Micronesia 19231 225739587 2008-07-15T04:28:52Z HkCaGu 4301051 /* Geography and history */ grammar {{dablink|This article is about the greater region. For the independent state, see [[Federated States of Micronesia]].}} [[Image:Map OC-Micronesia.PNG|thumb|right|300px|Map of Micronesia]] [[Image:Ulithi-atoll.gif|thumb|right|300px|[[Ulithi]], an atoll in the [[Caroline Islands]].]] '''Micronesia''', from the [[Greek language|Greek]] ''mikros'' (μικρός) (meaning ''small'') and ''nesos'' (νῆσος) (meaning ''island''), is a [[subregion]] of [[Oceania]], comprising hundreds of small [[island]]s in the [[Pacific Ocean]]. The [[Philippines]] lie to the northwest, [[Indonesia]], [[Papua New Guinea]] and [[Melanesia]] to the west and south, and [[Polynesia]] to the east. == Geography and history== This region consists of many hundreds of small [[island]]s spread over a large region of the western Pacific. The only empire known to have originated in Micronesia was based in [[Yap]]. The term "Micronesia" was first proposed to distinguish the region in 1831 by [[Jules Dumont d'Urville]]. Politically, Micronesia is divided into eight nation-states and territories: * {{flagicon|United States}} {{flag|Guam}} * {{flag|Kiribati}} * {{flag|Marshall Islands}} * {{flag|Federated States of Micronesia}} (sometimes referred to simply as "Micronesia", or abbreviated as "FSM") * {{flag|Nauru}} * {{flagicon|United States}} {{flag|Northern Mariana Islands}} * {{flag|Palau}} * {{flagicon|United States}} [[Wake Island]] Much of the area was to come under European domination quite early. [[Guam]], the [[Northern Marianas]], and the [[Caroline Islands]] (what would later become the FSM and Palau) were colonized early by the Spanish. These island territories were part of the [[Spanish East Indies]] and governed from Spanish [[Philippines]] since the early 17th century until 1898. Full European expansion did not come, however, until the early 20th century, when the area would be divided between: * the [[United States]], which took control of Guam following the [[Spanish-American War]] of 1898, and colonized Wake Island; * [[German Empire|Germany]], which took Nauru and bought the Marshall, Caroline, and Northern Mariana Islands from Spain; and * the [[British Empire]], which took the [[Gilbert Islands]] (Kiribati). During the [[World War I|First World War]], Germany's Pacific island territories were taken from it and became [[League of Nations Mandate]]s in 1923. Nauru became an [[Australia]]n mandate, while Germany's other territories in Micronesia were given as a mandate to [[Japan]] and was named The [[South Pacific Mandate]]. This remained the situation until Japan's defeat in the Second World War, when its mandate became a [[United Nations]] [[Trusteeship]] ruled by the United States, the [[Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands]]. Today, all of Micronesia (with the exceptions of Guam and Wake Island, which are U.S. territories, and the Northern Mariana Islands, which is a U.S. Commonwealth) are independent states. ==People== The people today form many ethnicities, but are all descended from and belong to the Micronesian culture. The Micronesian culture was one of the last native cultures of the region to develop. It developed from a mixture of [[Melanesians]], [[Filipino people | Filipinos]] and [[Polynesians]]. Because of this mixture of descent, many of the ethnicities of Micronesia, feel closer to some groups in [[Melanesia]], [[Polynesia]] or the [[Philippines]]. A good example of this are the [[Yapese]] who are related to [[Austronesian]] tribes in the Northern [[Philippines]] == Languages == The native languages of the various Micronesian [[indigenous peoples]] are classified under the [[Austronesian languages|Austronesian language]] family. Almost all of these languages belong to the [[Oceanic languages|Oceanic]] subgroup of this family; however, two exceptions are noted in Western Micronesia, which belong to the [[Western Malayo-Polynesian languages|Western Malayo-Polynesian]] subgroup: * [[Chamorro language|Chamorro]], [[Tanapag]] and [[Carolinian language|Carolinian]] in the [[Mariana Islands]], * [[Palauan language|Palauan]] in [[Palau]]. This latter subgroup also includes most languages spoken today in the [[Philippines]], [[Malaysia]], and [[Indonesia]] (Kirch, 2000: pp. 166-167). On the eastern edge of the Federated States of Micronesia, the languages [[Nukuoro language|Nukuoro]] and [[Kapingamarangi language|Kapingamarangi]] represent an extreme westward extension of [[Polynesian languages|Polynesian]]. ==Regional organizations== The region is home to the [[Micronesian Games]], a quadrennial international multi-sport event involving all Micronesia's countries and territories except Wake Island. In September [[2007]], journalists in the region founded the [[Micronesian Media Association]] <ref>[http://www.pacificmagazine.net/news/2007/09/25/regional-journalists-form-micronesian-media-association "Regional Journalists Form Micronesian Media Association"], ''Pacific Magazine'', 25 September, 2007</ref>. == References == * {{cite book | last = Kirch | first = Patrick Vinton | title=On the Road of the Winds. An Archaeological History of the Pacific Islands before European Contact | publisher=University of California Press | year=2000 | id=ISBN 0-520-22347-0 | pages = pp. 166-167 }} <references/> {{Countries and territories of Oceania}} {{Regions of the world}} [[Category:Biodiversity hotspots]] [[Category:Micronesia]] <!-- Interlanguage links --> [[ar:مايكرونيزيا]] [[an:Micronesia]] [[frp:Micronèsie]] [[ast:Micronesia]] [[bn:মাইক্রোনেশিয়া]] [[zh-min-nan:Micronesia]] [[bs:Mikronezija]] [[bg:Микронезия]] [[ca:Micronèsia]] [[cv:Микронези]] [[da:Mikronesien (område)]] [[de:Mikronesien]] [[et:Mikroneesia]] [[el:Μικρονησία]] [[es:Micronesia]] [[eo:Mikronezio]] [[fa:میکرونزی]] [[fr:Micronésie (région)]] [[gl:Micronesia]] [[ko:미크로네시아]] [[hr:Mikronezija]] [[id:Mikronesia]] [[is:Míkrónesía (svæði)]] [[it:Micronesia]] [[he:מיקרונזיה (אזור)]] [[pam:Micronesia]] [[ks:मैक्रोनीशिया]] [[sw:Mikronesia]] [[lv:Mikronēzija (reģions)]] [[lb:Mikronesien]] [[lt:Mikronezija]] [[hu:Mikronézia]] [[ms:Micronesia]] [[nl:Micronesië]] [[ja:ミクロネシア]] [[jv:Mikronésia]] [[no:Mikronesia]] [[nn:Mikronesia]] [[nds:Mikronesien (Inselbulten)]] [[pl:Mikronezja (wyspy)]] [[pt:Micronésia]] [[ro:Micronezia]] [[ru:Микронезия]] [[sa:मैक्रोनीशिया]] [[sco:Micronesie]] [[simple:Micronesia]] [[sk:Mikronézia (región)]] [[sl:Mikronezija]] [[sr:Микронезија (регија)]] [[sh:Mikronezija (regija)]] [[fi:Mikronesia]] [[sv:Mikronesien]] [[tl:Micronesia]] [[tr:Mikronezya]] [[uk:Мікронезія]] [[ur:مائیکرونیشیا]] [[wo:Mikroneesi]] [[bat-smg:Mikronezėjė (salīns)]] [[zh:密克罗尼西亚群岛]]