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The traditional music of the Federated States of Micronesia varies widely across the four states, and has, in recent times, evolved into popular music influenced by Europop, country music and reggae.
Traditional dances on the main islands includes "stick dancing" on Pohnpei, Chuuk and Yap, standing dances on Chuuk and sitting dances on Yap [1] and Chuuk. The Yapese are particularly known for their skills in dancing. The Yapese stick dance is performed by men, women and children together, while standing dances are performed either by women or men and boys, but never both together. The men participate in various dancing competitions, which are segregated by caste; the lower castes have some distinct dances, such as a woman's standing dance, but can only dance when authorized by a person of a higher caste. [2] Chuuk shares many of the similar dance styles with Yap because of similar cultural heritage with Chuuk and the outer islands of Yap. Chuuk's most mysterious and rarest dance is called the "Moonlight Dance", one of the few dances in which both men and women dance together. It can only happen during a full moon with permission of the village chief. Traditionally speaking, this was a way for young males and females to get together.
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 Micronesians or Micronesian peoples are various closely related ethnic groups native to Micronesia, a region of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean. They are a part of the Austronesian ethnolinguistic group, which has an Urheimat in Taiwan.
A rai stone, or fei stone, is one of many large artifacts that were manufactured and treasured by the native inhabitants of the Yap islands in Micronesia. They are also known as Yapese stone money or similar names.
A lavalava, sometime written as lava-lava, also known as an 'ie, short for 'ie lavalava, is an article of daily clothing traditionally worn by Polynesians and other Oceanic peoples. It consists of a single rectangular cloth worn similarly to a wraparound skirt or kilt. The term lavalava is both singular and plural in the Samoan language.
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.
Micronesian mythology comprises the traditional belief systems of the people of Micronesia. There is no single belief system in the islands of Micronesia, as each island region has its own mythological beings.
Micronesian Americans are Americans who are descended from people of the Federated States of Micronesia. According to the 2020 US Census, a total of 21,596 residents self-identified as having origins in the country, which consists of four states. More than half of these residents identified their origin as Chuuk State (12,464) with the rest as follows: 4,918 people from Pohnpei, 2,066 from Yap, and 2,148 people from Kosrae.
Yap traditionally refers to an island group located in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, a part of Yap State. The name "Yap" in recent years has come to also refer to the state within the Federated States of Micronesia, inclusive of the Yap Main Islands and its various outer islands, the Yap Neighboring Islands. For specifying the island group, the name Yap Main Islands is most exact.
Gagil is a municipality in the state of Yap. It forms part of Gagil-Tamil Island and covers the eastern side of the island. It has a population of roughly 400 people scattered in village groups. One of these villages includes the village of Gachpar which was once the capital of the historic Yap Islands Empire that lasted from about 10th to the 15th century AD and stretched as far as east as the west halls of Chuuk Lagoon, as far south as the northern atolls of Papua New Guinea, and as far west as the outer islands of Palau. The Yap Islands Empire centered in Gagil and it, and the Tui Tonga Empire of Tonga, are the only empires that existed in the ancient history of the Pacific Islands.
Women in the Federated States of Micronesia are women who live in or are from the Federated States of Micronesia, an independent sovereign island nation composed of four states. Thus, FSM women includes women from the States of Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosrae.
The Yapese people are a Micronesian ethnic group native to the main island of Yap. Yapese culture is built on the maxim: Respect and Responsibility. Aspects of traditional Yapese culture are still important in modern Yapese culture.
Yap Day is a legal holiday in Yap State, one of the four states of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), held annually on March 1. It is a celebration of traditional Yapese culture. Common activities held during this time include competitions and traditional dances.
Religion in Yap is predominantly Roman Catholic, which first arrived in Yap in the late 1880s. Before that, the Yapese people practiced traditional rituals and practices and held beliefs about the gods, the spirits, taboos, and death. Through the efforts of Capuchin and Jesuit missionaries, the Catholic Church eventually became the dominant church on Yap. Other religions on Yap include Protestantism and other Christian sects.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Federated States of Micronesia refers to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). The church's first known missionaries arrived on July 5, 1978. As of December 31, 2022, there were 5,966 members in 23 congregations in FSM. The LDS Church has congregations in every state in the FSM.
The Yapese Empire was an ancient maritime empire located in the western Caroline Islands in the north Pacific region of Micronesia. In circa 950 BC, Yap became the seat of the Empire when the Gatcheper Village in the chiefdom of Gagil established an expansive maritime trade network and exerted socio-economic and political influence to its neighbouring islands to the east. Although small and informal compared to other marine empires, the Empire at its peak covered over 1,300 kilometres, stretching from the Yap main islands to parts of modern-day Chuuk State. The Empire coexisted with the Tongan Empire located in the southern Pacific.
Football competitions have were first held at the Micronesian Games for the 1998 edition of the tournament. The event is open to the ten member federations of the Micronesian Games Council, a sub-regional member of the Oceania National Olympic Committees. The football tournament has been held at two subsequent games since 1998, in 2014 and 2018. Although a similar football tournament called the Micronesian Cup was held in 1999 and 2001, they were separate events as no Micronesian Games were held in those years.
The traditional councils of the Yap State are two assemblies of traditional leaders: the Pilung Council for the chiefs of the Yap Islands and the Tamol Council for the chiefs of the Outer Yap Islands. They have been established in 1992 by the Constitution of the Yap State, within the Federated States of Micronesia. The executive, the legislative, the judiciary and the traditional councils are the four institutional branches of government in the Yap State, but the councils, unlike the others, transcend the concept of the separation of powers. The councils are responsible for exercising the functions that relate to tradition and custom, which are not required to be recorded in the written law. In the Yap State, custom and tradition prevail over any interpretation of the constitution and even over any judicial decision. The councils have the right to veto legislation that they consider to be contrary to traditional practices. The constitutionality of these councils and their veto power could be challenged under the Micronesian Federal Constitutional Law, but to this date no one has done it.
The Federated States of Micronesia does not recognise same-sex marriage, civil unions or any other form of recognition for same-sex couples.
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