Yap (Yapese:Waqab,^[1] sometimes written asWa'ab,Waab orWaqaab) traditionally refers to an island group located in theCaroline Islands of the westernPacific Ocean, a part ofYap State. The name "Yap" in recent years has come to also refer tothe state within theFederated States of Micronesia, inclusive of the Yap Main Islands and its various outer islands, the Yap Neighboring Islands. For specifying the island group, the nameYap Main Islands is most exact.

Yap Wa'ab (Yapese)
Island group
Flag
Map of the Yap Islands
Map of Yap Proper (Marbaaq)
Coordinates:9°30′N138°07′E / 9.500°N 138.117°E /9.500; 138.117
Country	Federated States of Micronesia
Government
• Governor	Charles S. Chieng
Area
• Total	308 km2 (118.9 sq mi)
• Land	100 km2 (38.7 sq mi)
Elevation	178 m (584 ft)
Population  (2010 census)
• Total	11,377
• Density	37/km2 (96/sq mi)

Yap is made up of four separate islands: Yap Proper (Marbaaq), Gagil-Tamil (Marfach), Maap (Yapese:Maap'), and Rumung. The four islands are encircled by a common coral reef and are separated by relatively small water features. Gagil-Tamil and Yap Proper were once linked, but in 1901 a narrow canal called the Tagireeng Canal was built to cut the two landmasses apart. Yap was formed from an uplift of thePhilippine Sea Plate, and is referred to as a "high" island as opposed toatolls. The land is mostly rolling hills, with densely vegetated valleys and savanna interiors.Mangrove swamps line much of the shore, although there are beaches on the northern and western sides of the islands. Excluding the reef area, the Yap Main Islands are approximately 24 km long, 5–10 km wide, and 98 km². The highest elevation is 178 m (584 ft) at Mount Taabiywol in Fanif municipality on Yap Proper.

Administratively, the Yap Main Islands are divided into ten municipalities that sometimes cross the water features that divide Yap into its constituent islands.

• Dalipebinaw
• Fanif
• Gagil
• Gilman
• Kanifay
• Maap
• Rull
• Rumung
• Tomil
• Weloy

The climate type of Yap Island belongs to the typicaltropical rainforest climate (Köppen:Af), with high temperature and rainy weather throughout the year, and the most humid time of the year is from June to October.

TheYapese language belongs to theAustronesian languages, more specifically to theOceanic languages. Yap was initially settled by ancient migrants from the Malay Peninsula, the Indonesian Archipelago, New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands. The people of theYap State outer islands are descendants ofMicronesian settlers, and as such have significant ethnic dissimilarities from the people of the Yap Main Islands. Their culture and languages (Ulithian,Woleaian, andSatawalese) are closely related to those of the outer islands ofChuuk.English is used as a common language.^[4]

TheYapese people's indigenous cultures and traditions are stronger compared to those of other states inMicronesia.^[5]

Yap is known for itsstone money, known as Rai, or Fei: largedoughnut-shaped, carved disks of (usually)calcite, up to 4 m (13 ft) in diameter (most are much smaller). The smallest can be as little as 3.5 centimetres (1.4 in) in diameter.^[6] Many of them were brought from other islands, as far asNew Guinea, but most came in ancient times fromPalau. Their value is based on both the stone's size and its history. Historically the Yapese valued the disks because the material looks likequartz, and these were the shiniest objects available. Eventually the stones became legal tender and were even mandatory in some payments.^[7]

The value of the stones was kept high due to the difficulty and hazards involved in obtaining them. To quarry the stones, Yapese adventurers had to sail to distant islands and deal with local inhabitants who were sometimes hostile. Once quarried, the disks had to be transported back to Yap on rafts towed behind sail-driven canoes. The scarcity of the disks, and the effort and peril required to get them, made them valuable to the Yapese.

In 1874, Irish American sea captainDavid O'Keefe hit upon the idea of employing the Yapese to import more "money" in the form of shiploads of large stones, also from Palau. O'Keefe then traded these stones with the Yapese for other commodities such assea cucumbers andcopra. The 1954 filmHis Majesty O'Keefe castBurt Lancaster in the captain's role. Although some of the O'Keefe stones are larger than the canoe-transported stones, they are less valuable than the earlier stones due to the comparative ease with which they were obtained.

Since no more disks are being produced or imported, thismoney supply is fixed.^[8] The islanders know who owns which piece but do not necessarily move them when ownership changes. Their size and weight (the largest ones require 20 adult men to carry) make them very difficult to move around. Although today theUnited States dollar is the currency used for everyday transactions in Yap, the stone disks are still used for more traditional or ceremonial exchange. The stone disks may change ownership during marriages, transfers of land title, or as compensation for damages suffered by an aggrieved party.^[9]

There are four other types of currency on the Island. First there is "Mmbul" which is a length oflava-lava, the cloth used forloincloths, three or four feet long and two feet wide, wrapped up in aBetel nut sheath. Then there is "Gau" or "Gaw", a necklace ofshells, up to 10 feet in length. The shells come from Canet, an island nearPonape, from Ponape itself and fromEuripik. Since these come from a distance, Gau is worth more than Mmbul. "Yar" is money made of large shells about eight inches wide, pierced and tied on a coconut rope. Finally, "Reng" is the name of money made ofturmeric, which is ground and mixed with water and the paste shaped into a ball, typically used for tribal ceremonies.^[10]

There are three types of traditional buildings on Yap. The "tabinaw" is a family house and has a roof made of woven thatch (dried palm fronds). Inside, there is one open room with no lavatory. Kitchens are separate structures (t'ang) outside the family houses.^[11]

The "faluw" is the "men's house"; such buildings were built on the shoreline with easy access to the sea. Prior to World War I, women had been kidnapped and taken to thefaluw. Today this practice no longer occurs. Women considered it an honor to be chosen for thefaluw, because only the most beautiful women would be taken there. Such a woman was called the "mispil" (resident female) of thefaluw. As the island's culture was more and more influenced by the rest of the world's views on prostitution, this practice ended.^[11]

Largest of the three types is the "p'ebay", a place for the community to come together for school, dances or meetings. As with all structures on Yap, it is necessary to obtain permission before entering. There are a few men's houses that women are allowed to enter; however, people must always ask for permission.^[11]

The Yapese and Neighboring Island Yapese were some of the most renowned navigators in the Pacific. Yapese sailors traveled phenomenal distances in outrigger canoes, without the aid of a compass, navigating by the stars and the patterns of ocean waves using techniques of Micronesian andPolynesian navigation. During pre-colonial times, the people of Yap established anisland empire and dominion over what are now the Neighboring Islands of Yap State. Beginning in the 19th century, Yap was colonized by the Spanish, Germans, and Japanese in succession.

The double-hulled voyaging canoeAlingano Maisu, gifted by thePolynesian Voyaging Society to master navigatorMau Piailug, is home-ported on the island of Yap under the command of Piailug's son, Sesario Sewralur.

Yapese society is based on a highly complex "caste system" involving at least seven tiers of rank.^[12] Historically, the caste rank of an entire village could rise or fall in comparison to other villages depending on how it fared in inter-village conflicts. Winning villages would rise in rank as a part of a peace settlement, while losing villages would have to accept a decline in comparative rank. In many cases lower ranked villages were required to pay tribute to higher ranked villages. Further, dietary taboos might be imposed on lower ranking villages, e.g., they might be prohibited from harvesting and eating the more desirable fish and animals of the sea. Further, within each village each family had its own rank comparative to the others.

Until the arrival of the German colonizers, the caste ranking system was fluid and the ranks of villages and families changed in response to inter-village intrigues and confrontations. In the early twentieth century, however, the German colonial administration pacified Yap and enforced a prohibition against violent conflict. The caste ranking of each village in modern Yap thus remains the same as it was when the system was frozen in place by the Germans.^{[citation needed]}

The first recorded sighting of Yap by Europeans came during theSpanish expedition ofÁlvaro de Saavedra in 1528. Its sighting was also recorded by the Spanishexpedition ofRuy López de Villalobos on 26 January 1543, who charted them as "The Reefs" (Los Arrecifes).^[13][14][15] At Yap, theVillalobos expedition received the same surprising greeting as previously inFais Island from the local people approaching the ships in canoes, crossing themselves and calling out "Buenos días Matelotes!" ("Hello, sailors!"), which they took for Spanish but more probably reflected the missionary efforts ofAntónio Galvão, governor of thePortuguese East Indies.^[16] The original account of this story is included in the report that theAugustinian Fray Jerónimo de Santisteban wrote for the Viceroy ofNew Spain while inCochin during his voyage home.^[17] Yap also appeared in Spanish charts as "The Chickpeas" (Los Garbanzos) and "GreatCaroline" (Gran Carolina).

From the 17th century until 1899, Yap was a Spanish colony within theCaptaincy General of the Philippines of theSpanish East Indies. The Spanish used Yap as a prison for those captured during thePhilippine Revolution.^{[18]: 204–212} After their defeat by theUnited States in 1898, and subsequent loss of the Philippines, Spain sold Yap and its other minor Pacific possessions toGermany.

Yap was a majorGerman naval communications center before theFirst World War and an important international hub for cable telegraphy, with spokes branching out toGuam, Shanghai,Rabaul,Nauru andManado (on the north tip ofCelebes). It was occupied by Japanese troops in September 1914, and passed to theJapanese Empire under theTreaty of Versailles in 1919 as a mandated territory underLeague of Nations supervision. U.S. commercial rights on the island were secured by a special U.S.-Japanese treaty to that effect, concluded on 11 February 1922.^[19]

InWorld War II,Japanese-held Yap was one of the islands bypassed in the U.S.island-hopping strategy, although it was regularly bombed by U.S. ships and aircraft, and Yap-based Japanese bombers did some damage in return. The Japanesegarrison comprised 4,423Imperial Japanese Army soldiers under the command of Colonel Daihachi Itō and 1,494Imperial Japanese Navy sailors.^[20]

At the end of World War II, Yap was occupied by the U.S. Military. The U.S. held it and the rest of the Caroline Islands as a trusteeship, theTrust Territory of the Pacific Islands, under a United Nations mandate until 1986. In that year, Yap,Truk,Pohnpei, andKosrae formed the independent nation of the Federated States of Micronesia. Under aCompact of Free Association with the United States, Micronesian citizens and goods are allowed entry into the U.S. with few restrictions.

AmericanPeace Corps was active in Yap from 1966 to 2018. Other U.S.-based non-profit organizations, includingHabele, have an ongoing presence on both Yap proper and its outer islands, aimed at reducing educational disparities and inequalities in access to effective classroom instruction.

• 2007 Yap Islands Zika virus outbreak
• Rai stones
• William Henry Furness III
• Constitution of the State of Yap

• Spate, Oskar Hermann Khristian (1979),The Pacific Since Magellan,Vol. I: The Spanish Lake, Canberra: Australian National University Press,ISBN 9781920942168.

• The Official Government Website for the Island of Yap
• Yap Visitors Bureau