Profile
Background and figures as recorded in the CIA World Factbook.
Each of the four states that compose the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) -- Chuuk, Kosrae, Pohnpei, and Yap -- has its own unique history and cultural traditions. The first humans arrived in what is now the FSM in the second millennium B.C. In the 800s A.D., construction of the artificial islets at the Nan Madol complex in Pohnpei began, with the main architecture being built around 1200. At its height, Nan Madol united the approximately 25,000 people of Pohnpei under the Saudeleur Dynasty. By 1250, Kosrae was united in a kingdom centered in Leluh.
- Capital
- Palikir
- Government
- federal republic in free association with the US
- Population
- 99,603
- Area
- 702 sq km
- Location
- Oceania, island group in the North Pacific Ocean, about three-quarters of the way from Hawaii to Indonesia
- Climate
- tropical; heavy year-round rainfall, especially in the eastern islands; located on southern edge of the typhoon belt with occasion…
- Natural resources
- timber; marine products; deep-seabed minerals; phosphate
- Languages
- English (official and common language); Chuukese; Kosrean; Pohnpeian…
- Religions
- Roman Catholic 54.7%; Protestant 41.1% (includes Congregational 38.5%; Baptist 1.1%; Seventh Day Adventist 0.8%…
- Independence
- 3 November 1986 (from the US-administered UN trusteeship)
- Administrative divisions
- 4 states; Chuuk (Truk), Kosrae (Kosaie), Pohnpei (Ponape), Yap
- Export partners
- Thailand 64%; China 16%; Philippines 11%; Japan 5%…
- Import partners
- USA 35%; China 20%; Japan 13%; Taiwan 6%…
Source: CIA World Factbook — a work of the US government, in the public domain