Editing Rarotonga

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}}
{{Short description|Island of the Cook Islands}}
{{other uses}}
{{Infobox Islands
| name          = Rarotonga
| native_name   = 
| image_name    = Rarotonga Island.jpg
| image_size    = 300px
| image_caption = NASA satellite image of Rarotonga
| image_alt     =
| map= Cook Islands#Oceania#Pacific Ocean
| area_km2      = 67.39
| elevation_ft   = 2139
| highest_mount = [[Te Manga]]
| location      = [[Pacific Ocean|Central-Southern Pacific Ocean]]
| coordinates   = {{coord|21|14|6|S|159|46|41|W|region:CK_type:isle_dim:20km|display=ti}}
| archipelago   = [[Cook Islands]]
| total_islands = 
| major_islands = Motutapu, Oneroa, Koromiri, Taakoka
| country       = {{flag|Cook Islands|name}}
| country_admin_divisions_title = 
| country_admin_divisions       = 
| country_largest_city = [[Avarua]]
| country_largest_city_population = 4,906
| demonym       = Rarotongan
| population    = 13,007<ref name="Census2016"/>
| density_km2       = 
| ethnic_groups = 
}}
'''Rarotonga''' is the largest and most populous of the [[Cook Islands]]. The island is volcanic, with an area of {{convert|67.39|km2|abbr=on}}, and is home to almost 75% of the country's population, with 10,898 of a total population of 15,040.<ref>{{Cite web |title=2021 Census of Population and Dwellings {{!}} Cook Islands Statistics Office |url=https://stats.gov.ck/2021-census-of-population-and-dwellings/ |access-date=2023-10-26 |language=en-US}}</ref> The [[Parliament of the Cook Islands|Cook Islands' Parliament]] buildings and [[Rarotonga International Airport|international airport]] are on Rarotonga. Rarotonga is a popular tourist destination with many resorts, hotels and motels. The chief town, [[Avarua]], on the north coast, is the capital of the Cook Islands.

Captain [[John Dibbs]], master of the colonial brig ''Endeavour'', is credited as the European discoverer on 25 July 1823, while transporting the missionary Reverend [[John Williams (missionary)|John Williams]].

== Geography ==
{{wide image|Panorama Rarotonga.jpg|900px|Rarotonga from the north}}
Rarotonga is a kidney-shaped [[volcanic island]], {{cvt|32|km}} in circumference, and {{cvt|11.2|km}} wide on its longest (east-west) axis.<ref name="Kloosterman" /> The island is the summit of an extinct [[Pliocene]] or [[Pleistocene]] volcano, which rises {{convert|5000|m|abbr=off}} from the seafloor.<ref name="ThompsonMalpasSmith2010">{{cite journal |title=Volcanic geology of Rarotonga, southern Pacific Ocean |last1=Thompson |first1=G. M. |last2=Malpas  |first2=J. |last3=Smith |first3=Ian E. M. |journal=New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics |volume=41 |issue=1 |date=1998 |page=95–104 |doi=10.1080/00288306.1998.9514793|doi-access=free }}</ref> The island was formed between 2.3 to 1.6 million years ago, with a later stage of volcanism between 1.4 and 1.1 million years ago.<ref name="ThompsonMalpasSmith2010" /> While its position is consistent with being formed by the [[Macdonald hotspot]], its age is too young, and its formation is attributed to a short-lived [[Rarotonga hotspot]],<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/246793352 |last1=Clouard |first1=Valérie |last2=Bonneville |first2=Alain |title=How many Pacific hotspots are fed by deep-mantle plumes? |journal=Geology |date=2001 |volume=29 |issue=8 |page=695–698 |doi=10.1130/0091-7613(2001)029<0695:HMPHAF>2.0.CO;2  |language=en |issn=0091-7613 |bibcode=2001Geo....29..695C }}</ref> or to rejuvenated volcanism at [[Aitutaki]].<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://academic.oup.com/petrology/article/61/3/egaa037/5781968 |title=Contrasting Old and Young Volcanism from Aitutaki, Cook Islands: Implications for the Origins of the Cook–Austral Volcanic Chain |last1=Jackson |first1=M G |last2=Halldórsson |first2=S A |last3=Price |first3=a |last4=Kurz |first4=M D |last5=Konter |first5=J G |last6=Koppers |first6=a A P |last7=Day |first7=J M D |journal=Journal of Petrology |volume=61 |issue=3 |date=5 March 2020 |doi=10.1093/petrology/egaa037|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

The core of the island consists of densely forested hills cut by deep valleys, the eroded remnants of the original volcanic cone.<ref name="Wood1967">{{cite journal |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00288306.1967.10423227 |title=Geology of the Cook Islands |author=B. L. Wood |journal= New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics |volume=10 |issue=6 |pages=1431–1434 |date=1967 |doi=10.1080/00288306.1967.10423227 |access-date=10 July 2020|doi-access=free }}</ref> The hills are drained by a number of radial streams, including the [[Avatiu Stream]] and Takuvaine Stream.<ref name="Wood1967" /> [[Te Manga]], at 658&nbsp;m (2,140&nbsp;ft) above sea level, is the highest peak on the island. [[Ikurangi]], a smaller peak, overlooks the capital.

The hills are surrounded by a low coastal plain consisting of beaches, a storm ridge, lowland swamps, and alluvial deposits.<ref name="Richmond1990">{{cite web |url=https://pacificdata.org/data/publications/coastal-morphology-of-rarotonga-cook-islands/resource/c256331d-9051-4e13-a0e3-e62f3be59cf1 |title=CCOP/SOPAC Technical Report 65: Coastal morphology of Rarotonga, Cook Islands |last=Richmond |first=Bruce M |publisher=South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission |date=1990 |access-date=10 July 2021}}</ref>{{rp|9}} This in turn is surrounded by a [[fringing reef]], which ranges from {{convert|30| to |900|metres|abbr=off}} wide.<ref name="Richmond1990" />{{rp|30}} The reef is shallow, with a maximum depth of {{cvt|1.5|m|ft}},<ref name="Richmond1990" />{{rp|31}} and has a number of passages, notably at [[Avarua]], [[Avatiu]] and Ngatangiia. Beyond the reef crest, the outer reef slopes steeply to deep water.<ref name="Richmond1990" />{{rp|31}} 

The [[lagoon]] is at its widest off the southeast coast in the area of the [[Muri Lagoon]]. This area contains four small islets or ''motu''. From north to south, the islets are:<ref>{{cite web |url=https://pacific-data.sprep.org/system/files/TR0181.pdf |title=SOPAC Technical Report 181: Bathymetry and sediments of Ngatangiia Harbour and Muri Lagoon, Rarotonga, Cook Islands |last=Collins |first=William T |publisher=South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission |date=1993 |access-date=10 July 2021}}</ref>
#[[Motutapu (Cook Islands)|Motutapu]], {{convert|10.5|ha|acre|abbr=off}}
#Oneroa, {{convert|8.1|ha|acre|abbr=off}}
#Koromiri, {{convert|2.9|ha|acre|abbr=off}}
#Taakoka, {{convert|1.3|ha|acre|abbr=off}}

Another small islet, Motutoa, lies on the reef flat on the northwest coast.<ref name="Richmond1990" />{{rp|33}}

==Natural environment==
The interior of the island is dominated by eroded volcanic peaks cloaked in dense vegetation. Paved and unpaved roads allow access to valleys but the interior of the island remains largely unpopulated due to forbidding terrain and lack of infrastructure.

===Takitumu Conservation Area===
A tract of {{cvt|155|ha}} of land has been set aside in the south-east as the Takitumu Conservation Area to protect [[List of birds of the Cook Islands|native birds]] and plants, especially the [[Vulnerable species|Vulnerable]] [[Rarotonga monarch|kakerori]] or Rarotonga monarch. Other [[threatened species|threatened]] birds in the conservation area include the [[Rarotonga fruit dove]] and [[Rarotonga starling]]. The site has been recognised as an [[Important Bird Area]] (IBA) by [[BirdLife International]].<ref name="bli">{{cite web |url=http://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/takitumu-conservation-area-rarotonga-iba-cook-islands|title= Takitumu Conservation Area, Rarotonga|author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2021|website= BirdLife Data Zone|publisher= BirdLife International|access-date= 8 March 2021}}</ref>

==History==
{{main|History of the Cook Islands}}

{{further|Kingdom of Rarotonga}}
The earliest evidence of human presence in the Southern Cook Islands has been dated to around AD 1000. Oral tradition tells that Rarotonga was settled by various groups, including Ata-i-te-kura, Apopo-te-akatinatina and Apopo-te-ivi-roa in the ninth century, and Tangi'ia Nui from Tahiti and Karika from Samoa in 1250.<ref name="Kloosterman">{{cite book |title=Discoverers Of The Cook Islands And The Names They Gave|url=http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-KloDisc-t1-body-d13.html |date=1976 |author=Alphons M.J. Kloosterman |pages=44–47}}</ref> An early ''ariki'', Toi, is said to have built ''Te Ara Nui o Toi'' or ''Ara Metua'', a paved road that encircles the island, though the sites adjacent to it are dated to 1530.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document//Volume_111_2002/Volume_111%2C_No._2/Ritual_landscape_in_late_pre-contact_Rarotonga%3A_A_brief_reading%2C_by_Matthew_Campbell%2C_p_147-170/p1 |title=Ritual landscape in late pre-contact Rarotonga: a brief reading |author=Matthew Campbell |journal=Journal of the Polynesian Society |volume=111 |issue=2 |date=2002 |pages=147–170 |access-date=18 August 2020}}</ref> Trading contact was maintained with the Austral Islands, Samoa and the Marquesas to import basalt that was used for making local adze heads,<ref>{{cite journal |title=Cook Island artifact geochemistry demonstrates spatial and temporal extent of pre-European interarchipelago voyaging in East Polynesia |last1=Weisler |first1=Marshall I. |last2=Bolhar |first2=Robert |last3=Ma |first3=Jinlong |last4=St Pierre |first4=Emma |last5=Sheppard |first5=Peter |last6=walter |first6=Richard K. |last7=Feng |first7=Yuexing |last8=Zhao |first8=Jian-xin |last9=Kirch |first9=Patrick V. |display-authors=3 |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=113 |issue=29 |date=5 July 2016 |pages = 8150–8155|doi=10.1073/pnas.1608130113 |pmid = 27382159|pmc = 4961153|bibcode=2016PNAS..113.8150W |doi-access=free }}</ref> while a pottery fragment found on Ma'uke has been traced to [[Tongatapu]] to the west, the main island of Tonga.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document//Volume_98_1989/Volume_98%2C_No._4/A_ceramic_sherd_from_Ma%26apos%3Buke_in_the_Southern_Cook_Islands%2C_by_R._Walter%2C_p_465-470/p1 |title=A ceramic sherd from Ma'uke in the Southern Cook Islands |author1=Richard Walter |author2=W.R. Dickinson |journal=The Journal of the Polynesian Society |volume=98 |issue=4 |pages=465–470 |date=1989 |access-date=6 August 2020}}</ref> The ultimate origin of almost all the islanders’ settlement cargo can be traced back to Southeast Asia: not just their chickens, Pacific rats, Polynesian pigs, Pacific dogs and crops, but also several kinds of lizards and snails. Among the species that are understood to have reached Rarotonga by this means are at least two species of geckos and three of skinks. Likewise, the ultimate origin of almost 30 of their crops lies in the west.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Crowe |first1=Andrew |title=Pathway of the Birds: The Voyaging Achievements of Māori and their Polynesian Ancestors |page=122 |year=2018 |publisher=Bateman |location=Auckland, New Zealand |isbn=9781869539610}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=June 2019|reason=Popular science, non-expert author}}[[File:CookIslands-Rarotonga-TeManga-mgl20030609-01.jpg|thumb|[[Te Manga]] is the highest mountain on Rarotonga and [[Cook Islands]] ]]

According to New Zealand [[Māori people|Māori]] tradition, [[Kupe]], the discoverer of [[Aotearoa]], visited Rarotonga, and the [[Māori migration canoes]] ''[[Tākitimu]], [[Arawa (canoe)|Te Arawa]], [[Tainui (canoe)|Tainui]], [[Mātaatua]], [[Tokomaru (canoe)|Tokomaru]], [[Aotea (canoe)|Aotea]]'', and ''[[Kurahaupō]]'' passed through on their way to Aotearoa.<ref name=Kloosterman/> 

[[Fletcher Christian]] visited the island in 1789 on {{HMS|Bounty}} but did not land.<ref name=Kloosterman/> Captain Theodore Walker sighted the island in 1813 on the ship ''Endeavour''. The first recorded landing by a European was Captain Philip Goodenough with [[William Wentworth]] in 1814 on the schooner ''Cumberland''.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Coppell |first=W. G. |date=1973 |title=About the Cook Islands. Their Nomenclature and a Systematic Statement of Early European contacts |url=http://www.persee.fr/doc/jso_0300-953x_1973_num_29_38_2410 |journal=Journal de la Société des océanistes |volume=29 |issue=38 |pages=43 |doi=10.3406/jso.1973.2410 |access-date=18 January 2018 }}</ref> On 25 July 1823,  while transporting the missionary Reverend [[John Williams (missionary)|John Williams]], the ''Endeavour'' returned to Rarotonga. [[Papeiha]], a [[London Missionary Society]] evangelist from [[Bora Bora]], went ashore to teach his religion.<ref name=Kloosterman/> Further missionaries followed, and by 1830 the island had converted to Christianity.[[File:"RARATONGA National Flag" (Rarotonga) in 1899 according to the United States Navy, from book- Flags of Maritime Nations (1899) (page 117 crop).jpg|thumb|"RARATONGA [<nowiki/>[[Typographical error|sic]]] National Flag" (Rarotonga) in 1899 publication by the [[United States Navy]] book, ''[[c:File:Flags_of_Maritime_Nations_(1899).djvu|Flags of Maritime Nations]]''|left|190x190px]]From 1830 to 1850, Rarotonga was a popular stop for whalers and trading schooners,<ref name=Kloosterman/> and trade began with the outside world. The missionaries attempted to exclude other Europeans as a bad influence, and in 1845 Rarotongan ''ariki'' prohibited the sale of land to Europeans, though they were allowed to rent land on an annual basis.<ref name=Gilson>{{cite book |title=The Cook Islands, 1820–1950 |author=Richard Phillip Gilson |editor=Ron Crocombe |publisher=Victoria University press |location=Wellington |date=1980 |pages=41–43}}</ref> Despite a further ban on foreign settlement in 1848, European traders began to settle. In 1865, driven by rumours that France planned to annex the islands, the ''ariki'' of Rarotonga unsuccessfully petitioned Governor [[George Grey]] of New Zealand for British protection.<ref name=Gilson/> In 1883 the Royal navy ''de facto'' recognised the ''ariki'' of Rarotonga as an independent government.<ref name=Gilson50>Gilson (1980), p. 50</ref> By this time [[Makea Takau Ariki]] had become paramount among the ''ariki'', and was recognised as the "Queen of Rarotonga" on a visit to New Zealand.<ref name=Gilson50/> In 1888 the island became a British protectorate after a petition from the ''ariki''.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH18881203.2.63.21 |title=Protectorate Over the Cook's Group: The official ceremony performed |work=New Zealand Herald |volume=XXV |issue=9227 |page=11 |date=3 December 1888 |access-date=20 August 2020 |via=Papers Past}}</ref> In 1901, it was annexed by New Zealand.[[File:Avarua, february 2006.jpg|thumb|[[Avarua]] is the most populous centre on Rarotonga]]Oranges had been introduced by the ''Bounty'' mutineers, and after annexation developed into a major export crop, though exports had been disrupted by poor shipping.<ref name=Johnston1951>{{cite journal |last=Johnston |first=W. B. |title=The Citrus Industry of the Cook Islands |journal=New Zealand Geographer |volume=7 |issue=2 |page=121–138 |date=1951 |doi=10.1111/j.1745-7939.1951.tb01760.x}}</ref> In 1945 the industry was revived with a government-led citrus replanting scheme,<ref>{{cite thesis |url=http://hdl.handle.net/10179/13651 |title=A study of a development scheme in a Polynesian community : the citrus replanting scheme on Atiu, Cook Islands |first=Brian John |last=Menzies |publisher=Massey University |date=1970 |type=MA |page=60–62 |hdl=10179/13651 |accessdate=8 February 2021}}</ref> and in 1961 a canning factory was opened to allow the export of juice.<ref>{{cite book |title=Australia and New Zealand: Citrus Producers and Markets in the Southern Hemisphere |author=Joseph Henry Burke |publisher=U.S. Department of Agriculture |year=1963 |page=38}}</ref><ref name=CIB1>{{cite web |url=http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org/species.asp?id=5945 |title=Sweet Orange |publisher=Cook Islands Biodiversity |date= |access-date=24 July 2021}}</ref> The industry survived until the 1980s,<ref name=CIB1/> but collapsed after New Zealand adopted [[Rogernomics]] and removed privileged market access.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/in-search-of-the-cook-islands-2/ |title=In search of the Cook Islands |author=Mark Scott |publisher=New Zealand Geographic |date=1991 |access-date=16 February 2021}}</ref>

An airstrip was built in 1944, leading to regular flights to [[Fiji]], [[Tonga]], [[Samoa]] and [[Aitutaki]].<ref name=Kloosterman/> The airport and better shipping links saw the beginnings of large-scale migration to New Zealand.<ref name=Curson1972>{{cite thesis |url=https://eprints.utas.edu.au/19418/1/whole_CursonPeterHayden1972_thesis.pdf |title="COOK ISLANDERS IN TOWN" A STUDY OF COOK ISLAND URBANISATION |last=Curson |first=Peter Hayden |publisher=University of Tasmania |date=1972 |type=PhD |page=38–40 |access-date=24 July 2021}}</ref> Emigration increased further in the early 1970's when the airport was upgraded,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/cook-islanders/page-1 |title=Cook Islanders – Migration |author=Carl Walrond |publisher=Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand |date=8 February 2005 |access-date=24 July 2021}}</ref> but this was balanced by immigration from elsewhere in the Cook Islands.<ref name=Curson1972/>{{rp|48–49}}<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document/Volume_70_1961/Volume_70%2C_No._1/A_note_on_population_movements_in_the_Cook_Islands%2C_by_R._Gerard_Ward%2C_p_1-10/p1 |title=A note on population movements in the Cook Islands |last=Ward |first=R. Gerard |journal=Journal of the Polynesian Society |volume=70 |issue=1 |page=1–10 |date=1961 |access-date=24 July 2021}}</ref>

Flooding in April and May 1967 damaged bridges on the island and caused widespread crop losses, raising risks of a food shortage.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-326773715/view?sectionId=nla.obj-335437781 |title=Food shortage may follow RAROTONGA FLOODS PLAY HAVOC WITH FOOD CROPS |author=W. H. Perceval |work=Pacific Islands Monthly |volume=38 |issue=7 |date=1 July 1967 |page=75 |access-date=24 July 2021 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> An unnamed tropical cyclone in December of that year left hundreds homeless and caused widespread devastation after demolishing homes and offices in Avarua.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/107038110 |title=Hurricane lashes Cook Is. group |work=Canberra Times |date=20 December 1967 |page=10 |access-date=24 July 2021 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-341925396/view?sectionId=nla.obj-345556246 |title=Devastating hurricane lashes the Cook Islands |author=W. H. Perceval |work=Pacific Islands Monthly |volume=39 |issue=1 |date=1 January 1968 |page=22–23 |access-date=24 July 2021 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> In December 1976 80% of the island's banana crop was destroyed by [[1976–77 South Pacific cyclone season|tropical cyclone Kim]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/250574493 |title=Lashes Island |work= Papua New Guinea Post-Courier |date=15 December 1976 |page=6 |access-date=24 July 2021 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> In January 1987 Tropical Cyclone Sally made a thousand people homeless and damaged 80% of the buildings in Avarua.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/119473324 |title=Sally's $35m trail |work=Canberra Times |date=5 January 1987 |page=5 |access-date=24 July 2021 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://apnews.com/article/ca87ca58b7a457508071efb0b8f8f80d |title=Hurricane Sally, "Worst in Memory," Leaves Island Devastated |publisher=AP |date=5 January 1987 |access-date=24 July 2021}}</ref>

==Demographics and settlements==
{{Historical populations
|1906 |2441
|1916 |3064
|1926 |3936
|1936 |5054
|1945 |5573
|1951 |6048
|1961 |8676
|1966 |9971
|1971 |11478
|1976 |9802
|1981 |9530
|1986 |9826
|1996 |11225
|2001 |12188
|2006 |13890
|2011 |13095
|2016 |13007
|footnote=Source:<ref name="Census2016">{{cite web |url=http://www.mfem.gov.ck/images/documents/Statistics_Docs/5.Census-Surveys/6.Population-and-Dwelling_2016/2016_CENSUS_REPORT-FINAL.pdf |title=Cook Islands 2016 Census Main Report |date=2018 |access-date=10 July 2021 |publisher=Cook Islands Statistical Office}}</ref>
}}
[[File:Rarotonga english version.png|thumb|Tribal districts (''vaka'') of Rarotonga]]
[[File:Rarotaperedistrict.png|thumb|Land districts and [[tapere]] of Rarotonga]]

The population of Rarotonga was 13007 in 2016.<ref name="Census2016"/>

The island is traditionally divided into three tribal districts or ''vaka''. Te Au O Tonga on the northern side of the island ([[Avarua]] is the capital), [[Tākitimu|Takitumu]] on the eastern and southern side and Puaikura on the western side. For administrative purposes it is divided into five Land Districts. The Land District of [[Avarua]] is represented under vaka Te Au O Tonga, the Land Districts of [[Matavera]], [[Ngatangiia]] and [[Titikaveka]] are represented under vaka Takitumu and the Land District [[Arorangi]] is represented under vaka Puaikura. The districts are subdivided into 54 [[tapere]] (traditional sub-districts).

In 2008, the three vaka councils of Rarotonga were abolished.<ref>{{cite web| title=Cook Islands govt abolishes Rarotonga Vaka councils |date=2007 |url=http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/173220/cook-islands-govt-abolishes-rarotonga-vaka-councils |access-date=1 September 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Statoids: Cook Islands |url=http://www.statoids.com/uck.html|access-date=1 September 2015}}</ref>

== Area attractions ==
Palm-studded white sandy [[beach]]es fringe most of the island, and there is a popular cross-island walk that connects Avatiu valley with the south side of the island. It passes the Te Rua Manga, the prominent needle-shaped rock visible from the air and some coastal areas. Hikes can also be taken to the Raemaru, or flat-top mountain. Other attractions include Wigmore Falls (Papua Falls) and the ancient [[marae]], Arai te Tonga.

Popular island activities include [[snorkeling]], [[scuba diving]], bike riding, kite surfing, hiking, deep-sea fishing, boat tours, scenic flights, going to restaurants, dancing, seeing island shows, [[squash (sport)|squash]], tennis, zipping around on mopeds, and sleeping on the beach. There are many churches open for service on Sunday, with [[a cappella]] singing. People congregate at the sea wall that skirts the end of the airport's runway to be "jetblasted" by aircraft.<ref>{{Cite news|author=Vaimoana Tapaleo|date=3 July 2015|title=Tourists hurt by Air New Zealand jet blast in Rarotonga|work=[[The New Zealand Herald]]|url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11475500|access-date=12 May 2020|issn=1170-0777}}</ref>

== Transport ==
[[File:Rarodistrict.jpg|thumbnail|Map of Rarotonga's districts|left|190x190px]]
Rarotonga has three harbours, [[Avatiu]], Avarua and Avana, of which only Avatiu harbour is of [[commerce|commercial]] significance. The Port of Avatiu serves a small fleet of inter-island and fishing vessels, with cargo ships regularly visiting from [[New Zealand]] via other Pacific Islands ports. Large cruise ships regularly visit Rarotonga but the port is too small for cruise ships to enter and they are required to anchor off shore outside the harbour. The island is encircled by a main road, Ara Tapu, that traces the coast. Three-quarters of Rarotonga is also encircled by the ancient inner road, Ara Metua. Approximately {{cvt|29|km}} long, this road was constructed in 11th century and for most or all of its whole length was paved with large stone slabs. Along this road are several important marae, including Arai Te Tonga, the most sacred shrine in Rarotonga. Due to the mountainous interior, there is no road crossing the island. Rarotonga has only two bus routes: clockwise and anticlockwise.<ref>[http://www.sokalavillas.com/info_bus_taxi_X.htm Bus & Taxis / Sokala Villas, Muri Beach, Rarotonga, Cook Islands]</ref> The clockwise bus runs from morning operating an hourly schedule until a last service at 11pm. The anti-clockwise route leaves Avarua on the half-hour, with the last service at 4.30 pm. Although there are bus stops, the buses pick up and set down anywhere en route.

[[Rarotonga International Airport]] is the international airport of the Cook Islands.

== Popular culture ==
{{more citations needed section|date=February 2019}}
* The travel writer [[Robert Dean Frisbie]] died on the island, after having lived there only briefly.
* The 1995 album ''[[Finn (album)|Finn]]'' by the [[Finn Brothers]] ends with the song "Kiss the Road of Rarotonga", which was inspired by a motorcycle accident that [[Tim Finn]] had during a visit there.
* The U.S. television series ''[[Survivor: Cook Islands]]'' was filmed on Aitutaki, one of the islands in the southern group. One of the tribes was called Rarotonga (or Raro for short).
* A number of feature-length films are linked to Rarotonga: ''[[Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence]]'', depicting a Japanese POW camp for British prisoners in the island of [[Java]] in the year 1942, was filmed here, ''[[The Other Side of Heaven]]'', which is set in [[Niuatoputapu]], [[Tonga]], but was filmed in part on Rarotonga, and ''[[Johnny Lingo]]'' which was set here.
* In the 2008 film ''[[Nim's Island]]'', Rarotonga is portrayed as a waypoint for fictional adventure writer Alexandra Rover ([[Jodie Foster]]) on her journey from San Francisco to a South Pacific island.
* In 1951, Mexican writers [[Yolanda Vargas Dulché]] and Guillermo de la Parra wrote ''[[Rarotonga (comics)|Rarotonga]]'', a comic book whose plot unfolds on the island. The heroine of the story is called ''Zonga'', an enigmatic woman with superhuman powers. The comic inspired a Mexican movie filmed in 1978 and a song by the Mexican rock band [[Café Tacuba]].
* The 1948 film ''[[Another Shore]]'' has as its central character an Irish civil servant who fantasises about going to live on Rarotonga.
* Smooth Walker ([[Howard Hesseman]]) books a flight to Rarotonga in the 1983 film ''[[Doctor Detroit]]''.
* Former New Zealand cricket captain [[John Wright (cricketer, born 1954)|John Wright]]'s 1990 autobiography is titled ''Christmas in Rarotonga''.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/12/19/1071337157415.html|title=Cricket, the Wright way|author=Gideon Haigh|author-link=Gideon Haigh|work=[[The Age]]|date=20 December 2003|access-date=28 April 2018}}</ref>

== Gallery ==
<gallery widths="170">
File:Te Rua Manga (The Needle) lookout.jpg|Te Rua Manga (The Needle) lookout
File:Te Rua Manga (7189164097).jpg|Te Rua Manga (The Needle)
File:CICC CHURCH IN AVARUA, RAROTONGA, COOK ISLANDS.jpg|[[Cook Islands Christian Church]] (CICC) in [[Avarua]]
</gallery>

==See also==
*[[Auparu]] – in Cook Islands mythology, Auparu ("gentle dew") is a stream in Rarotonga, the bathing-place of nymphs or fairies.
*[[Nukutere College]] – the country's only Roman Catholic secondary school
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Rarotonga]]
*[[Treaty of Rarotonga]] – 1985 South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Wikivoyage|Rarotonga}}
*{{Commons category-inline|Rarotonga}}
* [http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-CroLan-c6-1.html History of districts and villages]
* [http://www.nzetc.org/etexts/CroLan/CroLan-002.jpg Original Tapere subdivision of Rarotonga]

{{Cook Islands}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Rarotonga| ]]
[[Category:Islands of the Cook Islands]]
[[Category:Important Bird Areas of the Cook Islands]]