The Federated States of Micronesia, or simply Micronesia, is an island country in Micronesia, a subregion of Oceania. The federation consists of four states—from west to east, Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosrae—that are spread across the western Pacific. Together, the states comprise around 607 islands that cover a longitudinal distance of almost 2,700 km (1,700 mi) just north of the equator. They lie northeast of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, south of Guam and the Marianas, west of Nauru and the Marshall Islands, east of Palau and the Philippines, about 2,900 km (1,800 mi) north of eastern Australia, 3,400 km (2,100 mi) southeast of Japan, and some 4,000 km (2,485 mi) southwest of the main islands of the Hawaiian Islands.
The Federated States of Micronesia are located on the Caroline Islands in the western Pacific Ocean. The history of the modern Federated States of Micronesia is one of settlement by Micronesians; colonization by Spain, Germany, and Japan; United Nations trusteeship under United States-administered Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands; and gradual independence beginning with the ratification of a sovereign constitution in 1979.
Micronesia is a subregion of Oceania, consisting of about 2,000 small islands in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. It has a close shared cultural history with three other island regions: Maritime Southeast Asia to the west, Polynesia to the east, and Melanesia to the south—as well as with the wider community of Austronesian peoples.
The Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI) was a United Nations trust territory in Micronesia administered by the United States from 1947 to 1994. The Imperial Japanese South Seas Mandate had been seized by the US during the Pacific War, as Japan had administered the territory since the League of Nations gave Japan mandate over the area from Imperial Germany after World War I. However, in the 1930s, Japan left the League of Nations, and then invaded additional lands. During World War II, military control of the islands was disputed, but by the end of the war the islands had come under control of the Allies. The Trust Territory of the Pacific was created to administer the islands as part of the United States, while still under the auspices of the United Nations. Most of the island groups in the territory became independent states, with some degree of ties kept with the United States: the Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands and Palau are today independent states in a Compact of Free Association with the US, while the Northern Mariana Islands remain under US jurisdiction, as an unincorporated territory and commonwealth.
The flag of the Marshall Islands, an island nation in the Pacific, was adopted upon the start of self-government, May 1, 1979. The flag was designed by Emlain Kabua, who served as the first First Lady of the republic.
The flag of the Federated States of Micronesia was adopted on 30 November 1978. The blue field represents the Pacific Ocean. In an echo of U.S. heraldic practice, the stars represent the four federated states: Chuuk, Pohnpei, Kosrae and Yap, arranged like the points of the compass.
The South Seas Mandate, officially the Mandate for the German Possessions in the Pacific Ocean Lying North of the Equator, was a League of Nations mandate in the "South Seas" given to the Empire of Japan by the League of Nations following World War I. The mandate consisted of islands in the north Pacific Ocean that had been part of German New Guinea within the German colonial empire until they were occupied by Japan during World War I. Japan governed the islands under the mandate as part of the Japanese colonial empire until World War II, when the United States captured the islands. The islands then became the United Nations–established Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands governed by the United States. The islands are now part of Palau, the Northern Mariana Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Marshall Islands.
The State of Yap is one of the four states of the Federated States of Micronesia, located in the westernmost portion of the country. The state borders Palau to the southwest, Guam to the north, and Chuuk State to the east. According to the state's population census carried out in 2020, the total population is 11,577 residing across a total area of 119.54 sq km, though a large majority of the area is water. The only town area in the state, Colonia, serves as the state capital.
The College of Micronesia-FSM (COM-FSM) is a public community college in the Federated States of Micronesia. It began operation in 1963 as the Micronesian Teacher Education Center.
The German–Spanish Treaty of 1899, signed by the German Empire and the Kingdom of Spain, involved Spain selling the majority of its Pacific possessions not lost in the Spanish–American War to Germany for 25 million pesetas.
The Micronesian Games are a quadrennial international multi-sport event within the Micronesian region. The Games were first held in 1969 in Saipan. The 2010 Micronesian Games were initially due to be held in Majuro, until the hosts withdrew. The 2010 Games were hosted by Palau. The Federated States of Micronesia won the bidding to host the 2014 Micronesian Games in Pohnpei State, and later won again against CNMI for the 2018 Micronesian Games, held in Yap State.
The high commissioner of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands was an official who administered the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI), a United Nations trusteeship in the Pacific Ocean under the administration of the United States, between 1947 and 1994. The territory consisted of islands captured by America during World War II, prior to which they had been part of the Empire of Japan as the South Seas Mandate, within the Japanese colonial empire. After World War II, United Nations Security Council Resolution 21 placed the territory under the United States trusteeship as the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. The islands are now part of Palau, Northern Mariana Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, and Marshall Islands.
Charles D. "Chuck" Jordan is an American architect and government official. He served as Director of the Office of Transition for the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands from November 3, 1986, to September 30, 1991. The office was based in Saipan.
Athletics competitions at the 1969 Micronesian Games were held in San Antonio, Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands, in July, 1969. Only athletes from those six Micronesian territories that constituted the U.S. administrated Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands were participating.
William Vincent "Vit" Vitarelli, also referred to as Rubak in Palau, was an American educator and architect. He worked for the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI) from 1948 to 1970. He was stationed in various islands in Micronesia, including Palau and Ebeye, and participated in various educational and community development projects.
The Congress of Micronesia was a bicameral legislature in Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands from 1964 to 1979.
Parliamentary elections were held in the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands on 19 January 1965.
Parliamentary elections were held in the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands on 5 November 1974. Carmen Bigler became the first female member of Congress after being elected to House of Representatives from the Fifth District of the Marshall Islands.
David Ramarui was a Palauan politician. He served as a member of the Senate of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI) prior to Palau separating from the territory, and then as Minister of Social Services in the Palauan government.
The Marianas archipelago of the Northern Pacific contains fourteen islands located between Japan and New Guinea on a north–south axis and Hawaii and the Philippines on an east–west axis. Inhabitants were Spanish nationals from the 16th century until the Spanish–American War of 1898. As Guam became a territory of the United States the Northern Marianas were sold to Germany in 1899. The Northern Mariana Islands were a German protectorate until 1919, when they became part of the South Seas Mandate, administered by Japan. At the close of World War II, the Marianas became part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. In 1975, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands became a self-governing territory. In 1986, the Marianas came under the sovereignty of the United States when the trusteeship ended and US nationality and citizenship was conferred on the inhabitants of the territory.
