Government and society

Under the 1979 constitution, the government of the Federated States of Micronesia consists of executive, legislative, and judicial branches. The president and vice president are elected by the legislature, the unicameral National Congress. The legislature comprises one at-large senator from each state, who serves four-year terms, and a variable number of single-district senators (determined on the basis of population), who serve two-year terms. Most major governmental functions other than those relating to defense and foreign affairs are carried out at the state rather than the national level. Each of the four state governments has a popularly elected governor and a unicameral legislature. There are no political parties.

The judicial system consists of the Supreme Court of the Federated States of Micronesia, state courts in each of the four states, and municipal courts in each political subdivision of each state. Recognized customary law is in force wherever it does not conflict with constitutional law. Under the Compact of Free Association, the United States provides for the defense of the islands; under other terms of the agreement, Micronesian citizens are free to live, work, or study in the United States without restriction.

There are elementary schools on every island, and each state has at least one public high school. Primary education is compulsory between ages 6 and 14. The College of Micronesia-FSM was founded in 1963 for teacher training and later became a community college offering a range of coursework and vocational training. It has a national campus on Pohnpei and branch campuses in each of the other states and is the only institution for higher education in the Federated States of Micronesia. Several universities in the United States and the Pacific region offer extension programs for training in various disciplines.

Widespread vaccination has helped to reduce the impact of many infectious diseases. Tuberculosis and leprosy occur at moderate rates in the islands, and outbreaks of cholera periodically sweep through the population centres, but in the late 20th century obesity and chronic noncommunicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease emerged as the major health concerns for adults. While a hospital is maintained in each of the state capitals and dispensaries have been built on all major islands, the overall state of health care is relatively poor. Local healers continue to practice massage and other traditional medical skills.

Cultural life

Although only the people of Yap and a few outlying atolls in Chuuk still wear traditional dress—loincloths for men and grass skirts or lavalavas (sarongs) for women—most villagers live much as their ancestors did. In rural areas they support themselves by subsistence farming and fishing, use traditional food-preparation techniques, and gather in community meetinghouses for ceremonies and leisure activities, although imported foods and ways of life have made their way into even the most remote areas. Boatbuilders in some of the remote atolls and islands, such as Satawal in Yap state, have maintained their skills in the construction and navigation of large single outrigger canoes. The seamanship of the islanders is probably their most remarkable achievement and has astonished Westerners since initial contact. Wood carving, originally practiced for religious purposes, has become a commercial enterprise. Women in some of the islands weave lavalavas on traditional belt looms, and nearly everywhere large sleeping mats are plaited of pandanus leaves. Tattooing, once used widely to indicate social status, is seldom practiced today. The traditional dances remain a favourite form of entertainment. For information on the arts of Micronesia in a regional context, see Oceanic art and architecture.

History

The eastern Caroline Islands, like the Marshall and Gilbert islands, were probably first settled from the area of the New Hebrides (now Vanuatu) and Fiji sometime before 1000 bce. Archaeological and linguistic evidence suggests that the earliest migrants worked their way up the chain of islands to the east and gradually spread westward from the Marshalls. Pottery dating to about the 1st century ce has been found in Chuuk, and artifacts of similar antiquity have been unearthed in other islands in the east. The languages of the area, with the exception of Yap and the two Polynesian outliers, Kapingamarangi and Nukuoro atolls, are closely related to one another and show striking similarities to Vanuatuan tongues.

The high island of Yap appears to have been settled from the west, probably from the Philippines or Indonesia. Pottery and shell adzes found there date from the 2nd century ce and show a resemblance to types discovered in the Mariana Islands. Yap’s caste system and other features of its social organization are unparalleled elsewhere in the area. The renowned Yapese stone money was quarried in nearby Palau and the Marianas. In later centuries a reciprocal tribute and trade system was evolved with the surrounding coral atolls, sometimes termed the Yap empire, or Yapese empire. In the eastern islands of Pohnpei and Kosrae, some seven centuries ago, a major social upheaval occurred, possibly under the impact of invasion from the south. Fortified settlements were built of huge basaltic logs, their ruins still visible today, and political authority over each island was centralized even as the society became more stratified.

The islands were visited occasionally during the 16th century by Spanish navigators and were later named for the Spanish king Charles II. During the 19th century, European naval ships followed whalers and traders to the islands, and the inhabitants experienced their first intensive contact with foreigners. In 1886 Spain finally colonized the Carolines, but its short rule was ended in 1899 when the islands were sold to Germany at the conclusion of the Spanish-American War. Germany, in turn, yielded the islands at the outbreak of World War I to Japan, which gained formal title to them in 1920 as a League of Nations mandate. At first Japan attempted to develop a solid economy; later it used the islands as an outlet for surplus population; and finally it fortified them just before World War II. In July 1947 the Carolines, together with the Marshalls and Northern Marianas, became the United Nations Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, under U.S. administration. They were designated as a strategic area to allow the United States to set up military bases as deemed necessary; consequently, ultimate responsibility for the trust territory rested with the UN Security Council rather than with the UN General Assembly, as was the case with other trust territories.

Micronesian leaders began negotiations with the United States for full self-government in 1969. The constitution that was drafted in 1975 became the basis for the federated government that went into effect in 1979. By that time, however, the Marianas, the Marshalls, and Palau had voted to separate from the proposed federation; this left only the “inner states” of Yap, Truk (later Chuuk), Kosrae, and Ponape (later Pohnpei) to compose the new political entity, the Federated States of Micronesia. In a 1983 plebiscite, voters approved a Compact of Free Association with the United States. The compact, which became effective on Nov. 3, 1986, provides for internal self-government while requiring that the United States remain responsible for defense and external security and that it provide financial assistance. The articles of the compact allow the Federated States of Micronesia to become fully independent and alter its relationship with the United States at any time, providing this change of status is approved in plebiscites. Although the original compact had a 15-year duration, it was renewed by mutual consent in 2003 for another 20 years, with some amendments. The renewed compact came into force in 2004. The Federated States of Micronesia became a member of the UN on Sept. 17, 1991.

The late 1990s were difficult for the islands, with Pres. Bailey Olter suffering an incapacitating stroke in July 1996, just after he had been reelected and just before a series of natural disasters swept the islands. Typhoons, flooding, and mudslides caused widespread destruction in 1996 and again in 1997, and in 1998 a prolonged drought attributed to the El Niño weather pattern forced the declaration of a state of emergency. During the following two years, cholera outbreaks killed several dozen people on Pohnpei, leading to the institution of a national vaccination program. In Chuuk state a longstanding movement sought separate administrative status for the Faichuk Islands; in the early 21st century, legislation was introduced in the National Congress to have Faichuk admitted as the fifth state.