V63CB – Micronesia

Miki, JJ2CJB will serve as V63CB on IOTA OC – 011 Weno Island, Micronesia from October 25 to 29, 2024.
He will be operating on the HF bands, including participating in the CQ WW DX SSB competition.
Nearest DX Point V63CB

Previous events:

Miki, JJ2CJB will compete as V63CB in the CQ WW DX SSB competition from Pohnpei, Micronesia, IOTA OC – 010 on October 28-29, 2023.
He will fall under the category of a single operator.
QSL via JJ2CJB direct, LOTW.
Direct QSL advertising:
Seiichiro MIKI, 1810 KIRITO OKEHAZAMA, Midori, Nagoya Aichi Prefecture, 4580922, Japan.

Micronesia: A large area of ​​tiny diamond islands scattered across Oceania

…in the turquoise waters of the Pacific Ocean, where storms can occur at any time, and in its western part, densely clustered together are the Caroline Islands, which were discovered by the Spanish in 1527. These islands were formed thanks to volcanoes that once spewed out large amounts of lava, but later cooled to a state suitable for the survival of animals and plants.

There are nearly a thousand Caroline Islands in total, 936 (!), of which 328 belong to the Republic of Palau and the rest to the Federated States of Micronesia. They are separated from the Hawaiian Islands to the southwest by 4,000 kilometers of ocean.

Pohnpei, Micronesia. Author – Luigi Guarino.

The Great Confusion: “Micronesia and the Federated States of Micronesia” – Big Difference

The correct name of this not-so-largest country in Oceania (it covers only 702 square kilometers) is the Federated States of Micronesia, to distinguish it from Micronesia (the collective name for seven dependent territories and an independent country). However, the country itself is often referred to as Micronesia, as an abbreviation. This article will use the same abbreviation.

Meanwhile, the etymology of the name “Micronesia”, which has been in common use since the early 19th century, remains unchanged in both cases – referring to a state and a group of seven countries and territories. The word is derived from ancient Greek and consists of two parts:

the adjective “micros,” meaning “small”;
The noun “nessos” translates to “islands”.

“Full context”: understanding each other better

The Federated States of Micronesia consists of 608 islands, 568 each of small and very small islands. The larger islands are covered with forests and mountains (in the past, volcanic), which, as guard dogs, are “surrounded” by atolls. These islands are very small, with atolls, and their origin is the life of corals. Atoll islands are ring-shaped with a shallow lagoon in the middle.

For various reasons, only 65 of the islands are inhabited, the rest are uninhabited. All the islands, without exception, are not isolated, as they are connected by two modes of transport:

By water;
By plane.
The islands are also connected to neighboring countries by sea:

Taiwan;
Guam;
Japan;
USA.
Micronesia is connected by air to Nauru and Hawaii.

The islands are connected by sea and air routes, with sea routes to the west coast, Japan, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Guam, and air routes to Guam, Hawaii, and Nauru.

The capital of Micronesia is the city of Palikir, which is located in the state of Pohnpei (area 344 km²). Both the island (the largest in the state!) and the city located on it bear the same name. By the way, on the island of Pohnpei the highest mountain in Micronesia (798 m!) – Nanalaud – “pushes” into the sky.

Here is a brief description of the other three states:

Chuuk State consists of 7 islands (127 km ), with the administrative center located in the city of Weno;
Yap Island (122 km²), which consists of 11 islands, has its administrative center in the town of Colonia;
The only island of Kusaie (109 km²), with its administrative centre in the town of Tofole.
An interesting feature of the Federation is that, despite its rather small land area, its Exclusive Economic Zone stretches to an astonishing 2.6 million square kilometers of the Pacific Ocean! That’s 3,704 times larger than the combined area of ​​all 608 islands!

The second peculiarity of the state is that, except for Kosrae, all the other islands are surrounded by numerous atolls.

The third interesting fact: the capital Palikir is not the largest and most densely populated city in the Federation: the first place in both indicators is Wino, which has an area of ​​18.6 square kilometers and a population of 7,000 people, while Pohnpei has an area of ​​1.84 square kilometers and a population of 6,000 people.

Pohnpei, Micronesia. Author – Scot Nelson.

“Dependence on independence”.

Although the Federated States of Micronesia politically separated from the United States and became an independent federal state under the slogan of “peace, unity and freedom” on November 3, 1986, it is still heavily dependent on the United States financially and economically.

In 1982, Micronesia was forced into free association with the United States along with two other republics, the Marshall Islands and Palau, in order to receive regular U.S. aid while maintaining internal autonomy. As another U.S. benefit, Micronesian citizens can freely enter its territory, bypassing the passport system.

Under the treaty, the United States has committed for 15 consecutive years (Micronesia first renewed the treaty on May 1, 2004):

Covering a portion of the Federated States of Micronesia’s national expenses;
Protect them from outside threats.
The latter is actually a condition of the alliance: it is in the interest of the United States to solve the defense problems of these regions by setting up military bases there.

Pohnpei, Micronesia. Author – aallyycciiaa.

“Nice to meet you!” – A quick description of a Micronesian

The Nan Madol complex on Pohnpei is also believed to record that the ancestors of the Micronesians were travelers from Asia who inhabited the islands from the second millennium BC.

Before the Spanish colonization, there was no country on the island, and the islanders lived in a primitive communal system. The Europeans eliminated social inequality, and the Japanese taught the locals to grow beets.

Today, there are at least 105,000 Micronesians in the country, with a literacy rate of 89%, of whom 21,000 migrate to the United States and neighboring states each year in search of a better life.

Ethnically, Micronesians belong to eight indigenous and immigrant ethnic groups (in descending order):

Truck (Chuuk) (Aboriginal);
Bonape;
Kosrae;
Yap et al.
The Polynesians are a combination of Mongoloid, Caucasoid, and Australoid characteristics.

The country is mainly Catholic, but there are also a small number of non-Christian believers, accounting for 4.2% of the total number of believers.

In addition to the official English, residents here also use eight other very peculiar languages ​​to communicate, including:

truck;
Kosrae;
Japanese;
Pompeii

“All natural!”: The island’s climate and natural scenery

The country’s spatial reference point – that is, its location between 136° and 166° east longitude and 0° and 14° north latitude – naturally forms a climate of the equatorial and sub-equatorial types. Due to the passive monsoon type of the islands, the weather in Micronesia is hot and rainy: the mountainous areas receive particularly heavy rainfall in April (about 6,000 mm per year).

No matter what time of year visitors come here, they won’t find much of a temperature difference, with the average temperature being 33°C.

But constant heat and refreshing rain aren’t the only constants on the islands! Typhoons hit the islands up to 25 times a year, originating in the Pacific Ocean near Micronesia. You’ll most likely get to witness this “natural wonder” for 5 months, from August to December.

If you are not afraid of typhoons, the islands are a great place for nature lovers to go for a walk: Micronesia has many grasslands, sparse trees, savannas and dense evergreen tropical jungles. On the larger atolls, pandanus and coconut trees are common in tropical areas.

V63CB. Where is Pohnpei? Map.