Caroline Islands

The Caroline Islands, also called the Carolines, are a group of small islands spread out in the western part of the Pacific Ocean. They lie north of New Guinea. These islands are split politically between two countries. Most of them belong to the Federated States of Micronesia, while the far western part belongs to Palau.

Long ago, these islands were known as Nuevas Filipinas or New Philippines. This name came from the time when they were part of the Spanish East Indies and were ruled from Manila in the Philippines.

The islands stretch across a very long distance of about 3,540 kilometers (2,200 miles). The farthest west island is Tobi in Palau, and the farthest east is Kosrae, which is one of the states of the Federated States of Micronesia.

Description

The Caroline Islands are a group of about 500 small coral islands located east of the Philippines in the Pacific Ocean. The distance from Yap, one of the larger islands, to Manila is about 1,200 miles (1,900 kilometers). Most of these islands are low and flat coral atolls, but a few rise high above the water.

Islands of the Carolines

The Caroline Islands, also called the Carolines, are a group of small islands in the western Pacific Ocean, north of New Guinea. Some of the islands in this group include Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei, Kosrae, Babeldaob, Satawal, Kapingamarangi, Nukuoro, Faichuk, Namonuito, Hall Island, Nomoi Islands, Weno, Rumung, Maap, Kanifay, Ngulu, Nett, Pingelap, and Lelu. These islands are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia and Palau.

People and culture

See also: Micronesian navigation

The people who live in the Caroline Islands speak many different languages. Some of these languages include Pohnpeian, Chuukese, Carolinian, Kosraean, Palauan, Chamorro, and Yapese. There are also people from other places, such as Filipinos and Japanese, living there. English is used for trading and talking with people who speak different languages.

These islanders grow food like fruits, fish, bananas, and taro to eat. On some islands, houses are made from things found nearby, like coconut-palm leaves. Most people there believe in Christianity, but many also believe in old stories about a powerful spirit called "Yalafar" and an unfriendly spirit called "Can."

The people of Yap have a special way of showing value. They use big stones as well as shell money. These stones are very large, some as big as 12 feet across and very heavy. They were brought from far away and are kept near a leader's house. Even though they don’t move around, everyone knows when one of these stones changes hands.

A skilled navigator named Mau Piailug came from the island of Satawal. He learned special ways to find directions using the stars, which had been kept alive even though many other old ways were lost. In the 1970s, he taught these skills to others, helping to bring back old navigation methods and giving scientists more information about the history of the Polynesian and Micronesian peoples.

In 1985, a study looked at how people in the Caroline Islands used a special kind of direction-finding tool called the sidereal compass.

History

Further information: History of the Federated States of Micronesia, History of Palau, and Captaincy General of the Philippines

The Caroline Islands have many different stories about their past. On Pohnpei, people talk about three main times in their history before outsiders came. These times are called the Mwehin Kawa, the Mwehin Sau Deleur, and the Mwehin Nahnmwarki.

According to Pohnpeian legend, the leaders called the Saudeleur came from far away. They were the first to bring government to Pohnpei, but their rule became harsh over time. The story says that a visitor named Isokelekel came and removed the Saudeleur leaders, starting a new system led by tribal chiefs.

The first Europeans to see the Caroline Islands were Portuguese sailors Diogo da Rocha and Gomes de Sequeira in 1525. Later, Spanish explorers arrived and named some islands the "Islands of the Kings." In 1686, Francisco de Lezcano named them Las Carolinas after Charles II of Spain.

Spain tried to control the islands in the 1800s but faced challenges from other countries. After the Spanish–American War in 1898, Spain sold the islands to Germany. Japan took control during World War I and used them in World War II. After the war, the United States took care of the islands until the Federated States of Micronesia and Palau became independent.

The islands were sometimes used by ships that hunted whales in the 1800s. These ships stopped for water, wood, and food.

Postage stamps

Main article: Postage stamps and postal history of the Caroline Islands

When Germany ruled the Caroline Islands, they made special stamps for the islands to use for mailing letters.

Transportation

Transportation in the Caroline Islands is done by boat or airplane, but only small planes can land because most airfields are not big enough for larger planes. The islands have one domestic airline called Caroline Islands Air, which operates charter flights between nearby islands.

Flora and Fauna

Palau and Yap are special places where a plant called Callicarpa micrantha grows naturally, and it is not found anywhere else except the Philippines.

Some plants in the Caroline Islands were discovered and named by scientists a long time ago. For example, a plant called Campnosperma brevipetiolatum was first studied by a botanist named Georg Volkens during his research on Yap in 1901. Another plant, Crinum bakeri, lives only in the Caroline and Marshall Islands and was described by a scientist named Karl Moritz Schumann in 1887.

There are also special types of flowers and snails that can only be found on these islands. To see more plants that grow in the Carolines, you can visit Flora of the Caroline Islands.