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The Federated States of Micronesia is composed of the island states of Yap, Chuuk (Truk), Pohnpei (Ponape), and Kosrae, all in the Caroline Islands. The islands vary geologically from high mountainous islands to low coral atolls, with volcanic outcroppings on Pohnpei, Kosrae, and Chuuk. They are located 3,200 mi (5,150 km) west-southwest of Hawaii, in the north Pacific Ocean. |
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The ancestors of the Micronesians settled the Caroline Islands over 4,000 years ago. A decentralized chieftain-based system eventually evolved into a more centralized economic and religious empire centered on Yap. European explorers--first the Portuguese in search of the Spice Islands (Indonesia) and then the Spanish--reached the Carolines in the 16th century, with the Spanish establishing sovereignty. The current FSM passed to German control in 1899, then to the Japanese in 1914, and finally to the U.S. under UN auspices in 1947 as part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. |
On May 10, 1979, four of the Trust Territory districts ratified a new constitution to become the Federated States of Micronesia. The neighboring trust districts of Palau, the Marshall Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands chose not to participate. The FSM signed a Compact of Free Association with the U.S., which entered into force on November 3, 1986, marking Micronesia's emergence from trusteeship to independence.
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Under the terms of the Compact of Free Association, the U.S. provided FSM with around $2 billion in grants and services from 1986 to 2001. The Compact's financial terms were renegotiated for a 20-year period through 2023. In 2002 the U.S. provided more than $100 million in Compact grants--an amount equivalent to over one-third of FSM's GDP--plus more than $20 million through other federal programs.
The FSM public sector plays a central role in the economy as the administrator of the Compact funds. The national and state-level governments employ over one-half of the country's workers and provide services accounting for more than 40%of GDP. Beginning in 2004, assistance under the amended Compact will be distributed via grants to the following six sectors: education, health, infrastructure, public sector capacity building, private sector development, and the environment.
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The fishing industry is highly important. Foreign commercial fishing fleets pay over $20 million annually for the right to operate in FSM territorial waters. These licensing fees account for nearly 30% of domestic budgetary revenue. Additionally, exports of marine products, mainly re-exports of fish to Japan, account for nearly 85% of export revenue. |
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Visitor attractions include SCUBA diving in each state, World War II battle sites, and the ancient ruined city of Nan Madol on Pohnpei. Some 15,000 tourists visit the islands each year. However, the tourist industry has been hampered by a lack of infrastructure and limited commercial air connections. The Asian Development Bank has identified tourism as one of FSM's highest potential growth industries.
Farming is mainly subsistence, and its importance is declining. The principal crops are coconuts, bananas, betel nuts, cassava, and sweet potatoes. Less than 10% of the formal labor force and less than 7% of export revenue come from the agriculture sector. Manufacturing activity is modest, consisting mainly of two garment factories in Yap.
The large inflow of official assistance to FSM allows it to run a substantial trade deficit and to have a much lighter tax burden than other states in the region (11% of GDP in FSM compared to 18%-25% elsewhere). The government borrowed against future Compact disbursements in the early 1990s, yielding a significant external debt.
GDP: $224 million.
GDP per capita (nominal): $1,977.
National income (GDP + foreign assistance): $340 million.
National income per capita: $2,925.
GDP composition by sector: Services 77%, agriculture 19%, industry 4%.
Industry: Types--government, fishing.
Trade: Exports ($33 million)--fish, garments and buttons, betel nut. Export market--Japan (80%), U.S. Imports ($85 million)--food, manufactured goods, fuel. Import sources--U.S. (73%), Japan, Australia.
External debt: $111 million.
Currency: U.S. dollar.
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The people of the FSM are classified as Micronesians, although some inhabitants of Pohnpei State are of Polynesian origin. They are actually a heterogeneous mixture with different customs and traditions bound together by recent history and common aspiration.
The cultural diversity is typified by the existence of eight major indigenous languages, although English remains the official language of commerce. The cultural similarities are indicated by the importance of traditional extended family and clan systems found on each island.
Each of the State has developed unique cultural characteristics which are important to the potential outsiders especially those interested in visiting or investing in the islands. In Kosrae State, the Congregational Church plays an extremely important role in everyday life while in Chuuk, clan relationships remain an important factor. Yap continues as the most traditional society in the FSM with strong caste system.
Over the last 15 years Pohnpei has rapidly developed as the most westernized state in the nation. This results in large part because the national government is located here. At the same time, traditional leadership continues to play an important role. |
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Over much of the last 40 years, the growth rate of population in the FSM has exceeded 3% per annum and the current rate of national increase remains high. However, since the Compact of Free Association was signed out-migration of about 2% of the population occurs each year, effectively lowering the growth rate to about 1%.
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LANGUAGES
English is the official and common language; most indigenous languages fall within the Austronesian language family, the exceptions are the Polynesian languages; major indigenous languages are Trukese, Pohnpeian, Yapese, and Kosraean.
RELIGION
Predominantly Christian, divided between Roman Catholic and Protestant; other churches include Assembly of God, Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh-Day Adventist, Latter-Day Saints, and the Baha'i Faith.
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The people of the FSM are culturally and linguistically Micronesian, with a small number of Polynesians living primarily on Nukuoro and Kapingamarangi atolls of Pohnpei State. The influence of European and Japanese contacts is also seen.
It can be said that each of the four States exhibits its own distinct culture and tradition, but there are also common cultural and economic bonds that are centuries old. For example, cultural similarities are evidenced in the importance of the traditional extended family and clan systems found on each island.
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Although united as a country, the people are actually a heterogeneous mixture with different customs and traditions bound together by recent history and common aspirations. The cultural diversity is typified by the existence of eight major indigenous languages, and its peoples continue to maintain strong traditions, folklore and legends.
The four states of the FSM are separated by large expanses of water. Prior to Western contact, this isolation led to the development of unique traditions, customs and language on each of the islands. |
English is the official language, and there are eight major indigenous languages of the Malayo-Polynesian linguistic family spoken in the FSM: Yapese, Ulithian, Woleaian, Chuukese, Pohnpeian, Kosraean, Nukuoro, and Kapingamarangi.
There is a rich oral history. Part of this history is a unique musical heritage. The traditional music is carried forward from generation to generation, although upon tuning into the local radio station the visitor is far more likely to hear the distinctive sounds of Micronesian pop music, which has also developed its own character from state to state. Influenced obviously by traditional music, the FSM's pop music also draws from influences as diverse as American country and western, reggae, and modern europop.
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One of the most far-reaching influences from the outside that Micronesia wholeheartedly absorbed is the system of formal education. While four nations have implanted their own unique philosophies of education for the islands, the people of Micronesia have approached education as a democratic process in itself--that all, regardless of status or family background or affluence, will have the right to be educated.
The future bodes uncertainties for education in Micronesia. While the global economies and modern technology are translating the nature of the future workforce, Micronesia is caught in a dilemma regarding its future plans for education and how it could afford to make those plans a reality.
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The FSM Constitution, like that of the US, provides for three separate branches of government at the national level - Executive, Legislative and Judicial. It contains a Declaration of Rights similar to the US Bill of Rights, specifying basic standards of human rights consistent with international norms. It also contains a provision protecting traditional rights. Unlike the US system, however, most major governmental functions other than the conduct of foreign affairs and defense are carried out by the State governments.
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The Congress of the FSM is unicameral with fourteen Senators - one from each state elected for a four-year term, and ten who serve two-year terms, whose seats are apportioned by population. Currently, Chuuk has six seats, Pohnpei four and two each are held by Yap and Kosrae. The President and Vice President are elected to four-year terms by the Congress, from among the four year Senators, and the vacant seats are then filled in special elections. Currently, the Honorable H.E. Leo A. Falcam is President of the FSM; the Honorable Redley Killion is Vice President; the Honorable Jack Fritz (of Chuuk) is Speaker of the FSM Congress. |
The Judicial Branch of the National Government is headed by the FSM Supreme Court, currently comprised of three Justices who sit in trial and appellate Divisions. At this time there are no other National courts. Justices are nominated by the President for a lifetime appointment and confirmed by the Congress. The Honorable Andon Amaraich (of Chuuk) is Chief Justice of the FSM Supreme Court.
The State Governments under their Constitutions are structurally similar, all utilizing three branches, Executive, Legislative and Judicial. Their makeups vary according to their different circumstances.
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Micronesia means small islands, and that's exactly what they are. The Federated States of Micronesia are made up of four island groups - Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosrae - located in the eastern half of the Pacific Ocean. They're roughly 3000 miles (5000km) west of Hawaii, 2000 miles (3000km) east of the Philippines and 1000 miles (1500km) north of Papua New Guinea. Although they cover an ocean expanse five times the size of France, the total land mass of the 607 islands is less than the size of an average US city, and many world maps don't even bother marking them. Pohnpei occupies nearly half the country's land area, with the rest almost equally divided between the other three states. The islands of Pohnpei, Kosrae and Chuuk are high volcanic islands, while Yap is a raised part of the Asian continental shelf. Don't expect coconut palm-fringed coral atolls - these islands are more like the volcanic islands of Hawaii, with fertile soils, lush vegetation and abundant water. |
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The only land mammals native to the Federated States of Micronesia are bats. You'll see fruit bats, with wingspans of up to 3ft (1m), at dusk on most of the islands. There's a few Asian sambar deer left on Pohnpei, but you're unlikely to see one. There are also huge monitor lizards (which grow up to 6ft (2m) long), and cute little geckoes and skinks, but no snakes. The most common fauna are insects, and you'll be sure to run into plenty of mosquitoes, beach gnats and cockroaches.
What with all the water around, there's plenty of exciting marine life to goggle at. There's a wide range of hard and soft corals, anemones, sponges, whales, porpoises and shellfish, including the giant tridacna clam. A few species of sea turtle lay their eggs on the local beaches, and the islanders use both turtles and eggs for food. The islands are also aflutter with more than 200 species of birds.
The Federated States of Micronesia have a tropical oceanic climate that is consistently warm and humid, with some of the most uniform year-round temperatures in the world. Most days it's around 81°F (27°C) - sometimes it gets up to 90°F (32°C), sometimes it drops to 70°F (21°C). It's a little drier, cooler and breezier between December and March than it is the rest of the year. The wettest months are April and May - not the months to go camping in Pohnpei's interior, which is one of the rainiest places on earth. From July to November the humidity can be oppressive. Typhoon season is between August and December.
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Health care facilities in the FSM consist of hospitals on each of the four major islands and a few scattered clinics. These facilities sometimes lack basic supplies and medicines, and the quality of health care is variable. Doctors and hospitals may expect immediate cash payment for health services. U.S. medical insurance is not always valid outside the United States. Supplemental medical insurance with specific coverage for overseas treatment and medical evacuation may prove useful. Medical evacuation can be very expensive for non-ambulatory patients. The U.S. Medicare/Medicaid program does not provide payment of medical services outside the United States. |
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