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
Women in the Cook Islands "pandanus" mats, purses, fans, and baskets. Women also practice the making of flower art in the form of creating necklaces known as the "ei" and tiaras known as the "ei katu". Women in the Cook Islands are also popular for specializing in creating jewelry using black pearls. Women in Rarotonga, the most populous island of the Cook Islands, won the right to vote in 1893, shortly after New Zealand. Women in the Cook Islands Women in the Cook Islands are women of the Oceanian region who live in or are from the Cook Islands, an island country in the South