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The Cook Islands Maori of New Zealand

The Cook Islands Maori of New Zealand, numbering approximately 76,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Polynesian ethnic group indigenous to Rarotonga, the largest and most populous of the Cook Islands. They mostly adhere to Protestantism and Rarotongan is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Pacific Islander Peoples
Country: New Zealand
People Cluster: Polynesian
Primary Language(s): Rarotongan (rar)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 76,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG009615
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Pray for the Cook Islands Maori of New Zealand

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

35%
%
Protestantism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Rarotongan
Language Family: Austronesian

80%
%
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 New Zealand

Only in the LORD, it shall be said of me, are righteousness and strength; to him shall come and be ashamed all who were incensed against him.
readIsaiah 45:24

Pray that those who are weary and burdened by their own righteousness will find rest in the righteousness that comes through faith in Christ alone.

O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.
readPsalm 8:1

Pray that those who have yet to believe will soon recognize the majesty of God's name and raise their voices in praise to the Lord Almighty.

"...I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
readMatthew 16:18b

Pray that God will build and grow His Church among this people.

To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.
read1 Corinthians 9:22

Ask God to raise up believers from around the world to go and share the hope of Jesus with the lost so that they might trust in Him and have the hope of eternal life.

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

Strategic Progress Index
All

4 people groups

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