50 Fun Facts About Micronesia

The Federated States of Micronesia is made up of how many states?

From west to east they are Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosrae.

Which of these is NOT a state of the Federated States of Micronesia?

Palau chose not to join in 1979 and became a separate republic.

What is the capital of the Federated States of Micronesia?

It sits on the island of Pohnpei; the largest town, Weno, is in Chuuk Lagoon.

The FSM comprises roughly how many islands?

Together they add up to only about 702 square kilometres of land.

The FSM's territory forms most of which larger archipelago?

Palau holds the western end of the same chain.

The FSM's exclusive economic zone ranks where in the world by size?

Its waters cover nearly three million square kilometres of ocean.

The FSM became independent under a Compact of Free Association in which year?

The islands had ratified their constitution in 1979 and the UN formally ended trusteeship in 1990.

From 1947 to 1994 the FSM was administered by Washington under which UN arrangement?

The trusteeship ran from 1947 to 1994 and also produced the Marshall Islands, Palau and the Northern Marianas.

Which country is wholly responsible for the FSM's defence?

FSM citizens may join the US military without residency or citizenship.

How many members sit in the FSM's unicameral Congress?

Four senators, one per state, serve four-year terms and the other ten serve two.

Who elects the president of the FSM?

There are no formal political parties.

What do the white stars on the FSM flag represent?

They are arranged like the points of a compass on a field of Pacific blue.

What is the official language of the FSM?

Local Austronesian languages dominate outside the four state capitals.

Which state's people make up almost half the FSM population?

Chuukese are 48.8 percent, Pohnpeians 24.2 percent.

Nan Madol, the ruined city on Pohnpei, is often nicknamed what?

It is a series of artificial islets linked by canals in a lagoon.

Nan Madol was the seat of which dynasty, which united Pohnpei until about 1628?

Legend says the first ruler, Olosohpa, was one of twin sorcerers.

How many artificial islets make up Nan Madol?

The stone-and-coral platforms are bordered by tidal canals.

Nan Madol's megalithic walls are built from which volcanic rock?

Construction began around AD 1180 with stone hauled from a volcanic plug across the island.

The island of Yap is famous for what unusual form of money?

About 6,500 rai stones, some four metres across, are scattered around the island.

Most of Yap's rai stones were quarried on which other island group?

They were carried hundreds of kilometres home by canoe and raft.

Yap's stone money is made of which mineral?

Earlier reports wrongly called it aragonite.

What happened to the value of a rai stone that sank to the sea floor while being transported?

Everyone agreed the stone must still be there, so ownership kept changing hands.

A rai stone's value depended on its size, craftsmanship and what else?

A stone brought by a famous sailor, or one whose transport cost lives, was worth more.

Chuuk Lagoon was known by what name until 1990?

Truk was a mispronunciation of Ruk.

What was Truk Lagoon's role in World War II?

Its supposed fortifications earned it the nickname 'the Gibraltar of the Pacific'.

What was the name of the February 1944 US attack that sank dozens of Japanese ships in Truk Lagoon?

The two-day carrier raid crippled Japan's naval capacity in the Pacific.

Whose 1971 television documentary turned Truk Lagoon into a world-famous wreck-diving destination?

The sunken ships are known as the Ghost Fleet.

Which colonial power sold the archipelago to Germany in 1899?

Spain had just lost the Spanish-American War.

Who was asked in 1885 to rule on whether Spain or Germany had authority over the islands?

He confirmed Spanish authority but gave Germany free access.

Which country ran the islands as a League of Nations mandate between the world wars?

Japan had captured them from Germany during World War I.

Roughly what share of the FSM population is Christian?

About 55 percent are Catholic and 42 percent Protestant, reflecting Spanish and German missions.

The atoll of Pingelap is known for the unusual prevalence of which condition?

About five percent of its inhabitants have achromatopsia, known locally as maskun.

Mount Nahnalaud on Pohnpei is remarkable for what?

Only 750 m high, it averages more than ten metres of rain a year.

Which sport is described as very popular in the FSM?

American and Japanese influence both left their mark.

The Yapese are especially noted for their skill in what?

Stick dances are performed by men, women and children together.

The FSM's main source of government revenue is what?

The 2004 amended Compact committed $110 million a year in aid through 2023.

In 2022 the FSM severed diplomatic relations with which country?

It called the invasion of Ukraine 'unjustified and brutal'.

The wider region of Micronesia consists of roughly how many small islands?

They are shared among six sovereign nations plus US territories such as Guam.

Which of these is one of the four main archipelagos of the Micronesia region?

The Gilberts belong to Kiribati; the other three chains lie further north and west.

Which French explorer is usually credited with coining the term 'Micronesia' in 1832?

Louis Domeny de Rienzi had in fact used the word a year earlier.

Political control of the Micronesia region is divided among how many sovereign nations?

Wake Island's sovereignty is contested between the US and the Marshall Islands.

The FSM's capital was declared in which year, replacing nearby Kolonia?

The larger coastal town remains Pohnpei's main settlement.

Which FSM state is the only one without outlying atolls?

Each state is centred on one or more volcanic islands; Kosrae, the easternmost, is essentially a single high island.

By what name was the state of Pohnpei known until November 1984?

Truk became Chuuk in 1990 and Kusaie became Kosrae, as the states shed colonial-era spellings.

Which regional body did the FSM announce it would quit in 2021 before the Suva Agreement kept it in?

A bitter dispute over the forum's leadership triggered the withdrawal notice; the June 2022 deal reversed it.

In which year was the FSM admitted to the United Nations?

Admission followed Security Council Resolution 703; the country now has diplomatic relations with 56 states, including the Holy See.

Roughly what share of the FSM population follows the Catholic Church?

About 42% are Protestant; on Pohnpei the 1890s missionary rivalries left the west of the island more Protestant and the east more Catholic.

To which islands had the Japanese withdrawn their big warships a week before Operation Hailstone?

Forewarned by intelligence, they saved the carriers and battleships, but US planes still sank 12 smaller warships and 32 merchant ships and destroyed 275 aircraft.

In Pohnpeian legend, who built Nan Madol?

Olisihpa and Olosohpa are said to have levitated the huge basalt stones into place with the help of a flying dragon.

Who overthrew the Saudeleur dynasty at Nan Madol around 1628?

His Nahnmwarki successors kept living at Nan Madol but had to fetch their own water and grow their own food, which likely drove them to abandon it.