Political control of areas within Micronesia varies depending on the island, and is distributed among six sovereign nations. Some of the Caroline Islands are part of theRepublic of Palau and some are part of theFederated States of Micronesia (often shortened to "FSM" or "Micronesia"—not to be confused with the identical name for the overall region). TheGilbert Islands (along with thePhoenix Islands and theLine Islands in Polynesia) comprise the Republic ofKiribati. The Mariana Islands are affiliated with the United States; some of them belong to theU.S. Territory ofGuam and the rest belong to theU.S. Commonwealth of theNorthern Mariana Islands. The island ofNauru is its own sovereign nation. TheMarshall Islands all belong to the Republic of the Marshall Islands. The sovereignty ofWake Island is contested: it is claimed both by the United States and by the Republic of the Marshall Islands. The United States has actual possession of Wake Island, which is under the immediate administration of theUnited States Air Force.
Notwithstanding the fact that the notion of "Micronesia" has been quite well established since 1832 and has been used ever since, by most popular works, this set does not correspond to any geomorphological, archaeological, linguistic, ethnic or cultural unity, but on the contrary represents a disparate ensemble, with no real deep unity. In fact, "Micronesian people" does not exist as a subset of the sea-migratingAustronesian people, who may also include thePolynesian people and the hypotheticalAustralo-Melanesian or "Melanesian people".[2]
Micronesia is a region in Oceania that includes approximately 2100 islands, with a total land area of 2,700 km2 (1,000 sq mi), the largest of which isGuam, which covers 582 km2 (225 sq mi). The total ocean area within the perimeter of the islands is 7,400,000 km2 (2,900,000 sq mi).[14]
TheGilbert Islands are a chain of sixteenatolls and coral islands, arranged in an approximate north-to-south line. In a geographical sense, theequator serves as the dividing line between the northern Gilbert Islands and the southern Gilbert Islands. TheRepublic of Kiribati contains all of the Gilberts, including the island ofTarawa, the site of the country's capital.
TheMariana Islands are an arc-shapedarchipelago made up by the summits of fifteen volcanic mountains. The island chain rose as a result of the western edge of thePacific Plate moving westward and plunging downward below theMariana plate, a region that is the most volcanically active convergent plate boundary on Earth. The Marianas were politically divided in 1898, when the United States acquired title toGuam under theTreaty of Paris, 1898, which ended theSpanish–American War. Spain then sold the remaining northerly islands toGermany in 1899. Germany lost all of her colonies at the end ofWorld War I and theNorthern Mariana Islands became aLeague of Nations Mandate, withJapan as the mandatory. AfterWorld War II, the islands were transferred into theUnited NationsTrust Territory System, with theUnited States as Trustee. In 1976, the Northern Mariana Islands and the United States entered into a covenant of political union under which commonwealth status was granted the Northern Mariana Islands and its residents received United States citizenship.
Bikini Atoll is an atoll in the Marshall Islands. There are 23 islands in the Bikini Atoll. The islands of Bokonijien, Aerokojlol and part of Nam were destroyed during nuclear tests that occurred there.[16][17] The islands are composed of low coral limestone and sand.[18] The average elevation is only about 2.1 metres (7 ft) above low tide level.[19]
Nauru is an oval-shapedisland country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, 42 km (26 mi) south of theEquator, listed as theworld's smallest republic, covering just 21 km2 (8 sq mi).[21] With 12,511 residents, it is the thirdleast-populated country, afterVatican City andTuvalu. The island is surrounded by a coral reef, which is exposed at low tide and dotted with pinnacles.[22] The presence of the reef has prevented the establishment of aseaport, although channels in the reef allow small boats access to the island.[23] A fertile coastal strip 150 to 300 m (490 to 980 ft) wide lies inland from the beach.[22]
Wake Island is a coral atoll with a coastline of 19 km (12 mi) just north of theMarshall Islands. It is anunorganized,unincorporated territory of the United States. Access to the island is restricted and all activities on the island are managed by theUnited States Air Force. While geographically adjacent, it is not ethnoculturally part of Micronesia, due to its historical lack of human inhabitation.[citation needed] Micronesians may have possibly visited Wake Island in prehistoric times to harvest fish, but there is nothing to suggest any kind of settlement.[24]
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The majority of the islands in the area are part of acoral atoll. Coral atolls begin ascoral reefs that grow on the slopes of a centralvolcano. When the volcano sinks back down into the sea, the coral continues to grow, keeping the reef at or above water level. One exception isPohnpei in theFederated States of Micronesia, which still has the central volcano and coral reefs around it.
TheYap Islands host a number of endemic bird species, including theYap monarch and theOlive white-eye, in addition to four other restricted-range bird species.[25] The endangeredYap flying-fox, though often considered a subspecies of the Pelew flying fox or theMariana fruit bat, is also endemic to Yap.[25]
The region has atropical marine climate moderated by seasonal northeasttrade winds. There is little seasonal temperature variation. The dry season runs from December or January to June and the rainy season from July to November or December. Because of the location of some islands, the rainy season can sometimes includetyphoons.
Further migrations by other Austronesians also followed, likely fromSulawesi, settlingPalau andYap by around 1000 BCE. The details of this colonization, however, are not very well known.[26][27][29] In 200 BCE, a loosely connected group of Lapita colonists fromIsland Melanesia also migrated back northwards, settling the islands of eastern Micronesia almost simultaneously. This region became the center of another wave of migrations radiating outwards, reconnecting them with other settled islands in western Micronesia.[26][27]
Around 800 CE, a second wave of migrants from Southeast Asia arrived in the Marianas, beginning what is now known as theLatte period. These new settlers built large structures with distinctive capped stone pillars known ashaligi. They also reintroducedrice (which did not survive earlier voyages), making the Northern Marianas the only islands inOceania where rice was grown prior to European contact. However, it was considered a high-status crop and only used in rituals. It did not become a staple until afterSpanish colonization.[28][30][31]
The earliest known contact with Europeans occurred in 1521, when a Spanish expedition underFerdinand Magellan reached the Marianas.[34] This contact is recorded inAntonio Pigafetta's chronicle of Magellan's voyage, in which he recounts that the Chamorro people had no apparent knowledge of people outside of their island group.[35] A Portuguese account of the same voyage suggests that the Chamorro people who greeted the travellers did so "without any shyness as if they were good acquaintances".[36]
Further contact was made during the sixteenth century, although often initial encounters were very brief. Documents relating to the 1525 voyage ofDiogo da Rocha suggest that he made the first European contact with inhabitants of the Caroline Islands, possibly staying on theUlithi atoll for four months and encounteringYap. Marshall Islanders were encountered by the expedition of Spanish navigatorÁlvaro de Saavedra Cerón in 1529.[37] Other contact with the Yap islands occurred in 1625.[38]
When Russian explorerOtto von Kotzebue visited theMarshall Islands in 1817, he noted that Marshallese families practicedinfanticide after the birth of a third child as a form of population planning due to frequentfamines.[39]
In 1819, theAmerican Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions—a Protestant group—brought their Puritan ways to Polynesia. Soon after, the Hawaiian Missionary Society was founded and sent missionaries into Micronesia. Conversion was not met with as much opposition, as the local religions were less developed (at least according to Western ethnographic accounts). In contrast, it took until the end of the 19th to the beginning of the 20th centuries for missionaries to fully convert the inhabitants of Melanesia; however, a comparison of the cultural contrast must take into account the fact that Melanesia has always had deadly strains ofmalaria present in various degrees and distributions throughout its history (seeDe Rays Expedition) and up to the present; conversely, Micronesia does not have—and never seems to have had—any malarial mosquitos nor pathogens on any of its islands in the past.[40]
German New Guinea before and after the German-Spanish treaty of 1899
In theSpanish–American War, Spain lost many of its remaining colonies. In the Pacific, the United States took possession of theSpanish Philippines and Guam. On 17 January 1899, the United States also took possession of unclaimed and uninhabited Wake Island. This left Spain with the remainder of the Spanish East Indies, about 6,000 tiny islands that were sparsely populated and not very productive. These islands were ungovernable after the loss of the administrative center of Manila and indefensible after the loss of two Spanish fleets in the war. The Spanish government therefore decided to sell the remaining islands to a new colonial power: theGerman Empire.
The treaty, which was signed by Spanish Prime MinisterFrancisco Silvela on 12 February 1899, transferred the Caroline Islands (Kosrae in the east to Palau in the west), the Mariana Islands, and other possessions to Germany. Under German control, the islands became a protectorate and were administered fromGerman New Guinea. Nauru had already been annexed and claimed as a colony by Germany in 1888.
ThePacific Community (SPC) is a regional intergovernmental organization whose membership includes both nations and territories in the Pacific Ocean and their metropolitan powers.
Nationally, the primary income is the sale of fishing rights to foreign nations that harvest tuna using hugepurse seiners. A few Japaneselong liners still ply the waters. The crews aboard fishing fleets contribute little to the local economy since their ships typically set sail loaded with stores and provisions that are cheaper than local goods. Additional money comes in from government grants, mostly from the United States, and the $150 million the US paid into a trust fund for reparations of residents of Bikini Atoll who had to move after nuclear testing. Few mineral deposits worth exploiting exist, except for some high-grade phosphate,especially on Nauru.
Most residents of Micronesia can freely move to and work within, the United States. Relatives working in the US who send money home to relatives represent the primary source of individual income. Additional individual income comes mainly from government jobs and work within shops and restaurants.
Thetourist industry consists mainly of scuba divers that come to see the coral reefs, do wall dives and visit sunken ships from WWII. Major stops for scuba divers in approximate order are Palau, Chuuk, Yap and Pohnpei. Some private yacht owners visit the area for months or years at a time. However, they tend to stay mainly at ports of entry and are too few in number to be counted as a major source of income.
Copra production used to be a more significant source of income, however, world prices have dropped in part to large palm plantations that are now planted in places likeBorneo.
The people today form many ethnicities, but all are descended from and belong to the Micronesian culture.[48]
Because of this mixture of descent, many of the ethnicities of Micronesia feel closer to some groups inMelanesia, or thePhilippines. A good example of this are theYapese people who are related toAustronesian tribes in the northernPhilippines.[49] Genetics also show a significant number of Micronesian have Japanese paternal ancestry: 9.5% of males from Micronesia as well as 0.2% inEast Timor carry theHaplogroup D-M55.[50]
There are also substantial Asian communities found across the region, most notably in theNorthern Mariana Islands where they form the majority and smaller communities of Europeans who have migrated from the United States or are descendants of settlers during European colonial rule in Micronesia.
Though they are all geographically part of the same region, they all have very different colonial histories. The US-administered areas of Micronesia have a unique experience that sets them apart from the rest of the Pacific. Micronesia has great economic dependency on its former or current motherlands, something only comparable to the French Pacific. Sometimes, the termAmerican Micronesia is used to acknowledge the difference in cultural heritage.[51]
A 2011 survey found that 93.1% of Micronesian areChristians;[52] a survey in 2022 showed that 99% were Christian.[53]
The countries and territories in this table are categorised according to the scheme for geographic subregions used by the United Nations. The information shown follows sources in cross-referenced articles; where sources differ, provisos have been clearly indicated. These territories and regions are subject to various additional categorisations, depending on the source and purpose of each description.
It is thought that ancestors of theCarolinian people may have originally immigrated from the Asian mainland andIndonesia to Micronesia around 2,000 years ago. Their primary language isCarolinian, calledRefaluwasch by native speakers, which has a total of about 5,700 speakers. The Carolinians have amatriarchal society in which respect is a very important factor in their daily lives, especially toward thematriarchs. Most Carolinians are of theRoman Catholic faith.
The immigration of Carolinians toSaipan began in the early 19th century, after theSpanish reduced the local population ofChamorro natives to just 3,700. They began toimmigrate mostly sailing from smallcanoes from other islands, which atyphoon previously devastated. The Carolinians have a much darker complexion than the nativeChamorros.
The origin of the Nauruan people has not yet been finally determined. It can possibly be explained by the last Malayo-Pacifichuman migration (c. 1200). It was probably seafaring or shipwreckedPolynesians orMelanesians that established themselves in Nauru because there was not already anindigenous people present, whereas theMicronesians were already crossed with the Melanesians in this area.
The roughly 3000 residents of the Federated States of Micronesia that reside inKapingamarangi, nicknamed 'Kapings', live in one of the most remote locations in both Micronesia and the world at large. Their home atoll is almost 320 km (200 mi) from the nearest point of immigration.[58] There are no regular flights; the only reliable way to legally visit is to travel on a high-speed sailboat to the atoll. Owing to this difficulty, few sailors travelling the Pacific attempt to visit. The local language is theKapingamarangi language. From the 1970s, to attend high school the children needed to travel to Pohnpei, bringing their parents with them to create communities of Kapings on the island.[59]
There are largeEast,South andSoutheast Asian communities found across certain Micronesian countries that are either immigrants, foreign workers or descendants of either one, most migrated to the islands during the 1800s and 1900s.[60] According to the 2010 census results Guam was 26.3%Filipino, 2.2%Korean, 1.6%Chinese and 2% other Asian.[61] The 2010 census showed the Northern Mariana Islands was 50% Asian of which 35.3% were Filipino, 6.8% Chinese, 4.2% Korean and 3.7% other Asian (mainlyJapanese,Bangladeshi andThai).[62] The 2010 census for the Federated States of Micronesia showed 1.4% were Asian while statistics for Nauru showed 8% of Nauruans were Chinese.[63][64] The 2005 census results for Palau showed 16.3% were Filipino, 1.6% Chinese, 1.6% Vietnamese and 3.4% other Asian (mostly Bangladeshi, Japanese and Korean).[65]
Japanese rule in Micronesia also led to Japanese people settling the islands and marrying native spouses.Kessai Note, the former president of theMarshall Islands has partial Japanese ancestry by way of his paternal grandfather, andEmanuel Mori, the former president of theFederated States of Micronesia, is descended from one of the first settlers from Japan,Koben Mori.
A significant number of Micronesians were shown to have paternal genetic relations with JapaneseHaplogroup D-M55.Genetic testing found that 9.5% of males from Micronesia as well as 0.2% inEast Timor[66] carry what is believed to reflect recent admixture from Japan. That is, D-M116.1 (D1b1) is generally believed to be a primary subclade of D-M64.1 (D1b), possibly as a result of theJapanese military occupation of Southeast Asia duringWorld War II.[50]
The 2010 census results of Guam showed 7.1% were white while the 2005 census for Nauru showed 8% were European. Smaller numbers at 1.9% in Palau and 1.8% in the Northern Mariana Islands were recorded as "white". In conjunction to the European communities there are large amounts of mixed Micronesians, some of which have European ancestry.
On the eastern edge of the Federated States of Micronesia, the languagesNukuoro andKapingamarangi represent an extreme westward extension of thePolynesian branch of Oceanic.
By the time Western contact occurred, although Palau did not have dogs, they did have fowls and possibly pigs. Pigs are not native to Micronesia.Fruit bats are native to Palau, but other mammals are rare. Reptiles are numerous and both mollusks and fish are an important food source.[67] The people of Palau, the Marianas and Yap often chewbetel nuts seasoned with lime and pepper leaf. Western Micronesia was unaware of the ceremonial drink, which was calledsaka on Kosrae andsakau on Pohnpei.[29]
The bookPrehistoric Architecture in Micronesia argues that the most prolific pre-colonial Micronesian architecture is "Palau's monumental sculpted hills, megalithic stone carvings and elaborately decorated structure of wood placed on piers above elevated stone platforms".[68] The archeological traditions of theYapese people remained relatively unchanged even after the first European contact with the region during Magellan's 1520s circumnavigation of the globe.[29]
Micronesia's artistic tradition has developed from theLapita culture. Among the most prominent works of the region is the megalithic floating city ofNan Madol. The city began in 1200 CE and was still being built when European explorers begin to arrive around 1600. The city, however, had declined by around 1800 along with theSaudeleur dynasty and was completely abandoned by the 1820s. During the 19th century, the region was divided between thecolonial powers, but art continued to thrive. Wood-carving, particularly by men, flourished in the region, resulted in richly decorated ceremonial houses inBelau, stylized bowls, canoe ornaments, ceremonial vessels and sometimes sculptured figures. Women created textiles and ornaments such as bracelets and headbands. Stylistically, traditional Micronesian art is streamlined and of a practical simplicity to its function, but is typically finished to a high standard of quality.[69] This was mostly to make the best possible use of what few natural materials they had available to them.[70]
The first half of the 20th century saw a downturn in Micronesia's cultural integrity and a strong foreign influence from both western and Japanese Imperialist powers. A number of historical artistic traditions, especially sculpture, ceased to be practiced, although other art forms continued, including traditional architecture and weaving. Independence from colonial powers in the second half of the century resulted in a renewed interest in, and respect for, traditional arts. A notable movement of contemporary art also appeared in Micronesia towards the end of the 20th century.[71]
The cuisine of the Mariana Islands is tropical in nature, including such dishes askelaguen as well as many others.
Marshallese cuisine comprises the fare and foodways of the Marshall Islands, and includes local foods such as breadfruit, taro root,pandanus and seafood, among others.
Palauan cuisine includes local foods such as cassava, taro, yam, potato, fish and pork. Western cuisine is favored among young Palauans.
In the Federated States of Micronesia, education is required for citizens aged 6 to 13,[72] and is important to their economy.[73] The literacy rate for citizens aged 15 to 24 is 98.8%.[74] TheCollege of Micronesia-FSM has a campus in each of the four states with its national campus in the capital city ofPalikir,Pohnpei. The COM-FSM system also includes the Fisheries and Maritime Institute (FMI) on theYap islands.[75][76]
Understanding Law in Micronesia notes that The Federated States of Micronesia's laws and legal institutions are "uninterestingly similar to [those of Western countries]". However, it explains that "law in Micronesia is an extraordinary flux and flow of contrasting thought and meaning, inside and outside the legal system". It says that a knee-jerk reaction would be that law is disarrayed in the region and that improvement is required, but argues that the failure is "one endemic to the nature of law or to the ideological views we hold about law".[79]
The Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, a United Nations Trusteeship administered by the United States, borrowed heavily from United States law in establishing the Trust Territory Code during the Law and Development movement of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Many of those provisions were adopted by the new Congress of the Federated States of Micronesia when the Federated States of Micronesia became self-governing in 1979.[79]
Micronesian music is influential to those living in the Micronesian islands.[81] Some of the music is based aroundmythology and ancient Micronesianrituals. It covers a range of styles from traditional songs, handed down through generations, to contemporary music.
Traditional beliefs suggest that the music can be presented to people indreams andtrances, rather than being written bycomposers themselves. Micronesian folk music is, likePolynesian music, primarily vocal-based.
In the Marshall Islands, theroro is a kind of traditionalchant, usually about ancient legends and performed to give guidance during navigation and strength for mothers in labour. Modern bands have blended the unique songs of each island in the country with modern music. Thoughdrums are not generally common inMicronesian music, one-sided hourglass-shaped drums are a major part of Marshallese music.[82] There is a traditional Marshallese dance calledbeet, which is influenced by Spanish folk dances; in it, men and women side-step in parallel lines. There is a kind ofstick dance performed by theJobwa, nowadays only for very special occasions.
Popular music, both from Micronesia and from other areas of the world, is played on radio stations in Micronesia.[81]
The region is home to theMicronesian Games.[83] This quadrennial international multi-sport event involves all of Micronesia's countries and territories except Wake Island.
Nauru has two national sports,weightlifting andAustralian rules football.[84] According to 2007 Australian Football League International Census figures, there are around 180 players in the Nauru senior competition and 500 players in the junior competition,[85] representing a participation rate of over 30% overall for the country.
The predominant religion in Micronesia isChristianity (93%).[52] According to 2023 government statistics, 55% of the population were Catholic and 42% were Protestant, while 2% belonged to other Christian denominations. Other religious groups exist including Baha'is, Buddhists, Hindus, Jews, and Muslims.[53]
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 ownmythological beings. It was noted that 2.7% of the population followed folk religions in 2014.[53]
There are several significant figures and myths in the traditions of the Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, and Kiribati.
^Patrick Vinton Kirch,On the Road of the Winds: an Archeological History of the Pacific Islands before European Contact, Berkeley, University of California Press, 2000:5.
^Doran, Edwin B. (1981).Wangka: Austronesian Canoe Origins. Texas A&M University Press.ISBN978-0-89096-107-0.
^Dierking, Gary (2007).Building Outrigger Sailing Canoes: Modern Construction Methods for Three Fast, Beautiful Boats. International Marine/McGraw-Hill.ISBN978-0-07-159456-1.
^Hill, Adrian V.S.; Serjeantson, Susan W., eds. (1989).The Colonization of the Pacific: A Genetic Trail. Research Monographs on Human Population Biology No. 7. Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0-19-857695-2.
^« Although based on a superficial understanding of the Pacific islanders, Dumont d'Urville's tripartite classification stuck. Indeed, these categories — Polynesians, Micronesians, Melanesians — became so deeply entrenched in Western anthropological thought that it is difficult even now to break out the mould in which they entrap us (Thomas, 1989). Such labels provide handy geographical referents, yet they mislead us greatly if we take them to be meaningful segments of cultural history. Only Polynesia has stood the tests of time and increased knowledge, as a category with historical significance »,Patrick Vinton Kirch,On the Road of the Winds : an Archeological History of the Pacific Islands before European Contact, Berkeley, University of California Press, 2000 : 5.
^"Geography Overview".Embassy of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. Republic of the Marshall Islands. Archived fromthe original on 15 November 2013.
^Rainbird, Paul; Wilson, Meredith (2 January 2015). "Crossing the line: the enveloped cross in Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia".Antiquity.76 (293):635–636.doi:10.1017/S0003598X00091018.S2CID161654405.
^Levesque, Rodrigue, ed. (1992–1997).History of Micronesia: A collection of source documents, Vols. 1–20. Quebec, Canada: Levesque Publications. pp. 249, 251.
^Emery, Kenneth O.; Tracey, J I.; Ladd, H. S. (1954).Geology of Bikini and Nearby Atolls (Report). Geological Survey Professional Papers. Vol. 260. p. 3.
^Hezel, Francis X. (1983).The First Taint of Civilization: A History of the Caroline and Marshall Islands in Pre-colonial Days, 1521–1885. Pacific Islands Monograph Series. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. pp. 92–94.ISBN978-0-8248-1643-8.
^abc"Micronesia".United States Department of State. Retrieved21 March 2025.
^Regions and constituents as perUN categorisations/map exceptnotes 2–3, 6. Depending on definitions, various territories cited below (notes 3, 5–7, 9) may be inone or both of Oceania and Asia or North America.
^On 7 October 2006, government officials moved their offices in the former capital ofKoror toNgerulmud in the state ofMelekeok, located 20 km (12 mi) northeast of Koror onBabelthuap Island.
^Rodríguez-Ponga Salamanca, Rafael (2009).Del español al chamorro: Lenguas en contacto en el Pacífico [From Spanish to Chamorro: languages in contact in the Pacific] (in Spanish). Madrid: Ediciones Gondo.ISBN978-84-933774-4-1.OCLC436267171.
^Bay-Hansen, C.D. (2006).FutureFish 2001: FutureFish in Century 21: The North Pacific Fisheries Tackle Asian Markets, the Can-Am Salmon Treaty, and Micronesian Seas.Trafford Publishing. p. 277.ISBN1-55369-293-4.
^Oliver, Douglas L. (2022).Oceania: The Native Cultures of Australia and the Pacific Islands. Vol. 1. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. p. 274.ISBN978-0-82484-570-4.
^Drummond, Emily; Rudolph, Johnny (2021). "Nukuoro (Nukuoro Atoll, Pohnpei State, Federated States of Micronesia) – Language Snapshot".Language Documentation and Description (20): 149.
Kirch, Patrick Vinton (2001).On the Road of the Winds: An Archaeological History of the Pacific Islands Before European Contact. University of California Press.ISBN978-0-520-92896-1.
Lal, Brij V.; Fortune, Kate (2000).The Pacific Islands: An Encyclopedia. University of Hawaii Press.ISBN978-0-8248-2265-1.
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