Page 338 - Micronesia
P. 338
Pohnpei Guide Map
Pohnpei is an island of the Senyavin Islands which are part of the ate Eugenie. A group of Protestant missionaries from New England
larger Caroline Islands group. It belongs to Pohnpei State, one of the established themselves permanently on Pohnpei in 1852. Their letters
four states in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). Palikir, the and journals contain a wealth of information about the island and
FSM’s capital, is located on Pohnpei Island. Pohnpei Island is the larg- are preserved at Harvard University. A drastic population decline oc-
est, highest, most populous, and most developed single island in the curred after 1854 due to a smallpox epidemic after European contact.[
FSM. The island contains a wealth of biodiversity. It is also one of the By 1886 the Spaniards claimed the Caroline Islands which were part
wettest places on earth with annual recorded rainfall exceeding 7,600 of the Manila-based Spanish East Indies and began to exert politi-
millimetres (300 in) each year in certain mountainous locations. The cal authority. The Spanish built several government buildings, a fort,
highest point of the island is Mount Nanlaud at 772 or 782 metres. a church and a school. Spanish Capuchin friars were also sent from
Pohnpei is home to several dozen bird species including four en- Manila to Pohnpei to preach the Catholic faith. After the 1898 Span-
demic species, the Pohnpei lorikeet, the Pohnpei fantail, the Pohnpei ish–American War, the German Empire purchased the Caroline is-
flycatcher and the long-billed white-eye. A fifth endemic, the Pohn- land group from Spain in 1899 together with the Marianas. During
pei starling, is thought to have recently gone extinct. The only land the German administration a fundamental change in land ownership
reptiles are a few species of lizard. Originally, only three mammals was implemented on Pohnpei and throughout the Carolines. Begin-
existed: rats, bats and dogs. Pigs were introduced, some are now feral, ning in 1907 the feudal system, where all land is held in fief, was grad-
as are the deer brought during German times. The lagoons are rich in ually replaced with the issuance of individual deeds to land. With the
fish, mollusks, turtles and other marine fauna Treaty of Versailles Japan as mandatory power assumed control of all
Pohnpei’s first European visitor was Álvaro de Saavedra on 14 Sep- German colonial possessions north of the equator, having occupied
tember 1529 shortly before his death, when trying to find the way Pohnpei along with the rest of the Carolines, the Marshalls, the Mari-
back to New Spain. The first lengthy description of the island and its anas (except for American-owned Guam) and Kiautschou Bay during
inhabitants is presented by the Russian explorer Fyodor Litke, whose World War Pohnpei was bypassed by the US Navy during the island-
ship Senyavin gave the island group of Pohnpei, Ant and Pakin its hopping amphibious campaigns of 1943–1945.
name.
From this time onward whaling and trading vessels came in increas-
ing numbers. Very soon a “large colony of beachcombers, escaped
convicts, and ship’s deserters became established ashore,” identified
as “chiefly bad characters,” according to the log of the Swedish frig-
