Area: 240 square kilometres over 15 islands within 2 million square miles of ocean

Capital: Avarua on the main island of Rarotonga

Population: 20,000

World Cups played (1): 2000

The Cook Islands, a collection of fifteen small islands in the Pacific Ocean between French Polynesia and American Samoa, burst onto the international Rugby League scene in 1995 when they won the Emerging Nations World Cup with a 22-6 victory over Ireland in the final at Gigg Lane, Bury.

Five years later the Cook Islanders stepped up to the main event and took part in the 2000 Rugby League World Cup. They performed valiantly in defeats against New Zealand and Wales and notched their first point in a draw with Lebanon.

With a population of just 20,000 the Cook Islands, named in honour of the Captain James Cook who landed on the islands in 1773, is one of the smallest members of the Rugby League of nations but they've produced some of the biggest names in the game including former Kiwi captain John Whittaker, the legendary Kevin ‘the Beast’ Iro, Tony Iro , Matt Rua and Karmichael Hunt. Many more young players are forging a path through the NRL competition.

The game took a foothold in 1979 with a match between a country team and a town team and the first international match was played against Niue in the 1986 Pacific Cup. The domestic Rugby League season currently involves seven clubs, six on the main island of Rarotonga and one side on the outer island of Aitutaki, and runs from February to May.

The success of their 2009 Pacific Cup campaign, in defeating the established national teams of Samoa and Fiji before losing to Papua New Guinea in the final led to the Cook Islanders gaining a berth in the 2013 Rugby League World Cup.