21°13′42.8″S159°46′35.5″W / 21.228556°S 159.776528°W /-21.228556; -159.776528

Treaty of Rarotonga

South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty
Signed and ratified Treaty of Rarotonga
Type	Nuclear disarmament
Signed	6 August 1985
Location	Rarotonga,Cook Islands
Effective	11 December 1986
Parties	13

TheTreaty of Rarotonga is the common name for theSouth Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty, which formalises anuclear-weapon-free zone in theSouth Pacific. The treaty bans the use,testing, and possession ofnuclear weapons within the borders of the zone.^[1][2]

It was signed by the South Pacific nations ofAustralia, theCook Islands,Fiji,Kiribati,Nauru,New Zealand,Niue,Papua New Guinea,Samoa,Solomon Islands,Tonga,Tuvalu, andVanuatu on the island ofRarotonga (where the capital of the Cook Islands is located) on 6 August 1985, came into force on 11 December 1986 with the 8th ratification, and has since been ratified by all of those states.

TheMarshall Islands, theFederated States of Micronesia, andPalau are outside the original geographic scope of the treaty but are eligible to become parties, in which case that scope would be expanded. The Marshall Islands acceded to the treaty on March 1, 2025.

There are three protocols to the treaty, which have been signed by the fivedeclared nuclear states, with the exception of Protocol 1 for China and Russia who have no territory in the Zone.

1. no manufacture, stationing or testing in their territories within the Zone
2. no use against the Parties to the Treaty, or against territories where Protocol 1 is in force
3. no testing within the Zone

In 1996 France and the United Kingdom signed and ratified the three protocols. The United States signed them the same year but has not ratified them. China signed and ratified protocols 2 and 3 in 1987. Russia has also ratified protocols 2 and 3 with reservations.^[3]

The treaty's different provisions apply variously to the Zone, to the territories within the Zone, or globally.

"South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone" means the area :

• south of theEquator
• north of the60th parallel south (the northern limit of theAntarctic Treaty zone)
• east of the115th meridian east
• west of the115th meridian west (the western limit of theTreaty of Tlatelolco Latin American Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone)

plus three projections north of the Equator to include the territory and territorial waters ofPapua New Guinea,Nauru, andKiribati,but minus the northwest corner beyond Australian territorial waters and nearIndonesia (and theSoutheast Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone).

Several islands in the Indian Ocean also belong to Australia and are therefore part of the zone.

"Territory" meansinternal waters,territorial sea andarchipelagic waters, theseabed andsubsoil beneath, the land territory and theairspace above them.It does not includeinternational waters.Article 2 says "Nothing in this Treaty shall prejudice or in any way affect the rights, or the exercise of the rights, of any State underinternational law with regard tofreedom of the seas."

The treaty is an agreement betweennation-states and as such of course cannot apply to those who have not signed the treaty or protocols, for example, the four countries not signatories to theNon-Proliferation Treaty.

• Micronesia is outside the Zone except for parts ofKiribati and the Marshall Islands.
• Melanesia is inside the Zone except forWestern New Guinea (a part ofIndonesia), which is in theSoutheast Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone.
• Polynesia is inside the Zone except forEaster Island, which is in theLatin American Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone, thePolynesian outliers ofKapingamarangi andNukuoro in Micronesia, Hawaii,American Samoa and several uninhabitedUnited States Minor Outlying Islands.^[4]

State	Signed	Deposited
Australia	6 Sep 1985	11 Dec 1986
Cook Islands	6 Sep 1985	28 Oct 1985
Fiji	6 Sep 1985	4 Oct 1985
Kiribati	6 Sep 1985	28 Oct 1985
Marshall Islands		3 Mar 2025
Nauru	17 Jul 1986	13 May 1987
New Zealand	6 Sep 1985	13 Nov 1986
Niue	6 Sep 1985	12 May 1986
Papua New Guinea	16 Sep 1985	15 Sep 1989
Samoa	6 Sep 1985	20 Oct 1986
Solomon Islands	29 May 1987	27 Jan 1989
Tonga	2 Jul 1996	18 Dec 2000
Tuvalu	6 Sep 1985	16 Jan 1986
Vanuatu	16 Sep 1995	9 Feb 1996

Territory	State
Ashmore and Cartier Islands	Australia
Christmas Island	Australia
Cocos (Keeling) Islands	Australia
Coral Sea Islands	Australia
Heard Island and McDonald Islands	Australia
Norfolk Island	Australia
French Polynesia	France
New Caledonia	France
Wallis and Futuna	France
Tokelau	New Zealand
Pitcairn Islands	United Kingdom

U.S. bomber aircraft have been visiting Australia since the early 1980s, and nuclear-capableB-52s andB-2s operate regularly out of northern Australia. When U.S. bombers visit Australia, the U.S. government does not tell the Australian government whether the aircraft are carrying nuclear weapons. In 2023, theAustralian Foreign MinisterPenny Wong said the Australian Government "understand[s] and respect[s] the longstanding US policy of neither confirming or denying".^[5] 

• Text of the treaty – FAS
• Ratification statusArchived 4 March 2016 at theWayback Machine
• Map of the Zone area (poor quality)Archived 27 May 2010 at theWayback Machine

• Treaties of Australia
• Treaties of the Cook Islands
• Treaties of Fiji
• Treaties of Kiribati
• Treaties of Nauru
• Treaties of New Zealand
• Treaties of Niue
• Treaties of Papua New Guinea
• Treaties of the Solomon Islands
• Treaties of Tonga
• Treaties of Tuvalu
• Treaties of Samoa
• Treaties of Vanuatu
• New Zealand–Pacific relations
• Treaties establishing nuclear-weapon-free zones
• Treaties concluded in 1985
• 1985 in the Cook Islands
• Treaties entered into force in 1986
• Nuclear weapons governance
• Rarotonga
• Pacific Islands Forum treaties

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