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Chuuk State | |
|---|---|
 Flag | |
 Map of Chuuk State | |
 Chuuk in theFederated States of Micronesia | |
| Coordinates:7°25′N151°47′E / 7.417°N 151.783°E /7.417; 151.783 | |
| Country |  Federated States of Micronesia |
| Capital | Weno |
| Government | |
| • Governor | Alexander R. Narruhn (since 2021) |
| Area | |
• Total | 121.5 km2 (46.9 sq mi) |
| Population (2010) | |
• Total | 48,654 |
| • Density | 400/km2 (1,000/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+10 |
| ISO 3166 code | FM-TRK |
| Website | www |
Chuuk State (/ˈtʃuːk/; also known asTruk)[1] is one of the four states of theFederated States of Micronesia (FSM). It consists of several island groups:Nomoneas,Faichuuk, theHall Islands,Namonuito Atoll (Magur Islands),Pattiw (Western Islands), and theMortlock Islands. Chuuk is by far the FSM's most populous state, with 50,000 inhabitants on 120square kilometers (46square miles).Chuuk Lagoon is where most people live.Weno island, in the lagoon, is Chuuk'sstate capital and the country's biggest city. It mayhold a referendum on independence in the near future, although this referendum has been repeatedly postponed.
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Chuuk was first settled byAustronesians, believed to be from theLapita culture ofIsland Melanesia.[2] Archaeological evidence indicates that islands ofFeefen and Wééné Islands had human settlements in the second and first century BCE. Later evidence indicates that widespread human settlements appeared in Chuuk during the 14th century CE, as theChuukese culture was formed.[3]
The first sighting recorded by Europeans was made by the Spanish navigatorAlvaro de Saavedra[4][5] on board theFlorida during August or September 1528. They were later visited by the SpaniardAlonso de Arellano[6][7] on 15 January 1565 on board the galleon patache San Lucas.
As part of theCaroline Islands,[8] Truk was claimed by theSpanish Empire, which struggled to control the islands in the late 19th century. The Chuuk Lagoon was then inhabited byChuukese people (anAustronesian group) that participated in intermittent wars, as well as a small population of foreign merchants and missionaries, mostly linked to theCatholic Church. Spanish control over the islands was in part nominal. The Spanish stopped to raise a flag over Chuuk in 1886, and returned in 1895 as part of an attempt to assert control and negotiate peace between the tribes of Chuuk. No major Spanish settlement was established and traditional life continued until the German colonial era.
The Caroline Islands were sold to theGerman Empire in 1899,[9] after Spain withdrew from the Pacific after theSpanish–American War in which it lost its main colony in Asia, thePhilippines. Germany incorporated the territory into its domain in theGerman New Guinea.[10]
During World War I, theImperial Japanese navy was tasked with pursuing and destroying the GermanEast Asian Squadron and protecting the shipping lanes of Allied trade in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. During the course of this operation, the Japanese Navy seized German possessions in the Mariana Islands, the Carolinas, the Marshall Islands and Palau groups by October 1914. Chuuk then became a possession of the Empire of Japan under the mandate of theLeague of Nations after the defeat of Germany in World War I.
Chuuk was one of six districts of theTrust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI) which were administered by the United States under charter from theUnited Nations from the end of the Second World War to the mid-1980s. The termination of U.S. administration of the Chuuk, Yap, Kosrae, Pohnpei, and Mariana Islands districts of the TTPI occurred on 3 November 1986.
TheFederated States of Micronesia, including Chuuk, Yap, Kosrae, and Pohnpei, was established in 1979 and signed aCompact of Free Association with the U.S. (effective 3 November 1986).
As of recent times, Chuuk has been pushing harder forindependence. An independence referendum was originally scheduled to coincide with federal elections on 3 March 2015, but was pushed back to 5 March 2019. Theindependence referendum was further pushed back to March 2022, with a date to be announced, while the constitutional legality of the proposed secession is determined.[11]
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To the west isYap State. To the east arePohnpei State andKosrae State is further east.
The main population center of Chuuk State is theChuuk Lagoon, a large archipelago with mountainous islands surrounded by a string of islets on abarrier reef.[citation needed] The two major geographical and dialectic divisions of the Chuuk Lagoon are Faichuuk, the western islands, and Namoneas, the eastern islands.
Chuuk State also includes several more sparsely populated "outer island" groups, including theMortlock Islands to the southeast, theHall Islands (Pafeng) to the north,Namonuito Atoll to the northwest, and thePattiw Region to west. The Pattiw Region is of particular interest in that it has some of the most traditional islands in the Pacific and is culturally related to outer islands ofYap. This group includes the islands ofPollap,Tamatam,Poluwat, andHouk. There are still traditional master navigators—Poluwat and Pollap are considered to have some of the best navigators and ocean-goingoutrigger canoes in the Pacific. In the islands of the Pattiw Region, and some of the Islands of Yap, are the last two remaining schools of navigation,Weriyeng andFaaluush. Visiting the Pattiw Region in the west, however, is difficult due to the lack of reliable transportation. Houk probably has the most accessible airstrip in the Pattiw Region, with planes landing every one or two weeks.
The state shares itslongitude withSydney, Australia, namely the eastern portion of the city including theCBD.
| Climate data for Weno, Chuuk | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 33 (91) | 32 (90) | 32 (90) | 33 (92) | 33 (91) | 33 (92) | 33 (92) | 33 (92) | 34 (93) | 33 (92) | 33 (91) | 33 (91) | 34 (93) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 29.9 (85.8) | 29.9 (85.8) | 30.2 (86.4) | 30.4 (86.7) | 30.7 (87.3) | 30.7 (87.3) | 30.6 (87.1) | 30.7 (87.3) | 30.7 (87.3) | 30.7 (87.3) | 30.7 (87.3) | 30.2 (86.4) | 30.4 (86.7) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 27.4 (81.3) | 27.5 (81.5) | 27.6 (81.7) | 27.7 (81.9) | 27.8 (82.0) | 27.7 (81.9) | 27.4 (81.3) | 27.4 (81.3) | 27.5 (81.5) | 27.6 (81.7) | 27.7 (81.9) | 27.6 (81.7) | 27.6 (81.7) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 24.9 (76.8) | 25.0 (77.0) | 25.1 (77.2) | 25.0 (77.0) | 24.9 (76.8) | 24.6 (76.3) | 24.2 (75.6) | 24.2 (75.6) | 24.2 (75.6) | 24.3 (75.7) | 24.6 (76.3) | 25.0 (77.0) | 24.7 (76.5) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 21 (69) | 21 (70) | 22 (71) | 22 (71) | 21 (70) | 21 (70) | 21 (70) | 21 (70) | 20 (68) | 19 (66) | 21 (70) | 21 (70) | 19 (66) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 228 (8.98) | 163 (6.42) | 230 (9.05) | 291 (11.46) | 354 (13.94) | 301 (11.84) | 365 (14.37) | 350 (13.77) | 307 (12.07) | 361 (14.23) | 282 (11.10) | 293 (11.55) | 3,525 (138.78) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 1.0 mm) | 14.8 | 12.2 | 14.9 | 16.2 | 21.2 | 20.3 | 20.8 | 21.0 | 18.6 | 20.0 | 20.0 | 18.8 | 218.8 |
| Averagerelative humidity (%) | 78.7 | 77.7 | 78.7 | 81.0 | 82.6 | 82.9 | 83.9 | 83.2 | 83.0 | 83.1 | 81.9 | 80.8 | 81.6 |
| Mean monthlysunshine hours | 195.3 | 197.8 | 217.0 | 195.0 | 192.2 | 180.0 | 195.3 | 195.3 | 177.0 | 161.2 | 162.0 | 167.4 | 2,235.5 |
| Source 1:Hong Kong Observatory (sun 1961–1990)[12] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: NOAA[13] | |||||||||||||
On 2 July 2002, heavy rains fromTropical Storm Chataan caused more than thirty landslides that killed forty-seven people and injured dozens of others, in the state's deadliest weather disaster. The landslides occurred throughout the day, some within just minutes of each other.
Chuuk is the most populous of the FSM's states. At the census held on 1 April 2000, it had 53,595 inhabitants, compared with 34,486 forPohnpei, 11,241 forYap and 7,686 forKosrae; at the census held on 4 April 2010, it had 48,654 inhabitants, compared with 36,196 forPohnpei, 11,377 forYap and 6,616 forKosrae.[14]
The majority of the state's population is affiliated withChristianity as a result of the activity of missionary groups first from Spain and then from Germany and the United States.Catholicism was introduced during the Spanish colonization period, followed by the arrival of variousProtestant groups. The main religious building in the state is theImmaculate Heart of Mary Cathedral[15] in Tunnuk,Weno, which is under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of the Caroline Islands (Diocese Carolinensium) suffragan of the ecclesiastical province ofAgaña inGuam. Other churches in the state includeSacred Heart Church on Lekinioch Island,Christ the King Church in Neiwe, Houk Catholic Church,Holy Family Church in Weno,St. Ignatius Church[16] in Fonoton, among others.
The people of the country speak theChuukese language, aMicronesian language.
The New York Province of the Society of Jesus (theJesuits) maintains a mission school on the island of Weno in Chuuk.Xavier High School is housed at the former Japanese communications center. It is acoeducational institution, drawing students from all the island groups of the Federated States of Micronesia, as well asPalau and theMarshall Islands. Teachers are both Jesuit and lay and come from Micronesia, the U.S.,Indonesia,Japan, andAustralia.[citation needed]
Although Chuuk is an overwhelminglyChristian society, traditional beliefs inspirit possession by the dead still exist. Allegedly, these spirits overwhelmingly possess women, and spirit possession is usually brought on by family conflicts. The spirits, speaking through the women, typically admonish family members to treat each other better.[17]
There are some references on theChuukese language, treating guests, and on beliefs in the sci-fi book "Reefsong" fromCarol Severance.[citation needed]
Of the 40 municipalities of the state, 16 fall within theChuuk Lagoon and 24 in the Outer Islands.
In the table below, each is followed by its population at the 2010 Census:[18]
The State of Chuuk is one of the four federal states of the Federated States of Micronesia. As ademocraticfederation, each state has the ability to retain large number of power within the state as well as a certain level of sovereignty typical of federal states. The chief executive of Chuuk isthe governor. Chuuk has a bicameral legislature.[19]
Chuuk State Department of Education operates public schools.
Public high schools:[20]
Private secondary schools:[21]
Private primary schools:[20]
Chuuk State received the largest number of visitors of any of the Federated States of Micronesia. However, tourism is relatively under-developed. In the FSM's Development Plan for Chuuk, published in 2016, factors which disadvantaged the development of tourism in Chuuk included a lack of infrastructure, in particular irregular ferries between islands and a lack of regular electricity supplies on all islands apart from Weno. The report recognized that it is primarily Chuuk's underwater assets that would bring tourism, including its marine diversity and the Second World War shipwrecks around the coast.[22] Where tourism does exist, it is reliant on the diving industry, which was established in the islands byKimiuo Aisek.[23] A legacy of his work to make Chuuk a dive destination was the establishment of theKimiuo Aisek Memorial Museum.[24]
The American attacks on theJapanese fleet in 1944 were such that todayTruk lagoon is the largest underwatermilitary cemetery in the world (60 ships and 400 aircraft scattered over several kilometers), which attracts divers from all over the world. The diving conditions are very good (visibility 15–40 meters, variations in depth, minor currents, 700 varieties of fish, generous coral). However, this source of income is jeopardized by preservation issues, from rapidly disintegrating carcasses todynamite fishing that rapidly destroys whole sections of thegraveyard.[25]
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