Cook Islands at the 2008 Summer Olympics events (with the exception of weightlifting, where the first round was the only round) and did not go on to win medals. Pera was the nation's flag bearer at the ceremonies. The Cook Islands are a collection of fifteen islands lying in the South Pacific Ocean that are governed under a single parliamentary entity. Some 10,000 people live in the dependency. The country is in a free association with New Zealand, who handles the nation's external affairs. The Cook Islands became self-governing in 1965. 23 years later, the Cook Islands sent their first delegation to the Olympics at the 1988
Elections in the Cook Islands Elections in the Cook Islands Elections in the Cook Islands gives information on election and election results in the Cook Islands. The Cook Islands elects on national level a legislature. The Parliament of the Cook Islands has 24 members, elected for a four-year term in single-seat constuencies. The Cook Islands have a two-party system, which means that there are two dominant political parties, with extreme difficulty for anybody to achieve electoral success under the banner of any other party. An election was held on 26 September 2006, after the opposition Cook Islands Party won a byelection in Matevera, leaving the