Micronesiaofficially Federated States of Micronesia, country in the western Pacific Ocean. It is composed of more than 600 islands and islets in the Caroline Islands archipelago and is divided , roughly along cultural and linguistic lines , into the states of Yapof—from west to east—Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei, and Kosrae. The capital is Palikir, on the island of Pohnpei.ilometres

To the west of the Federated States of Micronesia lies the Republic of Palau, also in the Caroline archipelago, and to the east is the Republic of the Marshall Islands. These two nationscountries, together with the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Mariana Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia, were administered by the United States as the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands from 1947 to 1986.

The landlLand

The islands are of two general types: high volcanic islands that support a large variety of plant forms and low-lying coral atolls with poorer soil. The main landmass in Yap Island is distinctive in that it was formed by folds in the Earth’s crust and is continental in geologic composition. Each of the four states has as its population centre an elevated landmass of fairly large extent. These range in size extent—ranging from Pohnpei Island, with an area of 129 square miles (334.1 square km), to Yap and Chuuk, each with 39 Island (38.7 square miles [100.2 square km]). The volcanic islands of Chuuk are an anomaly in the Pacific since because they are encircled by a reef but have not yet subsided beneath sea level to become a classic atoll. Yap Island and six islands in the Chuuk group rise to more than 500 feet (150 metres), and Kosrae and Pohnpei islands have peaks of 2,061 0614 feet (629 metres) and 2,593 59395 feet (791 metres), respectively. The coral atolls consist of groups of small islands, formed atop a coral reef enclosing a lagoon.

The climate is tropical, with high humidity and a mean annual temperature of 81° in the low 80s F (27° Cabout 27 °C). There is little seasonal variation in temperature. Rainfall averages about 120 inches (3,000 millimetresmm) per year throughout the area, although Pohnpei receives more than 200 inches (5,000 mm) yearly. There are distinct rainy and dry seasons, the latter occurring during the height of the northeasterly trade-wind season between December and April. Yap, which alone is situated in the monsoon area, has westerly winds for part of the year. Numerous typhoons (tropical cyclones) originate in the east each year, usually spinning off to the northwest toward Yap and the Mariana Islands and seldom striking any of the other islands.

On the high islands, mangrove swamps grow along the shore, and grassland or scrub ascends to tropical rain forests rainforests in the interior mountain areas. Settlements are almost without exception located near the coast. Volcanic islands, with their richer soil, support many different species of plant life. On coral atolls the predominant forms of vegetation are the coconut palm and along with pandanus and breadfruit trees. Atoll dwellers typically locate their houses on the lagoon side of the island.

The peoplepPeople

The native people of the Federated States, while generally classified as Micronesian, are very diverse in physical types, cultures, and languagesculturally and linguistically. The people of Yap Island have Melanesian-like features and speak speak Yapese, a language only distantly related to the other languages of the area (which are known as Nuclear Micronesian languages). Inhabitants of the coral atolls in Yap state are similar in language and culture to the people of Chuuk, although their the Chuukese and Yapese languages are not mutually intelligible. Both Chuuk and Pohnpei contain several dialects, and the inhabitants of Kapingamarangi and Nukuoro, two atolls in the southwestern portion of Pohnpei state, are Polynesians and speak languages unrelated to Pohnpeian. Only Kosrae has complete ethnic and linguistic unity. Altogether, eight local languages are recognized as distinct, and dialectal differences in the outlying atolls add further variety.

Almost AlmostAbout half of the total population lives in Chuuk state. Pohnpei has about 30 percentone-third of the population, and Yap and Kosrae have about 10 percent and 7 percent, respectively. In recent years there has been some one-tenth each. In the late 20th century there began a trend toward migration to the towns for employment and education, and the four main towns—the capitals of each state—now contain about one-quarter of the total population. The birth rate remains high, and mortality rates have been sharply reduced. The population is growing by about 3 percent yearlyeducationaboutquarter. The population growth rate is one of the highest in the region. Almost the entire population is Christian; Roman Catholicism and Protestant denominations have almost equal numbers of adherents. The country has no official language; English is spoken widely in commerce and government throughout the nation.

The economyeEconomy

Subsistence farming and fishing are the principal economic activities. The main staples are breadfruit, tarotaros, coconuts, and bananas, but yams, cassava, and sweet potatoes also are grown on some of the high islands. Poultry, pigs, and dogs are sometimes also raised for food.

The main source of revenue is U.S. government grant aid, which continues under the Compact of Free Association signed in 1982 and which accounts for an estimated 70 percent of the gross national product. Government employment is by far the major source of income, and this in turn supports the service industries that make up the private sector. Exports, which account for less than 5 percent of the gross national product, include copra, a few marine products, black pepper, and handicrafts. Additional income is derived . External gand whichrants account sfor almost two-thirdsan estimated 7060 percentbout of revenue. The terms of the original compact, which expired in 2001, were renewed with slight amendment in 2003. Because of the nature of the aid arrangement, servicing the debt consumed only a small portion of government outlays in the late 1990s.

The major source of income is the service sector, including government employment. The government also derives income from the sale of fishing rights and from a slowly expanding tourist industry. . Tourism is slowly expanding; as with the economy in general, the growth of tourism is restrained by the islands’ remote location and an underdeveloped infrastructure.. Local commercial fishing is developed only on a small scale, and large-scale agriculture has repeatedly proved a failure. failuree. The only mineral resources to speak of are unexploited offshore deposits of high-grade phosphate.


Interisland and international transportation are by air or ocean freighter. The major commercial ports are at Dekehtik (Takatik Island), near Pohnpei, ; Kosrae, ; Colonia on Yap, ; and Weno (Moen). International airports are located on the main islands of only on Yap, Pohnpei, and Moen. Smaller Moeneach state, and there are airstrips on several outlying islands in Chuuk. Small ships operated by the government provide service to the outlying atolls in each state. Some of the atolls are also linked by weekly flights on smaller airplanes. On All villages on the major islands all villages are connected by a road system, and the primary roads in the commercial centres are paved.

Administration and social conditionsconditionsGovernment and society

Under the 1979 constitution, the government of the Federated States of Micronesia consists of a executive, legislative, and judicial branches. The president and vice president are elected by the legislature, the unicameral National Congress, made up of . The legislature comprises one at-large senator from each state, with who serves four-year terms, and a variable number of single-district senators (elected determined on the basis of population), with who serve two-year terms, including one each from Yap and Kosrae, three from Pohnpei, and five from Chuuk. Most major governmental functions other than those relating to defense and foreign affairs are carried out at the state rather than the national level. Each of the four local state governments has a popularly elected governor and a unicameral legislature. There are no political parties.


There are elementary schools on every island, and each state has at least one public high school. Primary education is compulsory between ages 6 and 14. The Community College of Micronesia-FSM was founded in 1963 for teacher training and later became a community college offering a range of coursework and vocational training, with its main . with It has a mainnational campus on Pohnpei and extension programs in programsbranch campuses in each of in the other states , and is the only institution for higher education in the Federated States of Micronesia, but several U.S. universities . Several universities in the United States and the Pacific region offer extension programs for teacher training . A in various disciplines.

Widespread vaccination has helped to reduce the impact of infectious diseasemany infectious diseases. Tuberculosis and leprosy occur at moderate rates in the islands, and outbreaks of cholera periodically sweep through the population centres, but in the late 20th century obesity and chronic noncommunicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease emerged as the major health concerns for adults. While Aa hospital is maintained in each of the state capitals, and dispensaries have been built on all major islands, the overall state of health care is relatively poor. Local healers continue to practice massage and other traditional medical skills.

Cultural life

Although only the people of Yap and a few outlying atolls in Chuuk still wear traditional dress (loincloths dress—loincloths for men and grass skirts or lavalavas for women), most (sarongs) for women—most villagers live much as their ancestors did. They In rural areas Tthey support themselves by subsistence farming and fishing, use traditional food-preparation techniques, and gather in community meetinghouses for ceremonies and leisure activities. Islanders from , although imported foods and ways of life have made their way into even the most remote areas. Boatbuilders in some of the remote atolls and islands, such as Satawal in Yap state, have maintained their skills in the construction and navigation of large single outrigger canoes. The seamanship of the islanders is probably their most remarkable achievement and has astonished Westerners since initial contact. Wood carving, originally practiced for religious purposes, has become a commercial enterprise. Women in some of the islands weave lavalavas on traditional belt looms, and nearly everywhere large sleeping mats are plaited of pandanus leaves. Tattooing, once used widely to indicate social status, is seldom practiced today, but the . The traditional dances remain a favourite form of entertainment. For information on the arts of Micronesia in a regional context, see Oceanic art and architecture.


The eastern Caroline Islands, like the Marshall and Gilbert islands, were probably first settled from the New Hebrides–Fiji area in the millennium before the Christian Eraof the New Hebrides (now Vanuatu) and Fiji sometime before 1000 BCE. Archaeological and linguistic evidence suggests that the earliest migrants worked their way up the chain of islands to the east and gradually spread westward from the Marshalls. Pottery dating to the beginning of the Christian Era about the 1st century CE has been found in Chuuk, and artifacts of similar antiquity have been unearthed in other islands in the east. The languages of the area, with the exception of Yap and the two Polynesian outliers, Kapingamarangi and YapNukuoro atolls, are closely related to one another and show striking similarities to Vanuatuan tongues.

The high island of Yap appears to have been settled from the west, probably from the Philippines or Indonesia. Pottery and shell adzes found there date from the 2nd century AD CE and show a resemblance to types discovered in the MarianasMariana Islands. Yap’s caste system and other features of its social organization are unparalleled elsewhere in the area. The renowned Yapese stone money was quarried in nearby Palau and the Marianas. In later centuries a reciprocal tribute and trade system was evolved with the surrounding coral atolls, sometimes termed the Yap Empire empire, or Yapese Empireempire. In the eastern islands of Pohnpei and Kosrae, some seven centuries ago, a major social upheaval occurred, possibly under the impact of invasion from the south. Fortified settlements were built of huge basaltic logs, their ruins still visible today, and political authority over each island was centralized even as the society became more stratified.

The islands were visited occasionally during the 16th century by Spanish navigators and were later named for the Spanish king Charles II. During the 19th century, European naval ships followed whalers and traders to the islands, and the inhabitants experienced their first intensive contact with foreigners and their wares. In 1886 Spain finally colonized the Carolines, but its short rule was ended in 1899 when the islands were sold to Germany at the conclusion of the Spanish-American War. Germany, in turn, yielded the islands at the outbreak of World War I to Japan, which gained formal title to them in 1920 as a League of Nations mandate. At first Japan attempted to develop a solid economy; later it used the islands as an outlet for surplus population; and finally it fortified them just before World War II. In July 1947 the Carolines, together with the Marshalls and northern Northern Marianas, became a the United Nations trust territory Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, under U.S. administration. They were designated as a strategic area to allow the United States to set up military bases as deemed necessary; consequently, ultimate responsibility for the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands rested in trust territory rested with the UN Security Council rather than in with the UN General Assembly, as was the case with other trust territories.

Micronesian leaders began negotiations with the United States for full self-government in 1969. The constitution that was drafted in 1975 became the basis for the federated government that went into effect in 1979. By that time, however, the Marianas, the Marshalls, and Palau had voted to separate from the proposed federation; this left only the “inner states” of Yap, Truk (later Chuuk), Kosrae, and Ponape (later Pohnpei) to compose the new political entity, the Federated States of Micronesia. In a 1983 plebiscite, voters approved a Compact of Free Association with the United States. The compact, which became effective on Nov. 3, 1986, provides for internal self-government for the Federated States of Micronesia, while requiring that the United States remain responsible for defense and external security and that it provide financial assistance. The articles of the compact provide for allow the Federated States of Micronesia to become fully independent and alter its status relationship with the United States at any time, providing this change of status is approved in plebiscites. The Although the original compact has hasd a 15-year duration but is renewable , it t iwas renewableed by mutual consent in 2003 for another 20 years, with some amendments. The renewed compact came into force in 2004. The Federated States of Micronesia became a member of the UN on Sept. 17, 1991.

For a geographic survey, see


Tim Rock, Diving and Snorkeling Chuuk Lagoon, Pohnpei & Kosrae (2000), gives general geographic and historical background and also serves as a diving guide. Neil M. Levy, Micronesia, 6th ed. (2003), is a regional guidebook. Kenneth Brower, Micronesia, the Land, the People, and the Sea (1981); and William H. Stewart, Explorer’s Atlas of Tourist Maps for the Federated States of Micronesia, Pacific Ocean: Kosrae, Ponape, Truk, and Yap (1982), are geographic surveys. Other sources include Steven C. Smith, The Federated States of Micronesia: An Emerging Nation: An Overview for Peace Corps Volunteers (1986); and Austin Ranney and Howard R. Penniman, Democracy in the Islands: The Micronesian Plebiscites of 1983 (1985).