of the House of Ariki The House of Ariki () is a parliamentary body in the Cook Islands. It is composed of Cook Islands high chie ...

, President of the House of Ariki, signed a

sister city A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inte ...

agreement between Avarua, Rarotonga, and

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

, Hawaii.

References

External links

*
Photo of Government Radio Station Rarotonga c1950
{{Authority control Capitals in Oceania Districts of the Cook Islands Populated places in the Cook Islands Rarotonga