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  • Hey everybody. Before you watch this episode, just a little disclaimer:

  • I was stupid and I booked the wrong day at the YouTube space

  • so we weren't able to film in the studios. So I had to improvise and we filmed in my house.

  • So the next two episodes are gonna have the same quality of how we used to film the episodes back in like 2016.

  • Relatively poor echoey, audio quality and very visible black backdrop.

  • But I did not want to 'not upload a video this week', so I had to give you something

  • I mean, These Geography Now! videos are mostly just about the information.

  • Right...

  • Right......

  • RIGHT??

  • I'm sorry guys.

  • But anyway, I tried my best and I still want to give you a video this week

  • So without further ado, here we go.

  • *Intro*

  • It's time to learn Geography... NOW!!!

  • Want to hear a Micronesia joke?

  • NOOO!!!

  • Too bad!

  • Imagine a dog named Ray on a dinner date.

  • When the bill came, he had to use his 'Pohnpei' (paw to pay)

  • but then was 'Chuuk' (shock) and surprised be-Kosrae ('cause Ray) was broke.

  • Yap

  • Alright, that's four strikes, you know the drill...

  • 1 Punch

  • 2 Punch

  • 3 Punch

  • 4 Punch

  • SO WORTH IT!

  • Oh hey, Noah is back.

  • Noah: Hey

  • (Political Geography)

  • For the record. In this episode,

  • I'm just gonna refer to the country as "Micronesia" because the official title is too long...

  • The Federated States of Micronesia

  • You get what I'm saying?

  • Anyway!

  • I love Pacific island nations because they probably get the least amount of coverage in terms of global awareness

  • which means Geography Now! gets to be a platform for the obscure.

  • Plus, you know It kind of adds to the Oceania playlist.

  • First of all

  • The country lies in the sub-region of the Pacific Ocean known as Micronesia

  • which is obviously where the country gets its name from

  • which also includes the states of Palau, Nauru, parts of Kiribati

  • and the US Territories of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands and Wake Island.

  • The country is made up of 607 islands

  • sometimes collectively referred to as the "Caroline Islands"

  • These take up over a million mi² of Oceanic territory

  • in their exclusive economic zone.

  • However, in land surface area, they only make up about 217mi².

  • All the islands are divided into 4 states made up of island clusters:

  • They are Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei,

  • -not Pompeii- Pohnpei,

  • Oh and don't forget this little straggler Kapingaramangi belongs to it.

  • And finally little Kosrae

  • which is really only like one little island with a few small islets off its coast.

  • It's the only state with no atolls.

  • The capital Palikir is located on Pohnpei, the largest, highest and most populous island in the entire nation.

  • However, the largest city in itself is actually Weno on the Chuuk atoll.

  • The country has four International Airports, one for each of the states.

  • The busiest ones being Pohnpei and Chuuk

  • whereas one domestic airport lies on Ulithi.

  • There are also small airfields and air strips located on various islands across the country for shipping and deliveries.

  • Today, they do kind of have a small dispute with Spain over that little straggler guy, Kapingamarangi.

  • Apparently when the Spanish sold off their islands to the Germans, this little guy kind of wasn't part of the deal.

  • Eventually just kind of "de facto landed in Micronesia's claim".

  • Otherwise

  • Most of the urban centers are located on the large mountainous islands.

  • Three of which Pohnpei, Chuuk and Yap hosts shipping harbours.

  • If you look close to Chuuk's harbour, they kind of have a ship that failed.

  • Anyway!

  • Just like we talked about in the Marshall Islands episode

  • Micronesia is also a "Compact of Free Association Agreement" state with the United States.

  • Yada yada yada. You've heard it before.

  • New subscriber: No. I haven't. I'm a new subscriber.

  • What do you mean?

  • Oh yeah, some people are new to this channel.

  • Uh, well basically in the quickest way I can summarize it:

  • Micronesia: Alright, okay. I think we're kind of ready to be our own thing now.

  • Woohoo!

  • USA: Oh, you know I already will all these bases.

  • We have all these cool trade deals,

  • diplomatic agreements with other nations. You guys seem to like that 'Spam' stuff as well and the burgers I introduced.

  • I mean, do you really want to start from scratch? Hmmm?

  • Micronesia: I mean, yes, but I don't know.

  • Maybe we can kind of like keep this thing going but also by relinquishing your official hold on us

  • so we kind of have like a nominal claim to independence?

  • USA: Oh Mikey, It's like you've been reading my diary!

  • And that's basically how it happened in the 80s.

  • And speaking of which,

  • some notable sites that the country might include:

  • Nan Madol

  • The Yap stones

  • Chuuk Lagoon, one of the world's biggest wartime ship graveyards

  • Tamilyog trail

  • The Lelu and Menke ruins on Kosrae

  • The petroglyphs on Phonpei

  • Japanese era sites like the old lighthouse

  • Nefo cave

  • The Yap art gallery studio

  • Yaps Living History Museum

  • And honestly,

  • probably the coolest thing to do would just be walking around the streets of any village and finding cool cafe or mom-and-pop shop.

  • Just chill. You're in Micronesia.

  • The entire country in itself is kind of a spectacle to be a part of.

  • And especially when you notice the landscape.

  • Which brings us too:

  • (Physical Geography)

  • Now unlike some of their neighbors,

  • Micronesia got lucky and snagged a few solid fully formed mountainous islands.

  • And when you have hills, you have an advantage.

  • First of all

  • The country is spread across the western Pacific Ocean on a smaller sub region of the greater Pacific plate

  • known as the Caroline plate formed by the underwater sorrel trough.

  • Mount Nanlaud on Pohnpei is the highest peak of the country, with the longest river the Lehdau flows.

  • Yap and the atolls around it are the only parts of the country that cross over the Philippine plate over the Yap Trench.

  • The islands were basically formed from underwater volcanoes

  • that either partially or fully breached the surface or both.

  • The ones that had the edges breached became atolls.

  • The ones that had the center breached became full-on islands.

  • And then there was a third kind which the center and a few edges were breached which became lagoons.

  • So there you go: Oceanic geology 101.

  • And this is part where I take a triple shot of espresso break.

  • That means making his triumphant for return,

  • you love him. My physical geography segment co-host, Noah!

  • Hey, you look a little different.

  • Hmm,

  • then what you mean?

  • The good news is the islands get quite a bit of rain so fresh water is never too hard to come by.

  • Most people collect it for daily use.

  • The islands with mountains are able to harbor small rivers and creeks.

  • Pohnpei alone having over 40

  • Some creating beautiful waterfalls.

  • Otherwise, you can hike at beautiful natural science like the

  • Sokens rock

  • or scuba dive in many spots like the Blue Hole.

  • Country doesn't have a national animal

  • but it is a bird haven.

  • Species like the Truk monarch,

  • the Phonpei Lori,

  • the Kosrae Greater white eye

  • Are all endemic to the islands.

  • Economy-wise, the country mostly depends on agriculture and fishing.

  • Whatever, let's be honest,

  • they only have about 100,000 people.

  • So they cope with a great idea on how to capitalize off of their vast open ocean territory.

  • Hey, you have a lot of ocean?

  • Micronesia: Yeah?

  • Foreign investor: I'm fishing it.

  • Micronesia: Yeah, so?

  • Foreign investor: I wanna go fishing it.

  • Micronesia: Pay up a couple million dollars and we'll give you a seasonal license.

  • And that's how they subsidize part of their GDP.

  • Food wise, you get the typical island staples.

  • Taro, breadfruit, bananas

  • and of course pretty much any kind of fish they can catch will be on the menu.

  • Don't be surprised to find betel nuts everywhere,

  • a sort of chewing tobacco substitute that people on all islands used.

  • Sakau is a popular drink, especially on Phonpei.

  • It has relaxing effects of his made from

  • squeezing the roots of the pepper shrub in the inner bark of a hibiscus tree.

  • Kind of like the Kava drip we talked about the Fiji episode.

  • Its a great social drink the locals enjoy it, and casual get together.

  • And that brings us to:

  • (Demographics)

  • Thank You Noah, follow him on Instagram.

  • All right. So if you're new to this channel,

  • one thing you'll have to learn is when it comes to ocean people,

  • There's a difference between Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia.

  • Micronesians are interesting because it's kind of like each island has its own story and tradition.

  • It's like if you met your cousin once and didn't see them again for 15 years, they'd probably change a lot

  • but you'd still be family.

  • First of all

  • The country's about 105,000 people and has about a 3% birthrate.

  • The majority of the country is ethnically Micronesian

  • However

  • Split up into four distinct ethno-linguistic groups.

  • About half of the population are Chuukese.

  • A quarter are Pohnpeian and 10% Yapese and outer Yapese.

  • About 6% Kosraean, and the rest of the country is made up of other groups

  • Mostly Americans, Asians and Polynesians.

  • They use the American dollar as their currency.

  • They use the types A, B plug outlets

  • and they drive on the right side of the road.

  • However, some of the cars might have steering wheels on the right side

  • so it's kind of weird.

  • English is the official language used between all peoples.

  • But there are eight other recognized indigenous languages spoken throughout the islands.

  • Including two Polynesian languages spoken by the people on Nukuoro and Kapingamarangi.

  • Micronesian languages are all related. However, some of the words are completely unintelligible.

  • For example:

  • Yeah, they don't even sound anything alike and each one has less than 50,000 speakers

  • so it shows how far the cousins can change when you're separated by thousands of miles of water for centuries.

  • Culturally speaking, the people here come from a long yet mysterious line of chiefdoms clans traditions and customs

  • mostly rooted in oral tradition passed down through generations.

  • There's the legend of the twin sorcerers that created Nan Madol.

  • Supposedly, they had the help of a flying dragon and that's how the first dynasty was supposedly started.

  • Not only that but on Yap,

  • the residents literally use these huge stone disks known as Rai stones as their currency.

  • Technically the largest currency in the world.

  • About 6,500 of them can be found all over the islands.

  • You can also find traditional meeting houses called Pe'ebai and Faluw.

  • They also use canoes with plaited leaves sails.

  • The Chuuk Islands has a tradition of love sticks that they kind of use for dating.

  • The man is supposed to poke his crush and if she accepts she's supposed to grab the sharp stick and pull him in.

  • Essentially though, you see a lot of remnants of the former colonizers in their society.

  • For example, no shocker

  • they speak English with an American accent and generally keep up with American media and trends.

  • They love rice too even though it doesn't grow there.

  • It was introduced from various nations especially the Japanese.

  • Most Micronesians at about 97% are Christians,

  • introduced mostly through the Americans, Germans and Spanish.

  • About half of them are Protestant have our Catholic.

  • The more west you go closer to the Philippines, it becomes more Catholic.

  • The more east, it becomes more Protestant.

  • Speaking of the introduction of outside influences,

  • History:

  • Ancient Austronesian people, probably from Southeast Asia sailed in

  • Chieftain based societies established

  • Yap people developed quite a unique economic and religious culture

  • Nan-Madol is built starting the Saudeleur dynasty

  • Portuguese come by but they don't really care too much

  • Spanish pass by and care very much

  • Hold on to it to make it part of the Spanish East Indies

  • They built the town of Kolonia on Phonpei

  • Spanish-American war caused Spain to sell the islands to Germany

  • Then it became German New Guinea

  • WWI the Japanese come in and take it

  • WWII operation hailstone

  • UN agrees that the US should administer the islands as a Trust Territory

  • Yap, Chuuk, Phonpei and Kosrae agreed to join up and create a constitution for independence

  • Then they all signed the Compact of Free Association with the US in 1986

  • compact renewed in 2004,

  • And here we are today.

  • Some notable people who are either Micronesian or from the Federated States of Micronesia might include people like:

  • To be honest, it was a little difficult to find some of those people.

  • I had to search Micronesian message boards.

  • I don't know. If you just so happen to be a Micronesian person watching this video,

  • please feel free to revise that list if you want.

  • Anyway,

  • Friendzone!

  • (Friendzone)

  • Since independence in the 80s, Micronesia has built up a lot of international ties.

  • They have ties to over 80 countries and four permanent embassies in China, Fiji, Japan and the US.

  • For one, China and India have both kind of competed to see who can cozy up to the islands more.

  • China has built things like a gymnasium, they donated police cars and built a giant clam farm on Kosrae.

  • India has given them farming machinery and offers scholarship grants.

  • Of course the USA is the biggest trade partner and supporter of overall infrastructure and development

  • As part of the Compact Association,

  • Micronesians have access to US services like postal and communications.

  • They can move about freely working and living in each other's countries.

  • Micronesians are even allowed to serve in the US military.

  • However, they don't share the same benefits as US citizen military personnel.

  • Micronesia is part of the Nauru agreement, a union of 8 signatories in Oceania that control nearly a third of the world's tuna supply.

  • They regulate fishing laws and manage business together.

  • Of these nations, of course,

  • Their closest friends would probably be their Micronesians siblings: the Marshall Islands and Palau.

  • These two are also Compact Association agreement members with the US.

  • Out of these two though, Micronesia might be a little bit closer to Palau.

  • They have a little closer history. Those Yap stones were actually mined and transported from Palau.

  • They love each other's music and whenever they get the chance to see each other,

  • It's like family reunion all over again, but the Marshall Islands are invited too.

  • In conclusion:

  • The Federated States of Micronesia are kind of like the four musketeer cousins that hadn't seen each other in a long time.

  • They could barely speak to each other, but somehow they came together in 1986

  • and showed the world that an island culture can thrive well into the new era.

  • Stay tuned, Moldova is coming up next.

Hey everybody. Before you watch this episode, just a little disclaimer:

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地理Now!ミクロネシア (Geography Now! MICRONESIA (Federated states))

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    林宜悉 に公開 2021 年 01 月 14 日
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