Federated States of Micronesia History: Difference between revisions

| link5=[[Federated States of Micronesia History|History]]

}}

As early as 1,000 B.C., waves of migratory peoples from Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific settled Micronesia. Later, groups from neighboring Pacific islands arrived and merged with the older groups. The cultures are all closely connected with the sea as the source of their subsistence and livelihood. Clans based on kinship were the foundation of society. Beginning in the 16th century, various European countries began to colonize different pieces of Micronesia, named as such by Domeny de Rienzi in 1831.  

Nauru, located west of Kiribati, was sighted by a British navigator in 1798. Germany annexed it in 1888 and began to mine the phosphate deposits used for fertilizer. Germany lost the island in World War I and the League of Nations put it under joint Australian, New Zealand, and British mandate. The Japanese occupied the islands during World War II. Australia administered it as a U.N. Trusteeship from 1947-1967. It became independent in 1968. The island has been economically devastated by almost a century of phosphate strip mining by foreign countries. Some nations have paid reparations.<ref name="profile">The Family History Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, “Family History Record Profile: Micronesia,” Word document, private files of the FamilySearch Content Strategy Team, 1987-2001.</ref>  

== References  ==