Micronesia

Six hundred islands across two and a half thousand kilometres, federated into four states that share little except a colonial history. Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosrae have distinct languages and traditions - Yap is known for stone money discs quarried in Palau and moved by canoe, valued by the story of their transport rather than their location, and Pohnpei holds Nan Madol, a city of basalt islets built on a reef from around 1200 and unlike anything else in the Pacific. Spain claimed the region, sold it to Germany in 1899, and Japan took it in 1914, developing it intensively and settling tens of thousands of civilians. Chuuk lagoon became the Japanese navy's forward base and was destroyed by American carrier raids in February 1944, leaving a fleet of wrecks that is now a diving site. The islands passed to the United States as a UN trust territory, and the federation became independent in 1986 under a Compact of Free Association granting American defence rights in exchange for funding and migration access. The national government is deliberately weak against the states. Fishing licences sold to distant-water fleets are a principal revenue source. Palau and the Marshalls chose not to join the federation. Sea level rise threatens the low-lying atolls first. Palikir on Pohnpei is the capital, though Kolonia is the larger town. Nan Madol is a World Heritage site. The federation's four states each keep their own constitution and governor. Chuuk holds nearly half the population. Yapese stone discs, some over three metres across, are still recognised as valuable and have never been moved.

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