Micronesia
POPULATION 135,869
CHRISTIAN 98.5 percent
OTHER 1.5 percent
Country Overview
Introduction
The Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), a sovereign, self-governing nation, consists of 607 islands in the central Pacific Ocean. Its four "states" are associated with four major island groups: Yap, Chuuk (called Truk until 1990), Pohnpei (called Ponape until 1984), and Kosrae (called Kusaie until the early 1980s). Once called the Carolines, the islands began to be known as part of the larger Micronesian chain of islands in the 1830s.
The population of more than 135,000, consisting of various Micronesian and Polynesian ethnolinguistic groups, is overwhelmingly Christian. Almost all Kosrae residents are United Church of Christ, and on Chuuk and Pohnpei about half are Protestant and half are Catholic. Historically there have been many more Catholics than Protestants on Yap, but the Protestant contingent is growing. Although English is the official and common language on the islands, church services are generally conducted in the local ethnic dialects.
Starting in the late 1800s the islands have been ruled by a succession of foreign powers—Spain, Germany, Japan, and the United States. Germany emphasized commerce, and a German evangelical church, the Liebenzell Mission, gained a small but significant foothold in Yap and Chuuk.
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