Tongareva's huge lagoon occupies an area greater than the land of all 15 Cook Islands put together. From one side of the lagoon it is just possible to see the tops of long lines of coconut palms which delineate the motu of the other side.

The two villages Omoka and Ta Tautua lie on opposite ends of the atoll.

The lagoon is up to 200 metres (600 feet) deep and is teeming with turtles, rays, trevally and sharks. Not surprisingly, Penrhyn offers excellent ocean and lagoon fishing and bonefishing here is said to be on par with Christmas Island to the north.

Tongareva was first discovered and settled by Polynesian voyagers about 700 years ago.

However in 1862 a calamitous event occurred. Peruvian blackbirders arrived and took a large proportion of the atoll's inhabitants to South America to be enslaved. 412 people out of a total population of 500 were transported to Callao, in Peru. Not one returned.

Nowadays Penrhyn is once again a peaceful haven of tranquility.

A cultured pearl industry similar to that on Manihiki has started.

Overseas yachts can enter the lagoon with relative ease, and the wharf at Omoka has berthing facilities. Foreign fishing vessels also call at Tongareva to exchange goods and services, and finely woven rito hats and mother-of-pearl jewellery made on the island are prized products well suited to export by air.

The beautifully designed and woven hats, some inlaid with pearl shell, find ready markets in Rarotonga, Hawaii, Tahiti and elsewhere.

After the outbreak of World War II, and in particular the entry of Japan and the United States into hostilities, the strategic importance of Tongareva became apparent.

Late in 1942, 1,000 US servicemen moved to the atoll to begin construction of a 10,000 foot airstrip on the southern half of the long narrow motu of Moananui. The Americans stayed on Tongareva for nearly four years and although the Pacific war did not directly involve the island, the runway was used frequently for transporting men and materials.

Today, with weekly passenger flights to the atoll from Rarotonga via Aitutaki, the 50-year old runway remains a vital resource for the people of the most distant territory of the Cook Islands.