Micronesia Trivia
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48 free Micronesia trivia questions with answers — geography quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Micronesia is both a country and a region: the Federated States of Micronesia is a nation of 607 islands strung across 2,700 km of the western Pacific, while the wider region of some 2,000 small islands is shared by six sovereign states and several US territories. This quiz covers both. It starts with the four states of Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosrae, the tiny capital of Palikir, the flag with four white stars, the Compact of Free Association with the United States and the 1986 independence that followed decades as a UN Trust Territory. Then it heads for the things Micronesia is famous for: the giant stone money of Yap, quarried in Palau and still valued even when lying on the sea floor; Nan Madol, the 'Venice of the Pacific' built from basalt on Pohnpei; the Ghost Fleet of Truk Lagoon sunk in Operation Hailstone; the colour-blind islanders of Pingelap; the rainiest mountain on Earth; and the Spanish, German, Japanese and American rulers who came before. Region questions ask which archipelagos make up Micronesia, who coined the name and where Guam and Kiribati fit. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's articles on the Federated States of Micronesia, the Micronesia region, Nan Madol, Rai stones, Chuuk Lagoon and the flag, and each question carries the sentence that supports it.
30 of 48 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01The Federated States of Micronesia is made up of how many states?
Four
Four states, each with its own elected governor and legislature, make up the federation under the constitution that took effect in 1979.
Q 02What is the capital of the Federated States of Micronesia?
Palikir
Palikir, a purpose-built capital on the island of Pohnpei, replaced the old colonial town of Kolonia as the seat of the national government.
Q 03The FSM comprises roughly how many islands?
607
About 607 islands make up the FSM, yet together they total only some 702 square kilometres of land.
Q 04The FSM's territory forms most of which larger archipelago?
The Carolines
The Carolines: the FSM occupies the central and eastern Caroline Islands, a scattered chain in the western Pacific north of New Guinea.
Q 05Roughly how much ocean lies within the FSM's exclusive economic zone?
About 3 million km²
About 3 million km²: the FSM's exclusive economic zone spans nearly 3 million square kilometres of the western Pacific, more than 4,000 times its land area.
Q 06The FSM became independent under a Compact of Free Association in which year?
1986
1986: the Compact of Free Association took effect on 3 November 1986; the UN Security Council formally ended the trusteeship in December 1990.
Q 07From 1947 the islands of the FSM were administered under which UN arrangement?
Trust Territory of the Pacific
Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands: this UN trusteeship, created in 1947 under American administration, also produced the Marshall Islands and the Northern Mariana Islands.
Q 08Which country is wholly responsible for the FSM's defence?
The United States
The United States: the Compact of Free Association gives Washington full authority over FSM defence, and FSM citizens may enlist in the US armed forces.
Q 09How many members sit in the FSM's unicameral Congress?
14
14 senators sit in the single-chamber Congress: each state elects one at-large senator to a longer term, and the rest are chosen from population-based districts for two years.
Q 10Who elects the president of the FSM?
Congress, from among the at-large senators
Congress, from among the at-large senators: the single-chamber Congress chooses both the president and vice-president from the senators elected state-wide; the FSM has no formal political parties.
Q 11What do the white stars on the FSM flag represent?
The states of the federation
The states of the federation: each white star stands for one member state, set on a light-blue field that represents the Pacific Ocean.
Q 12What is the official language of the FSM?
English
English is the official language, used in government and schools, but most islanders speak one of the indigenous Austronesian languages at home.
Q 13Which state's people make up almost half the FSM population?
Chuuk
Chuuk: Chuukese made up 48.8 percent of the population at the 2010 census, against 24.2 percent for Pohnpeians.
Q 21What happened to the value of a rai stone that sank to the sea floor while being transported?
It was still traded as if it were on land
It was still traded as if it were on land: islanders agreed the stone lay on the sea floor, so its ownership kept changing hands like any other rai.
Q 22A rai stone's value depended on its size, craftsmanship and what else?
Its history
Its history: a stone brought by a famous navigator, or one whose transport cost lives, was worth more than a larger but uneventful one.
Q 23Chuuk Lagoon was known by what name until 1990?
Truk
Q 14Nan Madol, the ruined city on Pohnpei, is often nicknamed what?
The Venice of the Pacific
The Venice of the Pacific: Nan Madol is a series of artificial islets linked by tidal canals in a lagoon off Pohnpei's south-east coast.
Q 15Nan Madol was the seat of which dynasty, which united Pohnpei until about 1628?
Saudeleur
Saudeleur: the dynasty ruled Pohnpei from its seat at Nan Madol for roughly five centuries until its overthrow around 1628.
Q 16Nan Madol is made up of roughly how many artificial islets?
About 100
About 100: Nan Madol comprises roughly a hundred artificial islets of stacked stone and coral rubble, separated by tidal canals.
Q 17Nan Madol's megalithic walls are built from which volcanic rock?
Basalt
Basalt: the walls are stacked columnar basalt logs, with megalithic construction beginning around AD 1180 using stone quarried elsewhere on Pohnpei.
Q 18The island of Yap is famous for what unusual form of money?
Giant stone discs
Giant stone discs called rai, the largest more than three metres across, were used as money on Yap and remain scattered around the island.
Q 19Which is the westernmost of the FSM's states?
Yap
Yap: the westernmost state, whose main islands lie closer to Guam than to the national capital on Pohnpei.
Q 20Yap's stone money is made of which mineral?
Calcite
Calcite: the discs are carved from crystalline limestone made of calcite; earlier reports describing them as aragonite were mistaken.
Truk was a mispronunciation of Ruk.
Q 24What was Truk Lagoon's role in World War II?
Japan's main naval base in the South Pacific
Japan's main naval base in the South Pacific theatre: the Combined Fleet anchored in the lagoon, whose supposed fortifications earned it the nickname 'the Gibraltar of the Pacific'.
Q 25What was the name of the February 1944 US attack that sank dozens of Japanese ships in Truk Lagoon?
Operation Hailstone
Operation Hailstone: on 17–18 February 1944 US carrier aircraft sank more than 40 ships, mostly merchantmen and auxiliaries, and destroyed some 250 aircraft in the lagoon.
Q 26Whose 1971 television documentary turned Truk Lagoon into a world-famous wreck-diving destination?
Jacques Cousteau
Jacques Cousteau: his 1971 television film 'Lagoon of Lost Ships' showed the sunken warships and transports, now called the Ghost Fleet, to the diving world.
Q 27Which colonial power sold the archipelago to Germany in 1899?
Spain
Spain had just lost the Spanish-American War.
Q 28Who was asked in 1885 to rule on whether Spain or Germany had authority over the islands?
Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII: his arbitration upheld Spanish sovereignty over the islands while guaranteeing Germany freedom of trade and a naval coaling station.
Q 29Which country ran the islands as a League of Nations mandate between the world wars?
Japan
Japan had captured them from Germany during World War I.
Q 30Roughly what share of the FSM population is Christian?
97%
97%: almost every islander is Christian, belonging to either the Roman Catholic church or Protestant, chiefly Congregational, churches that grew from 19th-century missions.