Micronesia
Name
| Official name | Federated States of Micronesia — the FSM |
|---|---|
| Former names | The Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands under the United States (1947–79), the districts of Yap, Truk, Ponape and Kusaie; the Japanese South Seas Mandate (1920–44); German New Guinea's Carolines (1899–1914); the Spanish East Indies' Carolinas (to 1899); the Caroline Islands still on the maps |
| Demonym | Micronesian; Chuukese, Pohnpeian, Yapese, Kosraean by state |
| Meaning of the name | Micronesia — the "small islands" of the Greek, the name given to the region by Jules Dumont d'Urville in 1831 and taken by the federation in 1979; the Carolines named for King Charles II of Spain by the navigator Lazcano in 1686; Chuuk "mountain," Pohnpei "upon a stone altar," Kosrae, Yap of Wa'ab |
| Motto | "Peace, Unity, Liberty" — on the seal |
Quick facts
| Capital | Palikir — on Pohnpei, the planned capital opened in 1989 in place of Kolonia, 8 km inland; a government town of a few thousand |
|---|---|
| Largest towns | Weno on Chuuk Lagoon, about 14,000, the largest town and the state capital of Chuuk; Kolonia, the town and port of Pohnpei, about 6,000; Colonia, the capital of Yap; Tofol and Lelu of Kosrae; the villages of the outer atolls |
| Official language | English — the language of the Constitution, the government and the schools above the primary grade; the four state languages, Chuukese, Pohnpeian, Yapese and Kosraean, official in their states; Mortlockese, Ulithian, Woleaian, Pingelapese, Mokilese and the rest of the eighteen languages; the Polynesian Kapingamarangi and Nukuoro of the outliers; Japanese in the memories of the old |
| Currency | United States dollar — USD, $; the only money |
| Time zones | Two — Chuuk and Yap at UTC+10, Pohnpei and Kosrae at UTC+11; no summer time |
| Calling code | +691 |
| Internet domain | .fm — sold to the radio stations of the world |
| ISO 3166 codes | FM · FSM · 583 |
| Vehicle registration code | FSM |
| Driving side | Right |
| Electricity | 120 V, 60 Hz; plug types A and B |
| Independence | The Constitution in force 10 May 1979, Constitution Day; sovereignty in free association with the United States 3 November 1986, Independence Day; the UN trusteeship ended 22 December 1990; the United Nations 17 September 1991 |
| National days | 3 November, Independence Day; 10 May, Constitution Day; 24 October, United Nations Day; 31 March, Culture Day; 11 November, Veterans Day, for the Micronesians of the American forces; Christmas; the states' own days, Pohnpei Liberation Day of 11 September for 1945, Kosrae Liberation Day of 8 September, Chuuk Constitution Day of 1 October, Yap Day of 1 March |
| Constitution | 10 May 1979 — the Constitution of the Federated States of Micronesia, drafted at the convention of Saipan of 1975 and approved by the four districts in the referendum of 12 July 1978 that Palau and the Marshalls rejected: a federation of four states, a president and vice president chosen by the Congress from the at-large senators for four years, the unicameral Congress of 14, the Supreme Court, the traditional leaders honored in Article V; amended by the conventions of 1990 and 2001; the convention of 2019 and the Chuuk secession votes deferred |
| Population | 75,817 at the census of 2023 — down 26% from 102,843 in 2010 by the emigration; about 75,000 (2026 est.); Chuuk 33,885, Pohnpei 26,102, Yap 10,739, Kosrae 5,092 |
| Area | 702 km² (271 sq mi) of land — 607 islands across 2,700 km; Pohnpei state 345 km², Chuuk 127 km², Yap 118 km², Kosrae 110 km²; the exclusive economic zone about 3 million km², the fourteenth-largest in the world |
Flag & national symbols
| National flag | A light blue field with four white five-pointed stars set in a diamond — the blue of the Pacific and of the United Nations, whose trust the islands were, the four stars the four states of Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosrae; adopted 30 November 1978 on the lines of the Trust Territory flag of 1962 whose six stars stood for the six districts, two of them, Palau and the Marshalls, gone their own way.Flag of Micronesia |
|---|---|
| Seal of the federation | A coconut palm on a beach before the sea and a sky of four stars, with "Peace, Unity, Liberty" beneath and "Government of the Federated States of Micronesia" around the rim, the year 1979; the palm the tree of life of the islands |
| National anthem | "Patriots of Micronesia" — "'Tis here we are pledging, with heart and with hand" — sung to the tune of the German song "Ich hab' mich ergeben," the melody brought by the missionaries; adopted 1991 in place of the "Preamble" of 1979 |
| National motto | "Peace, Unity, Liberty" |
| National colors | Light blue and white |
| National tree | The coconut palm of the seal and the breadfruit of the feasts, the mei of Pohnpei whose fruit the Chuukese preserve in pits; widely cited |
| National symbols of the states | The Rai stones of Yap, the disks of calcite up to 4 m across quarried in Palau and carried home by canoe, some 6,500 of them still money on the island, the largest coins on earth; the sakau of Pohnpei, the kava pounded on a stone and drunk from a coconut shell, the ceremony of the nahnmwarki chiefs; the outrigger canoes and the star navigators of the outer islands; widely cited |
| National animal | The Micronesian kingfisher of Pohnpei; the fruit bats of the caves; the coconut crab; the mantas of Yap; the sharks of Chuuk; widely cited |
| National dish | Breadfruit, taro, yams and bananas of the feasts with the pork and the reef fish; the yam of Pohnpei of the yam-growing competitions, grown to 100 kg for the chiefs; the sakau; the coconut crab; the tuna sashimi of the Japanese years; widely cited |
| National sport | Baseball, the game left by the Japanese, the Pohnpei leagues; the outrigger canoe races; volleyball and basketball; football since the federation of 1999; the Micronesian Games since 1969; widely cited |
| Symbol status | The flag by the act of 1978 and the Constitution; the seal by the act of 1979; the anthem by the act of 1991; the tree, the state symbols, the animals, the dishes and the sports widely cited |
Geography
| Location | Oceania, in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific just north of the equator — Palau to the west, Guam and the Marianas to the north, the Marshall Islands and Nauru to the east, Papua New Guinea to the south; 2,900 km north of Australia, 3,400 km southeast of Japan, 4,000 km southwest of Honolulu |
|---|---|
| Land borders | None — maritime boundaries with Palau, Guam, the Marshall Islands, Papua New Guinea and the Marianas; the outlying atolls of Kapingamarangi and Nukuoro, the Polynesian outliers 800 km south of Pohnpei, left unnamed in the German–Spanish treaty of 1899, the curiosity Spain noted in 1949 and claims not at all |
| Coastline | 6,112 km (3,798 mi) — the reefs of the atolls and the lagoons, the mangroves of Pohnpei and Kosrae, the beaches of the outer islands; the Chuuk Lagoon of 2,130 km² inside a reef of 225 km with 19 high islands in it |
| Highest point | Nanlaud — Nahnalaud — 782 m (2,566 ft), on Pohnpei |
| Lowest point | The Pacific Ocean, 0 m |
| Mean elevation | A few meters on the atolls; the volcanic islands rising to 600–780 m |
| The islands | 607 islands in four states — Yap, the four islands of the western cluster and its atolls of Ulithi, Woleai and Satawal, the Rai stones; Chuuk, the lagoon of Weno, Tonoas, Fefan and the rest and the Mortlocks and Halls outside it; Pohnpei, the island of 345 km² with Kolonia, Palikir and Nan Madol, and the atolls of Mokil, Pingelap, Sapwuahfik, Nukuoro and Kapingamarangi; Kosrae, the single island of the east with Lelu; 65 of the 607 inhabited |
| Rivers and lakes | The short rivers of the high islands — the Nanpil and the Senipehn of Pohnpei with the Kepirohi and Liduduhniap falls, the Finkol of Kosrae; no lakes of size, the mangrove lagoons; the Chuuk Lagoon and the atoll lagoons the waters of the country |
| Terrain | Volcanic high islands of basalt and rainforest — Pohnpei's dome, Kosrae's "sleeping lady" ridge, the islands of the Chuuk Lagoon, the raised Yap of its own tectonic plate — and the coral atolls of the rest; the Sokehs Rock of Pohnpei; the mangroves and the reefs |
| Climate | Tropical rainforest — 27°C all year, the trade winds of the northeast; the rain from 2,500 mm on the atolls to more than 5,000 on the windward slopes and about 10,000 on Nanlaud, among the wettest places on earth; the driest months January and February still wet; El Niño the drought-maker, La Niña the flood |
| Natural hazards | Typhoons born in these waters — Chataan of 2 July 2002 whose mudslides killed 47 on Chuuk, Maysak of March 2015 across Chuuk and Yap, Wutip of 2019; the droughts of El Niño, the state of emergency of 2016; the sea's rise on the atolls and the taro pits salted; the storms of the outer islands; the coral bleaching; the earthquakes of Yap's plate |
| Natural resources | The tuna of the exclusive zone; the forests of the high islands; the phosphate of the atolls of old; the marine minerals of the seabed; the sun; no oil, no metals mined |
| Land use | Agricultural land about 26%, the coconut and the breadfruit gardens; forest about 74% by the count of the palms and the rain forest |
| Protected areas | The Utwe and And Atoll biosphere reserves of Kosrae and Pohnpei of 2005 and 2007, UNESCO's; the Micronesia Challenge of 2006 to protect 30% of the near-shore waters and 20% of the land by 2020; the Nan Madol and Lelu ruins; the mangrove reserves of Kosrae; the Chuuk Lagoon's wrecks as a monument |
| UNESCO World Heritage | 1 — Nan Madol: Ceremonial Centre of Eastern Micronesia (2016), the city of about 100 artificial islets of basalt columns built on the reef off Pohnpei between 1180 and 1200 by the Saudeleur dynasty that ruled the island from about 500 to 1500, the "Venice of the Pacific," on the danger list from its inscription for the mangroves and the sea that swallow it; the Rai stones and the stick charts unlisted; the country's tentative list of the Lelu ruins and the Chuuk wrecks |
| Administrative divisions | 4 states — Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosrae, from west to east, each with its own constitution, governor and legislature; about 74 municipalities beneath them; the traditional chiefs of the nahnmwarki of Pohnpei's five kingdoms, the Yapese councils of chiefs, Pilung and Tamol, written into the state constitutions |
People
| Population | 75,817 (census of 2023); about 75,000 (2026 est.) |
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| Population density | About 108 per km² (280 per sq mi) — Chuuk at 266, Kosrae at 46 |
| Population growth | Negative — the births high and the departures higher, the population down a quarter since 2010 by the emigration to Guam, Hawaii and the mainland under the Compact |
| Median age | About 26 years |
| Life expectancy | About 68 years — 66 for men, 69 for women |
| Fertility rate | About 2.7 births per woman |
| Urban population | About 23% — Weno and Kolonia |
| Adult literacy | About 90% |
| Ethnic groups | Chuukese 48.8%; Pohnpeian 24.2%; Kosraean 6.2%; Yapese 5.2%; the outer islanders of Yap 4.5%; Asian 1.8%, the Filipinos, Chinese and Japanese of the towns; Polynesian 1.5%, the people of Kapingamarangi and Nukuoro; others 6.4% (2016) — one country of four peoples who did not share a language before the Americans' English, the Japanese blood of the settlers of the 1930s in many families |
| Languages | English by most as the second language and the language of the state; Chuukese by about 46,000, Pohnpeian by 30,000, Kosraean by 8,000, Mortlockese by 6,000, Yapese by 5,000, Ulithian, Kapingamarangi, Pingelapese, Woleaian, Mokilese, Puluwatese and the rest of the eighteen; the Japanese of the elders born under the mandate |
| Religion | Christian about 95% — Roman Catholic 52.6%, the Spanish and German legacy strongest on Chuuk and Yap, and Protestant 41.7%, the Congregational church of the Boston missionaries of 1852 that made Kosrae the most Protestant island of the Pacific at 95%; the folk religion of the ancestors about 4% and beneath the surface of the rest; the Baha'is, the Mormons, the Ahmadi mosque of Pohnpei; the churches the center of every village (2016) |
| Human Development Index | 0.615 (2023 data, 2025 report) — medium; 149th of 193 |
| Health | Diabetes and obesity of the imported diet among the highest rates in the world; the tuberculosis and the leprosy of Chuuk; the Pingelap atoll of the maskun, the total color blindness of about 5% of its people from the typhoon of 1775 that left twenty survivors, the "island of the colorblind" of Oliver Sacks; the hospitals of the four states and the referrals to Guam and Manila |
| Sport | Baseball of the Japanese legacy, the leagues of Pohnpei and Chuuk; the outrigger canoe racing of the outer islands; the Micronesian Games since 1969, hosted in 1969, 1998 and 2014; the Olympics since 2000 with the swimmers and weightlifters, no medal; the football team of the federation of 1999 and its 0–46 loss to Vanuatu's under-23s in 2015, the worst defeat in international football |
| Diaspora | About 50,000 Micronesians in the United States and its territories by the Compact's open door — Guam and Saipan first, then Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Arkansas and Missouri, the poultry plants and the hospitals; the young men in the U.S. armed forces, the highest rate of enlistment per head of any nation by the claim, 17 sworn at Kolonia on 17 June 2026; the remittances home; the Medicaid restored to them in 2020 |
Government
| Form of government | Federal presidential republic without parties under the Constitution of 1979 — the president and vice president elected by the Congress from among the four at-large senators for four years, the president head of state and government with an appointed cabinet; the unicameral Congress of 14; the Supreme Court; the four states with their own governments; a state in free association with the United States |
|---|---|
| President | Wesley W. Simina (Chuuk), since 11 May 2023 — the tenth president; born 10 September 1961 on Chuuk, a lawyer with a Juris Doctor, the governor of Chuuk of 2005–15 who cut the state's deficit and rebuilt the Weno grid, the Speaker of Congress of 2015–23, the at-large senator for Chuuk; elected by the Congress over the incumbent David Panuelo after the election of March 2023; "the FSM and the United States are family," he told Deputy Secretary Landau at Honolulu on 25 February 2026 |
| Vice President | Aren B. Palik (Kosrae), since 11 May 2023 — the at-large senator for Kosrae; Esmond Moses (Pohnpei) the Speaker of Congress since the same day, the vice speaker of 2019–23 |
| The cabinet | Ricky Cantero at foreign affairs; the departments of finance, justice, health, education, resources and development, transportation, communications and infrastructure, and environment, climate change and emergency management; the Office of the President at Palikir |
| The 2025 election | Held 4 March 2025 for the ten two-year seats of the Congress — the 24th Congress convened in May 2025 with the four at-large senators of 2023; no party on any ballot, the candidates independents of their islands and clans; the third special session called by the president on 1 July 2026 |
| Parliament | The Congress of the Federated States of Micronesia — 14 senators: four at-large, one from each state, elected for four years, from whom the president and vice president are chosen and whose seats are then filled by special election; ten from single-member districts by population for two years, five from Chuuk, three from Pohnpei, one each from Yap and Kosrae; Esmond Moses the Speaker; one of the smallest legislatures in the world |
| The next election | The Congress on 2 March 2027, all 14 seats; the election of the president and vice president by the new Congress in May 2027; Simina eligible for a second term |
| The Compact | The Compact of Free Association with the United States — the first of 3 November 1986, the amended Compact of 2004 that ran to 2023, and the third, signed 23 May 2023 at Port Moresby and enacted by Congress on 9 March 2024, for twenty years to 2043 with about US$3.3 billion, the largest of the three Compacts, about US$140 million a year in grants and the payments into the Compact Trust Fund of more than US$1 billion: the United States responsible for the defense and security of the islands with the right to deny other powers, the Micronesians free to live, work and study in the United States and to serve in its armed forces, the postal service, the weather service, the disaster agency and the aviation authority serving the islands; "my continued commitment to the implementation of the Compact," the president told the U.S. delegation of 21 January 2026, "while there are challenges" |
| China and the United States | Diplomatic relations with China since 11 September 1989, the Chinese-built government buildings of Palikir and the gymnasium; the letter of 9 March 2023 in which the outgoing President David Panuelo accused Beijing of "political warfare" — the bribes, the surveillance, the threats to officials — and proposed switching to Taiwan for US$50 million a year, "false," the Chinese embassy answered; his successor kept the relations with China and deepened those with Washington, Tokyo and Canberra; the U.S. consultations of January 2026 on "commercial development"; the votes with the United States at the UN, among the four highest of any country; the Pacific Agenda summit of February 2026 at Honolulu |
| The states | Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosrae, each with a governor — Alexander Narruhn of Chuuk, Stevenson Joseph of Pohnpei, Tulensa Palik of Kosrae, an acting governor of Yap — and a legislature, Chuuk's of two houses; the Chuuk independence movement of the 2010s and its referendum postponed from 2015 to 2019 to 2022 and shelved, the Compact's money the argument against; the states' share of the Compact grants the fight of every budget |
| Legal system | Common law of the American model with the customary law of the chiefs and the clans — the Constitution's Article V protecting the traditional leaders, the land held by the matrilineal clans and sold to no foreigner; the Supreme Court of the federation and the state courts; the death penalty none; the U.S. courts of the Trust Territory years the source |
| Local government | The four state governments and about 74 municipalities with elected mayors and councils; the traditional systems beside them — the five paramount chiefs, the nahnmwarki, of Pohnpei's kingdoms of Madolenihmw, U, Kitti, Sokehs and Nett, the councils of chiefs of Yap with a veto over the state legislature, the chiefs of Kosrae and the clan heads of Chuuk |
| Defense | The United States by the Compact — no army; the National Police with its maritime wing and the patrol boat given by Australia, the FSS Tosiwo Nakayama of 2021, for the fisheries and the rescues; the U.S. Coast Guard's shiprider agreements; the Micronesians in the American forces, the enlistment ceremony of every June |
| Foreign policy | The United States above all; Japan of the embassy opened at Tokyo in 2024 and the Pacific Islands Leaders Meetings; Australia of the patrol boat and the cable; China of the buildings; relations with 56 states, India's ambassador's credentials of December 2025, Timor-Leste by the communiqué of 24 June 2026; Russia's relations severed on 25 February 2022 over the "unjustified and brutal" invasion of Ukraine; the Pacific Islands Forum left in the Micronesian walkout of 9 February 2021 over the secretary-general's election and rejoined by the Suva Agreement of 7 June 2022; the Micronesian Presidents' Summit with Palau, the Marshalls, Kiribati and Nauru; the climate case of the atolls |
| United Nations | Member since 17 September 1991; the votes with the United States on Israel and the rest; the Alliance of Small Island States; the East Micronesia Cable of the United States, Australia and Japan from Kosrae to Nauru and Kiribati, the milestone of 2026 |
| Other memberships | The Pacific Islands Forum; the Pacific Community (1983); the Nauru Agreement of the tuna states; the International Maritime Organization; the Asian Development Bank; the IMF and the World Bank (1993); the Small Island Developing States; the FAO |
Economy
| GDP (nominal) | About US$500 million (2025, IMF) |
|---|---|
| GDP per capita | About US$5,300 (2025) |
| GDP per capita (PPP) | About US$4,800 (2025) |
| GDP growth | About 3% a year in 2024–26 on the Compact's new grants; inflation about 4%; the government the employer of half the workers with jobs |
| Economy by sector | Services about 70%, the government above all; industry about 5%; agriculture and fishing about 25%, the subsistence gardens and the reef |
| Currency | United States dollar (USD) |
| The Compact money | U.S. grants of about US$140 million a year under the third Compact of 2024–43, about a third of GDP and half of the government's spending, for the health, the education and the infrastructure of the four states; the Compact Trust Fund of more than US$1 billion for the day after; the U.S. programs of the postal service, the weather and the schools |
| Tuna and the sea | The fishing-license fees of the purse seiners and longliners of Japan, Taiwan, China and the United States under the Nauru Agreement's Vessel Day Scheme, about US$70 million a year, the second income of the state; the Pohnpei fishing base; the reef fish and the octopus of the villages; the exclusive zone the wealth |
| Farming and the land | Copra of the outer islands; the breadfruit, taro, yams, bananas and coconuts of the subsistence gardens; the sakau of Pohnpei sold to the markets and exported as kava; the black pepper of Pohnpei; the betel nut of Yap; the pigs and the chickens; the fish of the lagoons |
| Tourism | About 20,000 visitors a year before the pandemic — the divers of Chuuk Lagoon, the greatest wreck dive in the world, 60 Japanese ships and 250 aircraft sunk in Operation Hailstone of February 1944; the mantas of Yap's channels; Nan Madol; the remoteness and the few flights the limit |
| Public finances | The budget of about US$200 million, half of it the Compact; public debt about 15% of GDP; the captive insurance companies of the law of 2006; the fishing fees; the states' revenue-sharing fight |
| Income classification | Lower-middle income (World Bank); a small island developing state |
Transport & infrastructure
| Main airports | Four international airports, one for each state — Pohnpei at Kolonia on the reef of Deketik, Chuuk on Weno, Kosrae on the reef of Okat, Yap at Colonia; the airstrips of Ulithi and a few atolls |
|---|---|
| Airlines | United Airlines' Island Hopper from Honolulu through Majuro and Kwajalein to Kosrae, Pohnpei, Chuuk and Guam, the lifeline of the states; Nauru Airlines; Caroline Islands Air of Pohnpei for the domestic hops; the field-trip ships to the outer islands |
| Main ports | Kolonia of Pohnpei; Weno of Chuuk; Okat of Kosrae; Colonia of Yap; the container ships of Matson and Kyowa from Guam and Honolulu; the fishing base of Pohnpei |
| Railways | None |
| Roads | About 400 km (250 mi), fewer than 100 paved — the circumferential road of Pohnpei of 1985 around the island, the Weno roads of the potholes and the Kosrae road; the taxis of Kolonia and Weno; the driving on the right |
| The sea | The outrigger canoes of the outer islanders and the navigators of Satawal — Mau Piailug, who taught the Hawaiians to sail the Hokule'a by the stars in 1976; the ships of the government to the atolls; the submarine cables of HANTRU-1 of 2010 and the East Micronesia Cable of 2026 |
History in dates
| c. 2000 BC | The first settlers of Yap and Chuuk from the west, of Pohnpei and Kosrae from the south |
|---|---|
| c. 500 | The Saudeleur dynasty of Pohnpei — Nan Madol built about 1180–1200 |
| c. 1400 | The Lelu city of Kosrae |
| 1526 | Diogo da Rocha sights Yap — the first European; Saavedra, 1528 |
| 1686 | The Carolines named for Charles II of Spain |
| 1852 | The Boston missionaries at Pohnpei and Kosrae |
| 1885 | The Carolines Question — Pope Leo XIII rules for Spain |
| 1887 | The Spanish found Santiago de la Ascensión — Kolonia |
| 1899 | Sold to Germany, 30 June |
| 1910 | The Sokehs rebellion of Pohnpei, 18 October — 17 executed |
| 1914 | Japan takes the islands, October |
| 1920 | The Japanese mandate |
| 1944 | Operation Hailstone on Truk, 17–18 February |
| 1947 | The Trust Territory, 18 July |
| 1965 | The Congress of Micronesia |
| 1975 | The constitutional convention at Saipan |
| 1978 | The referendum, 12 July — four districts say yes |
| 1979 | The Constitution, 10 May — Tosiwo Nakayama president |
| 1986 | The Compact in force, 3 November |
| 1989 | Palikir the capital; China recognized, 11 September |
| 1990 | The trusteeship ended, 22 December |
| 1991 | The United Nations, 17 September |
| 2002 | Chataan, 2 July — 47 dead on Chuuk |
| 2004 | The amended Compact, 25 June |
| 2015 | Maysak, March; the Chuuk vote postponed |
| 2016 | Nan Madol on the World Heritage list, 15 July |
| 2021 | The Forum walkout, 9 February |
| 2022 | Russia's ties cut, 25 February; the Suva Agreement, 7 June |
| 2023 | Panuelo's letter, 9 March; Simina president, 11 May; the third Compact signed, 23 May; the census |
| 2024 | The Compact enacted, 9 March; the embassy in Tokyo |
| 2025 | The Congress elected, 4 March; India's credentials, December |
| 2026 | The U.S. consultations, 21 January; Landau, 25 February; Timor-Leste, 24 June; the special session, 1 July |
Records & firsts
| The city built on the reef | Nan Madol, about 1180 |
|---|---|
| The largest coins on earth | The Rai stones of Yap, 4 m |
| The greatest wreck dive | Chuuk Lagoon, 60 ships |
| One of the wettest places on earth | Nanlaud, about 10,000 mm |
| The island of the colorblind | Pingelap |
| The largest of the three Compacts | US$3.3 billion |
| A population down a quarter in 13 years | 102,843 to 75,817 |
| One of the smallest legislatures | 14 senators |
| A republic without parties | Since 1979 |
| The worst defeat in international football | 0–46, 2015 |
| The fourteenth-largest sea | 3 million km² |
| The star navigators | Satawal, Mau Piailug |
| Four peoples, one country | Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei, Kosrae |
| The .fm of the radio world | The domain |
Frequently asked questions
What is the official name of Micronesia?
The Federated States of Micronesia — the FSM — the federation of the four states of Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosrae that adopted its Constitution on 10 May 1979 out of the American Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, became sovereign in free association with the United States on 3 November 1986 and joined the United Nations in 1991. The name is the region's, from the Greek for "small islands," which the French navigator Dumont d'Urville gave to the western Pacific's scattered islands in 1831; the country is the largest of the Micronesian states by land and by people, and the only one to carry the region's name, which confuses the maps to this day. The islands themselves are the Carolines, named for a Spanish king in 1686.
What is the capital of Micronesia?
Palikir — the capital built in the hills of Pohnpei island 8 km from the old town of Kolonia and opened in 1989, a government complex of pitched roofs and a few thousand people, chosen so that the capital would stand on none of the states' seats. Kolonia, the Spanish Santiago de la Ascensión of 1887 and the German and Japanese town, is Pohnpei's town and port; Weno on Chuuk Lagoon is the largest town of the country with about 14,000 people; Colonia on Yap and Tofol on Kosrae are the other state capitals.
How big is Micronesia, and how many people live there?
About 702 km² (271 sq mi) of land — four times the size of Washington, D.C. — on 607 islands strung 2,700 km from west to east across the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific, north of the equator between Palau and the Marshall Islands, the volcanic high islands of the four states amid the atolls; the waters around them, about 3 million km², are the fourteenth-largest exclusive economic zone in the world. The census of 2023 counted 75,817 people, a quarter fewer than the 102,843 of 2010 — the emigration to Guam, Hawaii and the American mainland under the Compact; Chuuk holds 33,885 of them, Pohnpei 26,102, Yap 10,739 and Kosrae 5,092.
What are the highest and lowest points of Micronesia?
Nanlaud — Nahnalaud, "the big forest" — 782 m (2,566 ft), the rain-soaked peak of Pohnpei's interior, one of the wettest places on earth at some 10,000 mm a year under a sky almost always clouded; and the Pacific. Pohnpei, 345 km², is the largest island, a green volcanic dome ringed by reef and mangrove; Chuuk Lagoon, 2,130 km² inside a reef of 225 km, is one of the largest lagoons in the world and the grave of the Japanese fleet sunk in 1944; Kosrae is a single mountainous island and Yap a cluster of four; the atolls of the outer islands rise a few meters from the sea.
What currency does Micronesia use?
The United States dollar (ISO code USD, $), the only money since the American administration took over from the Japanese yen in 1944; the country has no bank of issue and the Compact's grants and the fishing fees arrive in dollars. Clocks keep two zones — Chuuk and Yap at UTC+10, Pohnpei and Kosrae at UTC+11 — all year; Micronesia drives on the right, on American plugs and 120 volts.
Who governs Micronesia?
President Wesley Simina of Chuuk, head of state and government since 11 May 2023, the tenth president, the lawyer, former governor of Chuuk and Speaker of Congress elected by the 14 senators of the Congress of the Federated States of Micronesia from among its four at-large members, as the Constitution provides — there are no political parties; Aren Palik of Kosrae is vice president and Esmond Moses of Pohnpei the Speaker. The United States, under the third Compact of Free Association signed in May 2023 and funded from 2024 with about US$3.3 billion over twenty years, is responsible for the country's defense and pays about half of its government, and Micronesians may live, work and serve in the armed forces in the United States without visas. The next election is due on 2 March 2027, and the Congress chooses the president in May of that year.
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