Cook Island, South Sandwich Islands
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox islands Cook Island is the central and largest island of the Southern Thule island group, part of the South Sandwich Islands in the far south Atlantic Ocean. Southern Thule was discovered by a British expedition under Captain James Cook in 1775. Cook Island was named for Cook by a Russian expedition under Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen, which explored the South Sandwich islands in 1819–1820.
The island was surveyed in 1930 by Discovery Investigations (DI) personnel on Discovery II, who charted and named many of its features.<ref name="gnis-RSP" /><ref name="gnis-REP" /> Other names were later applied by the United Kingdom Antarctic Place-Names Committee (UK-APC).<ref name="gnis-TP" />
Geography
Cook Island measures about Template:Convert wide. It is heavily glaciated and uninhabited.<ref name="gnis-CI" /> Its highest peak, Mount Harmer, rises to Template:Convert.<ref name="gnis-MHA" /> Mount Holdgate rises Template:Convert at the southeast end of the island.<ref name="gnis-MHO" />
Working clockwise from the northwest, the following points are found on the island's coast. All were named by DI personnel unless otherwise specified.
Resolution Point is a point on the northwest side of the island, named for Cook's vessel, Template:HMS.<ref name="gnis-RSP" /> Tilbrook Point is a conspicuous cliff forming the northwest point of Cook Island. Named by UK-APC for Peter J. Tilbrook, zoologist of the survey of the South Sandwich Islands from Template:HMS in 1964.<ref name="gnis-TP" />
Reef Point is a point bounded by a small reef forming the west end of Cook Island, named descriptively.<ref name="gnis-REP" />
Jeffries Point is on the central part of the south side of the island, named for Miss M. E. Jeffries, an assistant to the staff of the Discovery Committee.<ref name="gnis-JP" />
Longton Point is a feature of sheer high rock cliffs alternating with steep icefalls, forming the southeast corner of the island. It was named by UK-APC for Royce E. Longton, botanist of the 1964 Protector survey.<ref name="gnis-LP" /> It is the southernmost piece of land of the South Sandwich Islands and the southernmost landmass worldwide north of the 60th parallel south and therefore the southernmost landmass outside of the Antarctic Treaty System.<ref>Template:Cite map</ref> Swell Point is a small, narrow point on the island's east coast, near its southeast extremity, Template:Cvt south of Resolution Point. It was named descriptively.<ref name="gnis-SW" />
Nearby islands
Cook Island is separated from Thule Island to the west by Douglas Strait, and from Bellingshausen Island to the east by Maurice Channel.