The Northern Cook Islands are a loose group of low, coral atolls that see little tourism. The Northern Cook Islands are separated from the Southern Cook Islands by a wide stretch of the Pacific Ocean, with the nearest part of the Southern chain being Palmerston Island, 500 km (310 mi) due south of Suwarrow.

With an area of just 21 km² and a population of 1,041 (2016), the islands only account for some 6% of the Cooks' population and 9% of the land area. Almost all of this population is on the three islands of Pukapuka, Manihiki, and Penrhyn.

The two chains are also geographically different: although both chains are formed from coral atolls which grew around volcanoes, the northern islands are far older, and the volcanic cones have sunk. As such, the northern chain is much lower lying than the southern chain.

The northern group is the less well economically developed of the two chains, having far less connection with the rest of the world than the southern chain. A compounding factor is the limited economic resources of the islands; though fishing is important to the group, the coral soil is of poor fertility and fresh water is generally in poor supply. The population is in decline, having reduced from over 2000 in the early 1960s.

The higher susceptibility of the chain to tropical cyclones (and the propensity for greater damage due to its low-lying nature) has also caused considerable hardship, with severe damage being recorded after Cyclone Percy in 2005.The vulnerability of the chain to global warming (for the same reason) has also not encouraged economic development of the islands.

Map of Northern Cook Islands

• -10.4-1611 Manihiki — the easiest to get to island of the Northern Group.
• -11.216667-165.4166672 Nassau Island — a small island governed by Pukapuka.
• -9.005556-157.9694443 Penrhyn (Tongareva or Mangarongaro) — the northernmost of the Cook Islands.
• -10.883333-165.854 Pukapuka — an island culturally closer to Samoa than to the rest of the Cooks.
• -10.033333-161.0833335 Rakahanga — an island only accessible by boats from Manihiki.
• -13.2239-163.1291756 Suwarrow (also called Suvorov or Suvarov) — an uninhabited island home to the only national park in the Cook Islands.