Rarotonga
- ISS006-E-39665
- 17 March 2003
- 20:23 UTC
At 67 km², Rarotonga is the largest of the Cook Islands, being located in the southwestern regions of the Southern group near the centre of the Cook-Austral chain of seamounts. The oval-shaped island measures 11 km in length (east to west) and has a maximum width of 8 km (north to south). It is the main population centre and administrative centre of the Cook Islands.
The island has a steep and rugged, densely forested interior, with the only flat land occurring as a narrow coastal strip around the perimeter. Erosional forces have created a highly dissected interior of sharp ridges and deep valleys that make much of Rarotonga inaccessible. The highest point of the island rises to a height of 652 m at Mt. Te manga. The entire island is, in turn, ringed by a narrow fringing reef that encloses a shallow lagoon.
image: earth sciences and image analysis laboratory, nasa johnson space center
