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Coordinates: 1°4′N 154°47′E﻿ / ﻿1.067°N 154.783°E﻿ / 1.067; 154.783

Kapingamarangi is located in Pacific Ocean
Location of Kapingamarangi in the Pacific Ocean
ISS Image of Kapingamarangi

Kapingamarangi is an atoll and a municipality in the state of Pohnpei of the Federated States of Micronesia. It is by far the most southerly atoll or island of the country and of the Caroline Islands, 300 km (190 mi) south of the next southerly atoll, Nukuoro, and 740 km (460 mi) southwest of the main island of Pohnpei state; it forms a Polynesian outlier.

The total area of the atoll, including the lagoon, is 74 km2 (29 sq mi). Out of this, 1.1 km2 (0.4 sq mi) is land area, spread over 33 wooded islets on the eastern side of the atoll, three of which host the population of about 500 people. The western reef rim of the atoll is almost submerged at high water.


Kapingamarangi has a population of about 500 (as of 2007). Several hundred Kapingamarangi people also live in Porakied village in Pohnpei. Their language is Polynesian. The main industry is fishing.[1]

Touhou Island, which reaches a height of 35 in (890 mm) and is connected to Welua Island (Ueru Island) in the north by a causeway, is the capital of the municipality, the center of population and the home of a native chief. Most of the population resides on these two islets, plus the remnant on Taringa (south of Touhou), although many of the remaining islets are used for growing fruit and vegetables.[2]


First recorded sighting by Europeans was by the Spanish expedition of Hernando de Grijalva in 1537, that charted it as Los Pescadores (Island of the Fishermen in Spanish, not to be confused with Pescadores island.).[3][4] This discovery was referred by a contemporary, the Portuguese António Galvão, governor of Ternate, in his book Tratado dos Descubrimientos of 1563.[5]

In the 19th century it was charted as Greenwich and Pikaram by the English, and Constantine by the French.

The island was occupied by the Japanese during World War II, and attacked by U.S. Navy long-range bombers.[6] Two Japanese ships are listed on a wreck diving website.[7]

The case of Spain's modern sovereignty rights[edit]

During the dispute for the Carolines in between Germany and Spain in 1885, arbitrated by Pope Leo XIII, the sovereignty of Spain over the Caroline and Palau islands as part of the Spanish East Indies was analyzed by a commission of cardinals and confirmed by an agreement signed on 17 December. Its Article 2 specifies the limits of Spanish sovereignty in South Micronesia, being formed by the Equator and 11°N Latitude and by 133° and by 164° Longitude. In 1899, Spain sold the Marianas, Carolinas and Palaus to Germany after its defeat in 1898 in the Spanish–American War. However Emilio Pastor Santos, a researcher of the Spanish National Research Council, claimed in 1948 that there was historical basis, supported by the charts and maps of the time, to argue that Kapingamarangi and some other islands had never been considered part of the Carolines. Thus Kapingamarangi was not included in the description of the territory transferred to Germany, and therefore was not affected on the part of Spain to any cessation of transfer and theoretically Spain should have the only jurisdiction and right to this island.



However, no Spanish government has made any attempt in this respect, and this case remains as a historical curiosity related to Kapingamarangi.[8][9]

See also[edit]


  1. ^ Kapingamarangi people - World Culture Encyclopedia
  2. ^ Monograph with islet maps (1956)
  4. ^ Riesenberg, Saul H. "Six Pacific island discoveries" The American Neptune, Vol. 34; Salem, Mass. 1974, p.256
  6. ^ John F. Humphrey Biography
  7. ^ Pacific Wrecks

External links[edit]