Important Bird Areas of the Cook Islands

Rarotonga (sometimes abbreviated Raro) is the largest and most populous island of the country of the Cook Islands. The island is volcanic, with an area of , and is home to 72% of the country's population, with 10,898 of a total population of 15,040. Avarua, on the north coast, is the location of the Parliament buildings and the capital of the Cook Islands. The country's international airport is also in Avarua, and Rarotonga is a popular tourist destination, with many resorts, hotels and motels.

Aitutaki, also traditionally known as Araura and Utataki, is the second most-populated island in the Cook Islands, after Rarotonga. It is an "almost atoll", with fifteen islets in a lagoon adjacent to the main island. Total land area is , and the lagoon has an area of between . A major tourist destination, Aitutaki is the second most visited island of the Cook Islands archipelago.

Mangaia (traditionally known as A'ua'u Enua, which means "terraced island") is the most southerly of the Cook Islands and the second largest, after Rarotonga. It is a roughly circular island, with an area of , from Rarotonga. Originally heavily populated, Mangaia's population has dropped by 75% in the last 50 years, mainly due to the decline of the pineapple industry in the 1980s and a subsequent economic crisis in 1996.

Ātiu, also known as ʻEnuamanu (meaning land of the birds), is an island of the Cook Islands archipelago, lying in the central-southern Pacific Ocean. Part of the Nga-pu-Toru, it is northeast of Rarotonga. The population of the island has dropped by two-thirds in the last 50 years.

Mitiʻāro, the fourth island in the Cook Islands group, is of volcanic origin. Standing in water deep it is across at its widest point.

thumb|200px|Map of Cook Islands with Suwarrow near the middle

thumb|right|NASA picture of Takutea Island thumb|right|Map of Takutea