There are two others in the Caribbean (St Kitts-Nevis and St Vincent) and four in the Pacific (Niue, Nauru and the Cook and Marshall Islands), as well as Panama and Liechtenstein.

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As with the Marshall Islands' declaration, the Cook Islands' effort was with the help of the Pew Environment Group, which advocates island nations' involvement because of the vast scope of their territorial waters.

BBC: Cook Islands' shark sanctuary creates world's largest

Burnley made the early running and Ipswich goalkeeper Andy Marshall was forced into a stunning save to keep out Ian Moore's header from Cook's free-kick, while Blake sent a powerful left-footed drive over the crossbar.

BBC: Burnley 1-1 Ipswich

Last week's move by French Polynesia overtook the Marshall Islands' area, outlined in late 2011, as the world's largest - and the Cook Island's claim adds 40% more area to that title.

BBC: Cook Islands' shark sanctuary creates world's largest