Cook Islands Colonial Records

European Influence and British Colonization (18th century-20th century)
During the 16th-18th century, the Cook Islands were mapped and given various names by Spanish, Portuguese, and British explorers. They appear to have first been named the Cook Islands (after the British navigator James Cook), by the Russians in the 1820s. Christian missionaries from England were among the first European settlers in the Cook Islands, arriving in 1821. In 1881, the Cook Islands became a British protectorate, and in 1900 most of the islands were annexed by Great Britain. The islands were placed under the boundaries of the British colony of New Zealand in 1901. New Zealand granted the Cook Islands the right to self-govern themselves in 1965.