Caroline Islands

Coordinates: 06°03′N 147°05′E / 6.050°N 147.083°E / 6.050; 147.083 Coordinates: 06°03′N 147°05′E / 6.050°N 147.083°E / 6.050; 147.083 The Caroline Islands (or the Carolines) are a widely scattered archipelago of tiny islands in the western Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea. Politically they are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia in the eastern part of the group, and Palau at the extreme western end. Historically, this area was also called Nuevas Filipinas or New Philippines as they were part of the Spanish East Indies and governed from Manila in the Philippines. The Carolines span a distance of approximately 3540 kilometers (2200 miles), from Tobi, Palau at the westernmost point to Kosrae at the easternmost. The group consists of about 500 small coral islands, east of the Philippines, in the Pacific Ocean; the distance from Manila to Yap, one of the larger islands of the group, is 1,200 miles (1,900 km). Most of the islands comprise low, flat coral atolls, but some rise high above sea level. The native inhabitants speak a variety of Micronesian languages including Pohnpeian, Chuukese, Carolinian, and Kosraean, as well as the Western Malayo-Polynesian languages Palauan and Chamorro, and the unclassified language Yapese (possibly one of the Admiralty Islands languages). Other significant populations include Filipinos and Japanese. The natives live mainly on horticulture and fishing, also supplementing their diet with many different varieties of bananas and taro, either of the 'swamp' or 'purple' varieties. On some islands housing continues to be built with local materials including coconut thatch. The language spoken in commerce is English, but there are several indigenous languages. They traditionally believe in a Supreme Being (Yalafar) and in a bad spirit (Can), yet they have hardly any religious rites. Due to extensive missionary work, Christianity is the primary religion practiced in this region of Micronesia. Micronesian Navigator Mau Piailug was from the Carolinian island of Satawal. He learned the traditional navigation techniques of the Weriyeng school. These techniques had been preserved while similar techniques had been forgotten elsewhere partly due to the remoteness of the Carolinian Islands. In the 1970s Mau shared his knowledge with the Polynesian Voyaging Society which led to a revival of traditional Polynesian navigation and a new anthropological understanding of the history of Polynesian and Micronesian peoples. In 1985 a study was made on the origin of the sidereal compass used in the Caroline Islands.