Pohnpei - Orientation

Identification. Pohnpei is a high island in the Eastern Caroline island group of Micronesia. The name "Pohnpei" means "upon a stone altar"; the people refer to themselves as "Mehn Pohnpei" or "of Pohnpei." Throughout the nineteenth and most of the twentieth centuries, the island was known to the outside world as "Ponape." In modern political terms, Pohnpei Island and the neighboring atolls of Mokil, Pingelap, Sapwuafik (formerly Ngatik), Nukuoro, and Kapingamarangi constitute the State of Pohnpei, one of the four Caroline island groups that make up the Federated States of Micronesia.

Location. Pohnpei, lying at 6°57′ N, 158°14′ E, is an exposed tip of a submerged volcanic mountain. A protective barrier reef surrounds Pohnpei and creates a lagoon of varying width that covers an area of roughly 207 square kilometers. A total of forty small islands of volcanic and coral origin rest on or within the reef. The landmass of Pohnpei proper is 336.7 square kilometers. The interior is covered by dense rain forests and rugged mountains, the highest of which is 778 meters, running west and northwest. A coastal plain, marked by ridges and various rivers and streams, is found to the south and east. This plain gradually gives way to mangrove swamps that hide the shoreline. To the north is a wide valley that runs toward the interior. Pohnpei is visited by heavy northeast trade winds between January and March. The island is subject to heavy rainfall throughout the remainder of the year. Precipitation along the coast averages 482 centimeters a year; the interior receives considerably more. The low-lying clouds that sit atop the mountains after a heavy rain create a majestic sight that has impressed many a visitor.

Demography. Contact with Europeans brought many new diseases to Pohnpei with profound consequences (e.g., a smallpox epidemic in 1854 reduced the population from about 10,000 to fewer than 5,000). The past century has seen steady growth, however, and in 1988 the population of Pohnpei Island was estimated at 27,719, about 6,000 of whom live in Kolonia town, the center of government and commerce for the island. Most of the residents of Kolonia are from the neighboring atolls of Pohnpei State or from other areas within the larger Federated States of Micronesia, of which Pohnpei is the capital. Outside of Kolonia, the overwhelming majority of the population is ethnically Pohnpeian.

linguistic Affiliation. Pohnpeian, of which there are two principal dialects, is classified as a Nuclear Micronesian language within the Eastern Oceanic Subgroup of Austronesian languages.