What is Micronesia?

[Music] bornus in half a day everyone gwah who supalen and this is Buland speaks welcome back to another video where I'll be answering the question what is Micronesia this question will most likely be difficult for anyone outside of the region to answer additionally if you were to ask someone from Micronesia to define it chances are you would get a variety of different responses Micronesia is one of the most culturally rich and diverse regions of the Pacific it's cultural and political histories are particularly complex and detailed spanning over 4,000 years Micronesia is one of three regions in the Pacific the other two being Polynesia and Melanesia the word Micronesia is derived from the Greek words Negros and Essos meaning tiny islands according to David Hanlon the name Micronesia first appears after was coined by the French geographer domain a Darian's II in 1831 quotes with Polynesia and Melanesia already bounded and labeled on European maps there remain to be named the many small islands in the western Pacific described by the French Voyager Jose the Monte reveal an earlier explorers in 1831 the geographer Gregory Louis dominated Ariens II asked for and received official proven from la suceed a the geography in Paris to call these Islands Micronesia and quotes to Europeans like Renzi it was the small size of the islands through which the geographic region of Micronesia would be named despite the limited perception through which the islands received their imposed classification Paul Rainbird reveals quotes Micronesia contains some 20 373 islands ranging from a few high volcanic mix geology and raised limestone islands to hundreds of sand and rebel coral islets in Lowell coral atolls and quotes among these some 2,300 Islands resides numerous societies with an array of diverse cultures in order to address the history of being a region of tiny islands let us first consider the geographic dimensions of Micronesia according to Kerch if one were to combine all the islands of Micronesia together the total land area would be about 1,000 square miles or 2,700 square kilometres however this measurement does not account for the total ocean area that the islands occupy which is around two million nine hundred thousand square miles or seven million four hundred thousand square kilometers for every square mile of land there is 2,900 square miles or 7400 square kilometers of ocean to give a perspective of the size the total land area would be around the same size as the country of Luxembourg however if we incorporate the total area that Micronesia occupies it would be roughly the same size as a contiguous United States of America now that we have a sense for the geographic region of Micronesia let's consider how these islands have come to be divided in modern times returning terrain bird we know that Micronesia comprises of four main island groups and a few other islands that bar outside these island groupings the mariana islands the Caroline islands the Marshall Islands and the Gilbert Islands these island groups and outlying islands are politically divided as follows the five island countries the Federated States of Micronesia or FSM for short the Republic of Palau the Republic of Kiribati the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the Republic of Nauru additionally there are two u.s. territories the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and the u.s. territory of Guam located to the northwest the Mariana Islands is a crescent-shaped island chain of 15 islands these islands comprised of two US territories the u.s. territory of Guam the most southern of the islands while the northern fourteen islands form the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands or CNMI to the south of the Mariana Islands we find the Caroline islands that comprised of hundreds of while each scattered low and high islands that stretch over 2200 miles or 3540 kilometers from the westernmost islands of Palau to the easternmost island of Costra the Caroline Islands contains two island countries the Republic of Palau among the westernmost islands and the Federated States of Micronesia that make up the rest of the Islands the Federated States of Micronesia is made up of four states from west to east Yap Juke Pohnpei and Costra to the east of the Caroline's we find the Marshall Islands a two island chain of low islands with the Western chain Cod relic and the eastern Cod Radek together all the Marshall Islands formed the island country of the Republic of the Marshall Islands or RMI to the south of the Marshall Islands we find the Gilbert Islands the Gilbert Islands contains 16 low islands and is one of three island groups that make up the island country the Republic of Kiribati although the other two island groups the Phoenix islands and the Line Islands also make up the Republic of Kiribati the two are not commonly included as parts of Micronesia the islands that far outside the four main island group ins are Bona ba Nauru Niue Caro and Kapena merengue banaba Nauru Nakuru and Kappa Gamma Rangi are located west of the Gilberts and south of the Caroline's politically Nakuru and capping a merengue are parts of the FSM Naru is its own independent island country and banaba is parts of the Republic of Kiribati according to Rainbird together the islands of the Marianas Caroline's Marcos Gilbert's Nakuru and capping Imran Yi Naru and banaba are commonly regarded as Micronesia I hope that this examination of the history and geography of the region known as Micronesia has been helpful in answering the question what is Micronesia furthermore I hope this video has presented new questions for all of you the goal of scientific research is not just to investigate or to answer questions but rather the goal of research is to develop new questions some new questions that come to my mind include how were the geographic boundaries of Micronesia decided and who made these decisions how has the conceptualization of Micronesia changed over time for both outsiders and for those who live within the region and lastly does Micronesia even exist click the next video where I will attempt to answer these questions and more as always if you enjoy this content or found it helpful and educational please subscribe to the channel like the video and leave a comment on how I can improve your continued feedback and support will help me to continue to provide quality content for all of you seduced bossy and have a wonderful day Esther

Channel: PulanSpeaks

Views: 238,333

Keywords: micronesia, what is micronesia, carolines, islands, marshalls, marianas, chuuk, gilberts, kiribati, nauru, guam, education, pacific, history, pacific history, geography, pacific geography, chamorro, chuukese, marshallese, marshall islands, pulanspeaks, palau, saipan, US territory, caroline islands, mariana islands, oceania, culture, gilbert islands, pohnpei, kosrae, yap, yapese, micronesian culture, micronesian, micronesian islands, islands of micronesia, people of micronesia, cnmi, fsm, pacifika

Id: m7iiHLdgmac

Length: 9min 26sec (566 seconds)

Published: Sun Dec 02 2018