_#_Climate: tropical; heavy year-round rainfall, especially in the
eastern islands; located on southern edge of the typhoon belt with
occasional severe
damage
_#_Terrain: islands vary geologically from high mountainous islands to
low, coral atolls; volcanic outcroppings on Pohnpei, Kosrae, and Truk
_#_Natural resources: forests, marine products, deep-seabed minerals
_#_Land use: arable land NA%; permanent crops NA%; meadows and
pastures NA%; forest and woodland NA%; other NA%
_#_Environment: subject to typhoons from June to December; four major
island groups totaling 607 islands
_#_Note: located 5,150 km west-southwest of Honolulu in the North
Pacific Ocean, about three-quarters of the way between Hawaii and
Indonesia
_*_People
_#_Population: 107,662 (July 1991), growth rate 2.5% (1991)
_#_Birth rate: 34 births/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Death rate: 5 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Net migration rate: - 4 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Infant mortality rate: 26 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
_#_Life expectancy at birth: 68 years male, 73 years female (1991)
_#_Total fertility rate: 5.0 children born/woman (1991)
_#_Nationality: noun--Micronesian(s); adjective--Micronesian;
Kosrae(s), Pohnpeian(s), Trukese, Yapese
_#_Ethnic divisions: nine ethnic Micronesian and Polynesian groups
_#_Religion: predominantly Christian, divided between Roman Catholic
and Protestant; other churches include Assembly of God, Jehovah's
Witnesses, Seventh-Day Adventist, Latter Day Saints, and the Baha'i
Faith
_#_Language: English is the official and common language; most
indigenous languages fall within the Austronesian language family, the
exceptions are the Polynesian languages; major indigenous languages are
Trukese, Pohnpeian, Yapese, and Kosrean
_#_Literacy: 90% (male 90%, female 85%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1980)
_#_Labor force: NA; two-thirds are government employees; 45,000 people
are between the ages of 15 and 65
_#_Organized labor: NA
_*_Government
_#_Long-form name: Federated States of Micronesia (no short-form name)
_#_Type: constitutional government in free association with the US;
the Compact of Free Association entered into force 3 November 1986
_#_Capital: Kolonia (on the island of Pohnpei); note--a new capital is
being built about 10 km southwest in the Palikir valley
_#_Administrative divisions: 4 states; Kosrae, Pohnpei, Chuuk, Yap
_#_Independence: 3 November 1986 (from the US-administered UN
Trusteeship; formerly the Kosrae, Pohnpei, Truk, and Yap districts of the
Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands)
_#_Constitution: 10 May 1979
_#_Legal system: based on adapted Trust Territory laws, acts of the
legislature, municipal, common, and customary laws
_#_National holiday: Proclamation of the Federated States of
Micronesia, 10 May (1979)
_#_Executive branch: president, vice president, Cabinet
_#_Legislative branch: unicameral Congress
_#_Judicial branch: Supreme Court
_#_Leaders:
Chief of State and Head of Government--President Bailey OLTER
(since 11 May 1991); Vice President Jacob NENA (since 11 May 1991)
_#_Political parties and leaders: no formal parties
_#_Suffrage: universal at age 18
_#_Elections:
President--last held 5 March 1991 (next to be held March 1994);
results--Vice President Bailey OLTER elected president;
Congress--last held on 5 March 1991 (next to be
held March 1993);
results--percent of vote NA;
seats--(14 total)
_#_Communists: none
_#_Member of: ESCAP (associate), ICAO, SPC, SPF, UN
_#_Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Jesse B. MAREHALAU;
Embassy at 706 G Street SE, Washington DC 20003; telephone (202)
544-2640;
US--Ambassador Aurelia BRAZEAL; Embassy at address NA, Kolonia
(mailing address is P. O. Box 1286, Pohnpei, Federated States of
Micronesia 96941); telephone 691-320-2187
_#_Flag: light blue with four white five-pointed stars centered; the
stars are arranged in a diamond pattern
_*_Economy
_#_Overview: Financial assistance from the US is the primary source
of revenue, with the US pledged to spend $1 billion in the islands in the
1990s; also in December 1990 the US authorized the use of disaster
relief funds for Micronesia because of damage from Typhoon Russ.
In addition Micronesia earns about $4 million a year in fees from foreign
commercial fishing concerns. Economic activity consists primarily of
subsistence farming and fishing. The islands have few mineral deposits
worth exploiting, except for high-grade phosphate. The potential for a
tourist industry exists, but the remoteness of the location and a lack of
adequate facilities hinder development.
_#_GNP: $150 million, per capita $1,500; real growth rate NA%
(1989 est.); note--GNP numbers reflect US spending
_#_Inflation rate (consumer prices): NA%
_#_Unemployment rate: 80% (1988)
_#_Budget: revenues $110.8 million; expenditures NA, including
capital expenditures of NA (1987 est.)
_#_Exports: $1.6 million (f.o.b., 1983);
commodities--copra;
partners--NA
_#_Imports: $48.9 million (c.i.f., 1983);
commodities--NA;
partners--NA
_#_External debt: $NA
_#_Industrial production: growth rate NA%
_#_Electricity: 18,000 kW capacity; 40 million kWh produced,
380 kWh per capita (1990)
_#_Industries: tourism, craft items from shell, wood, and pearl
_#_Agriculture: mainly a subsistence economy; copra, black pepper;
tropical fruits and vegetables, coconuts, cassava, sweet potatoes, pigs,
chickens
_#_Economic aid: under terms of the Compact of Free Association, the
US will provide $1.3 billion in grant aid during the period 1986-2001
_#_Currency: US currency is used
_#_Exchange rates: US currency is used
_#_Fiscal year: 1 October-30 September
_*_Communications
_#_Highways: 39 km of paved macadam and concrete roads on major
islands, otherwise 187 km stone-, coral-, or laterite-surfaced roads
_#_Ports: Colonia (Yap), Truk (Kosrae), Okat (Kosrae)
_#_Airports: 11 total, 10 usable; 7 with permanent-surface runways;
none with runways over 2,439 m; 6 with runways 1,220-2,439
_#_Telecommunications: 16,000 radio receivers, 1,125 TV sets (est.
1987); telephone network--960 telephone lines at both Kolonia and Truk;
islands interconnected by shortwave radio (used mostly for government
purposes); stations--5 AM, 1 FM, 6 TV, 1 shortwave; 4 Pacific Ocean
INTELSAT earth stations
_*_Defense Forces
_#_Note: defense is the responsibility of the US
_%_
_@_Midway Islands
(territory of the US)
_*_Geography
_#_Total area: 5.2 km2; land area: 5.2 km2; includes Eastern Island
and Sand Island
_#_Comparative area: about nine times the size of The Mall in
Washington, DC
_#_Land boundaries: none
_#_Coastline: 15 km
_#_Maritime claims:
Contiguous zone: 12 nm;
Continental shelf: 200 m (depth);
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;