Micronesia

For other places with the same name, see Micronesia (disambiguation).

Micronesia, in northwest Oceania, is the home of tropical and subtropical islands in the Pacific Ocean. With the exceptions of Kiribati and Nauru, most of Micronesia is associated with the United States.

Countries and territories

Federated States of Micronesia FSM scuba diving along with Palau and the Marianas is the world's best and includes the wrecks of Chuuk, Pohnpei, and the mantas of Yap.

Kiribati The western third of this sprawling country falls within Micronesia.

Marshall Islands A small, isolated atoll nation and home to the former US nuclear test site Bikini Atoll.

Nauru An island of phosphate. The world’s smallest independent republic and least visited country.

Northern Mariana Islands (USA) The CNMI may have the planet's best weather, clearest water, cleanest air, and the scuba diving, fishing, fire red sunsets, and beaches of Saipan and Rota are unimaginable.

Palau A beautiful nation with a lake full of jellyfish, rock islands and an interesting culture.

Guam (USA) The large and growing US military presence coupled with an expanding tourism industry makes Guam one of the most economically stable areas of Micronesia.

Midway Islands (USA) Famous from WWII and home of 5 million seabirds.

Wake Island (USA) Atoll of three islands, hard to visit unless you belong to the U.S. military.

Cities

• 1 Hagåtña – the capital of Guam
• 2 Kolonia – the former Federated States of Micronesian capital
• 3 Koror – Palau's largest city is an excellent location for snorkelling
• 4 Majuro – the capital of the Marshall Islands
• 5 Melekeok – Palau's minuscule capital resembles more like a hamlet, but its capitol building is impressive from an architectural standpoint
• 6 Tarawa, Kiribati

Other destinations

• 1 Nan Madol — a ruined city, sometimes called the Venice of the Pacific, in Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia
• 2 War in the Pacific National Historical Park — in Guam, some of the best preserved WWII sights in the Pacific can be found here
• 3 Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument – a marine United States national monument that includes many random islands and atolls lying in the middle of the Pacific

Understand

Micronesia is a vast area that mainly consists of water. Transport can be a major issue because of the lack of an organized highway or byway, found in larger countries. Due to the lack of space on the islands, most activities are nautical, scuba diving etc.

Talk

English is an official language of all countries and territories here. Indigenous languages such as Chamorro, Palauan and Marshallese are also official in their respective countries and territories.

Get in

Palau and Guam have the best connections from outside Micronesia. The US territories, insomuch that civilians are allowed to enter, are connected to the US. As the airports often aren't large enough to accommodate large airplanes, expect flights to be of the island-to-island type which often means several landings and takeoffs before you're at your destination.

See

One of the Rock Islands. They are known for their arch formations

There are three world heritage sites in Micronesia:

• The Bikini Atoll Nuclear Test Site, Ralik, Marshall Islands
• The Rock Islands outside Koror, Palau
• The site of Nan Madol outside Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia

Buy

There are only two currencies used in Micronesia: the Australian dollar and the United States dollar. Nauru and Kiribati use the Australian dollar, while all other countries and territories use the US dollar.

Cope

Micronesia does not host many foreign embassies.

Go next

There are regular flights from some of the islands to East and Southeast Asia.

• Australia
• Fiji
• Hawaii

Article Geo different to Wikidata
Wikivoyage: Latitude 6.5, Longitude 158.3 (Map, Geohack)
Wikidata: Latitude 12.033, Longitude 152.000 (Map, Geohack)
Difference: 926.2km