Pakin Atoll

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Pakin Atoll
Pakin NASA 157.80208E 7.04910N.png
Pakin Atoll from space. Courtesy NASA.
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Pakin
Location of Pakin Atoll in the Pacific Ocean
Geography
Coordinates 7°03′32″N157°48′18″E / 7.059°N 157.805°E / 7.059; 157.805 Coordinates: 7°03′32″N157°48′18″E / 7.059°N 157.805°E / 7.059; 157.805
ArchipelagoSenyavin group of islands
Administration
Federated States of Micronesia
Demographics
Population90-100

Pakin Atoll is a small atoll lying off the northwest coast of Pohnpei in the Federated States of Micronesia. Along with the nearby Ant Atoll these islands constitute the Senyavin group of islands. [1]

Pakin has a population of around 90-100 people, all of whom are members of the diasporic Mortlockese community in Sokehs. The community is represented by traditional leadership (Sounirek Pakein) and is recognized as a non-government organization under the name "Pakin Community Association" (PCA). The by-laws and articles of pledge of the PCA were signed on August 28, 2007. Pakin Elementary School and a large Catholic church are located on the largest islet of Nikahlap. The other inhabited islets of Pakin Atoll include Painpwel, Wesetik, Mwanid, and Olamwin. The atoll is a popular site with tourists for diving and snorkelling.

History

The first recorded sighting by Europeans was by the Spanish vessel "San Jeronimo", commanded by female explorer Isabel Barreto on 21 December 1595 with Pedro Fernández de Quirós as pilot. [2] [3]

Related Research Articles

Geography of the Federated States of Micronesia

Geography of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), a country located in the western Pacific Ocean, and in the Micronesia cultural and ecological sub-region of Oceania. The total size very small 702 km2 (271 sq mi). However, it has the 14th largest exclusive economic zone of 2,996,419 km2 (1,156,924 sq mi).

Micronesia Subregion of Oceania

Micronesia is a subregion of Oceania, composed of thousands of small islands in the western Pacific Ocean. It has a close shared cultural history with two other island regions: Polynesia to the east and Island Melanesia to the south; as well as with the wider Austronesian peoples.

Pohnpei island in Micronesia

Pohnpei "upon (pohn) a stone altar (pei)" is an island of the Senyavin Islands which are part of the larger Caroline Islands group. It belongs to Pohnpei State, one of the four states in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). Major population centers on Pohnpei include Palikir, the FSM's capital, and Kolonia, the capital of Pohnpei State. Pohnpei Island is the largest (334 km²), with a highest point (782m), most populous, and most developed single island in the FSM.

Majuro Capital of the Marshall Islands

Majuro is the capital and largest city of the Marshall Islands. It is also a large coral atoll of 64 islands in the Pacific Ocean. It forms a legislative district of the Ratak (Sunrise) Chain of the Marshall Islands. The atoll has a land area of 9.7 square kilometres (3.7 sq mi) and encloses a lagoon of 295 square kilometres (114 sq mi). As with other atolls in the Marshall Islands, Majuro consists of narrow land masses.

Kwajalein Atoll atoll

Kwajalein Atoll is part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). The southernmost and largest island in the atoll is named Kwajalein Island, which its majority English-speaking residents often called by the shortened name, Kwaj. The total land area of the atoll amounts to just over 6 square miles (16 km2). It lies in the Ralik Chain, 2,100 nautical miles (3900 km) southwest of Honolulu, Hawaii.

Nan Madol Ruined city in Federated States of Micronesesia

Nan Madol is an archaeological site adjacent to the eastern shore of the island of Pohnpei, now part of the Madolenihmw district of Pohnpei state in the Federated States of Micronesia in the western Pacific Ocean. Nan Madol was the capital of the Saudeleur Dynasty until about 1628. The city, constructed in a lagoon, consists of a series of small artificial islands linked by a network of canals. The site core with its stone walls encloses an area approximately 1.5 km long by 0.5 km wide and it contains nearly 100 artificial islets—stone and coral fill platforms—bordered by tidal canals.

Woleai atoll and municipality of the Federated States of Micronesia

Woleai, also known as Oleai, is a coral atoll of twenty-two islands in the eastern Caroline Islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district in the Yap State in the Federated States of Micronesia and is located approximately 57 kilometres (35 mi) west-northwest of Ifalik and 108 kilometres (67 mi) northeast of Eauripik. Woleai is also the name of the largest of the islets constituting the atoll, lying to the northeast.

High island Island of volcanic origin

In geology, a high island or volcanic island is an island of volcanic origin. The term can be used to distinguish such islands from low islands, which are formed from sedimentation or the uplifting of coral reefs.

Ailuk Atoll atoll

Ailuk Atoll is a coral atoll of 57 islets in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ratak Chain of the Marshall Islands. It is located approximately 72 kilometres (45 mi) north from Wotje. Its total land area is only 5.4 square kilometres (2.1 sq mi), but it encloses a lagoon with an area of 177.45 square kilometres (68.51 sq mi). The major islets are: Ajelep, Aliej, Ailuk, Alkilwe, Barorkan, Biken, Enejabrok, Enejelar, Kapen and Marib. Most of the islets are on the eastern side of the atoll. The western and southern sides of the atoll have a nearly continuous submerged coral reef, with three main passes that lead into the lagoon: Erappu Channel, Marok Channel and Eneneman Channel on the west side.

Ebon Atoll atoll

Ebon Atoll is a coral atoll of 22 islands in the Pacific Ocean, forming a legislative district of the Ralik Chain of the Marshall Islands. Its land area is 5.75 square kilometres (2.22 sq mi), and it encloses a deep lagoon with an area of 104 square kilometres (40 sq mi). A winding passage, the Ebon Channel, leads to the lagoon from the southwest edge of the atoll. Ebon Atoll is approximately 155 kilometres (96 mi) south of Jaluit, and it is the southernmost land mass of the Marshall Islands, on the southern extremity of the Ralik Chain. In documents and accounts from the 1800s, it was also known as Boston, Covell's Group, Fourteen Islands, and Linnez.

Kapingamarangi atoll of the Federated States of Micronesia.

Kapingamarangi is an atoll and a municipality in the state of Pohnpei of the Federated States of Micronesia. It is by far the most southerly atoll or island of the country and of the Caroline Islands, 300 km (190 mi) south of the next southerly atoll, Nukuoro, and 740 km (460 mi) southwest of the main island of Pohnpei state; it forms a Polynesian outlier.

Nukuoro island group

Nukuoro is an atoll in the Federated States of Micronesia.

Chuuk State State in Federated States of Micronesia

Chuuk State is one of the four states of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). The other states are Kosrae State, Pohnpei State, and Yap State. It consists of several island groups:

Senyavin Islands island group

The Senyavin Islands belong to the Federated States of Micronesia. They consist of a larger volcanic Pohnpei Island and two small atolls Ant and Pakin.

Namonuito Atoll island group

Namonuito Atoll, also called Namonweito, Weito, or Magur Islands, is the largest atoll of the Federated States of Micronesia and of the Caroline Islands with a total area of 2,267 square kilometres, unless one considers the still larger Chuuk (Truk) Lagoon as a type of atoll in an early stage of development. In Micronesia, only Kwajalein Atoll of the Marshall Islands is still larger.

Poluwat

Poluwat, also Polowat, formerly Puluwat, is a coral atoll and a municipality of Chuuk state, Federated States of Micronesia.

Ngulu Atoll island group

Ngulu Atoll is a coral atoll of three islands in the Caroline Islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district in Yap State in the Federated States of Micronesia. Ngulu extends for 36 kilometres (22 mi) by 22 kilometres (14 mi) with 18 reef segments enclosing a deep central lagoon of 382 square kilometres (147 sq mi). The eastern portion of the reef is deeply submerged. Its total land area of the nine islets is only 0.4 square kilometres (0.15 sq mi). Nugulu is located approximately 104 kilometres (65 mi) south-southwest of Yap and is the westernmost atoll in the Federated States of Micronesia. The population of Ngulu was 26 in 2000.

Ifalik island

Ifalik is a coral atoll of four islands in the central Caroline Islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district in Yap State in the Federated States of Micronesia. Ifalik is located approximately 40 kilometres (25 mi) east of Woleai and 700 kilometres (430 mi) southeast of the island of Yap. The population of Ifalik was 561 in 2000, living on 1.5 km2. The primary islets of Ifalik are called Ella, Elangelap, Rawaii, and Falalop, which is the atoll's main island.

Ant Atoll atoll of Federated states of Micronesia

Ant Atoll is a small atoll lying off the west coast of Pohnpei in the Federated States of Micronesia. Along with the nearby Pakin Atoll, these islands constitute the Senyavin group of islands.

References

  1. Bendure, G. & Friary, N. (1988) Micronesia:A travel survival kit. South Yarra, VIC: Lonely Planet
  2. Sharp, Andrew The discovery of the Pacific Islands Oxford, 1960, pp.54,55.
  3. Brand, Donald D. The Pacific Basin: A History of its Geographical Explorations The American Geographical Society, New York, 1967, p.136.