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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Cook Islands Maori of French Polynesia

The Cook Islands Maori of French Polynesia, numbering approximately 1,800 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are described as a Polynesian ethnic group indigenous to Rarotonga, the largest and most populous of the Cook Islands They are an Diaspora people, with Maori as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Polynesian people cluster of the Pacific Islander Peoples. Their primary religion is Protestantism. They primarily speak Rarotongan.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Cook Islands Maori

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Pacific Islander Peoples
Country: French Polynesia
People Cluster: Polynesian
Primary Language(s): Rarotongan (rar)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 1,800
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG020283
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Pray for the Cook Islands Maori of French Polynesia

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

—
%
Protestantism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Rarotongan
Language Family: Austronesian

75%
%
Cook Islands Maori Speakers

Media Resources in Rarotongan:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Rarotongan:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Rarotongan bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Cook Islands Maori are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Next steps for the Cook Islands Maori:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Cook Islands Maori of French Polynesia

Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.
readMark 10:15

Pray for those who might be trapped in pride, that God will humble them and give them a childlike faith and complete dependence on Him through faith in Christ.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
readMatthew 13: 45-46

Pray that they will recognize the treasure of knowing Christ Jesus and be willing to give up everything else to gain Him.

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?
readPsalm 42:2

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will thirst for God and be satisfied when they abide in Him.

And he said to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."
readLuke 10:2

Ask God to send out laborers into His harvest field, raising up believers from around the world to go and proclaim the kingdom of God with those who need to hear it.

Cook Islands Maori Across Countries (ROP3 - 102284) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

4 people groups

PhotoPeople Group ID ▼NameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Cook Islands MaoriPG047297Cook Islands MaoriUnited States100No Longer UnreachedRarotonganProtestantism
Cook Islands MaoriPG020283Cook Islands MaoriFrench Polynesia1,800No Longer UnreachedRarotonganProtestantism
Cook Islands MaoriPG009615Cook Islands MaoriNew Zealand76,000No Longer UnreachedRarotonganProtestantism
Cook Islands MaoriPG008210Cook Islands MaoriCook Islands12,500No Longer UnreachedRarotonganProtestantism

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Data Standards section.

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