Editing Micronesia (section)

==Demographics==
{{further|Demographics of Oceania}}
The people today form many ethnicities, but all are descended from and belong to the Micronesian culture.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hudjashov |first1=Georgi |last2=Endicott |first2=Phillip |last3=Post |first3=Helen |last4=Nagle |first4=Nano |last5=Ho |first5=Simon Y. W. |last6=Lawson |first6=Daniel J. |last7=Reidla |first7=Maere |last8=Karmin |first8=Monika |last9=Rootsi |first9=Siiri |last10=Metspalu |first10=Ene |last11=Saag |first11=Lauri |date=2018-01-29 |title=Investigating the origins of eastern Polynesians using genome-wide data from the Leeward Society Isles |journal=Scientific Reports |language=en |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=1823 |doi=10.1038/s41598-018-20026-8 |pmid=29379068 |pmc=5789021 |bibcode=2018NatSR...8.1823H |issn=2045-2322}}</ref>

Because of this mixture of descent, many of the ethnicities of Micronesia feel closer to some groups in [[Melanesia]], or the [[Philippines]]. A good example of this are the [[Yapese people]] who are related to [[Austronesian peoples|Austronesian]] tribes in the northern [[Philippines]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.everyculture.com/wc/Mauritania-to-Nigeria/Micronesians.html |title=Micronesians - Introduction, Location, Language, Folklore, Religion, Major holidays, Rites of passage|work=everyculture.com}}</ref> Genetics also show a significant number of Micronesian have Japanese paternal ancestry: 9.5% of males from Micronesia as well as 0.2% in [[East Timor]] carry the [[Haplogroup D-M55]].<ref name="tumonggor">{{cite journal |last1=Tumonggor |first1=Meryanne K |last2=Karafet |first2=Tatiana M |last3=Downey |first3=Sean |last4=Lansing |first4=J Stephen |last5=Norquest |first5=Peter |last6=Sudoyo |first6=Herawati |last7=Hammer |first7=Michael F |last8=Cox |first8=Murray P |title=Isolation, contact and social behavior shaped genetic diversity in West Timor |journal=Journal of Human Genetics |date=September 2014 |volume=59 |issue=9 |pages=494–503 |doi=10.1038/jhg.2014.62 |pmid=25078354 |pmc=4521296 }}</ref>

There are also substantial Asian communities found across the region, most notably in the [[Northern Mariana Islands]] where they form the majority and smaller communities of Europeans who have migrated from the United States or are descendants of settlers during European colonial rule in Micronesia.

Though they are all geographically part of the same region, they all have very different colonial histories. The US-administered areas of Micronesia have a unique experience that sets them apart from the rest of the Pacific. Micronesia has great economic dependency on its former or current motherlands, something only comparable to the French Pacific. Sometimes, the term ''American Micronesia'' is used to acknowledge the difference in cultural heritage.<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last =Kiste | editor1-first= Robert C. | editor2-last =Marshall | editor2-first = Mac |title=American Anthropology in Micronesia: An Assessment|year=1999|page=1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V8Dr4fJxlkIC&q=%22micronesia%22|isbn=9780824820176 | publisher = University of Hawai'i Press | location = Honolulu, Hawai'i}}</ref>

A 2011 survey found that 93.1% of Micronesian are [[Christians]];<ref name="Christianity in Oceania">{{citation | url = http://wwwgordonconwell.com/netcommunity/CSGCResources/ChristianityinitsGlobalContext.pdf | title = Christianity in its Global Context, 1970–2020: Society, Religion, and Mission | author = Center for the Study of Global Christianity | date = June 2013 | publisher = [[Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary]] | location = South Hamilton, Massachusetts, USA| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130815184022/http://wwwgordonconwell.com/netcommunity/CSGCResources/ChristianityinitsGlobalContext.pdf | archive-date = 15 August 2013 }}</ref> a survey in 2022 showed that 99% were Christian.<ref name=US2022 />

=== Demographic table ===
The countries and territories in this table are categorised according to the scheme for geographic subregions used by the United Nations. The information shown follows sources in cross-referenced articles; where sources differ, provisos have been clearly indicated. These territories and regions are subject to various additional categorisations, depending on the source and purpose of each description.
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="border:1px solid #aaa; font-size:90%;"
|- style="background:#ececec;"|
! style="line-height:95%; width:4em" class="unsortable" | [[Coat of arms|Arms]]
! style="line-height:95%; width:2em" class="unsortable" | Flag
! Name of region, followed by countries<ref name="region">Regions and constituents as per [[:File:United Nations geographical subregions.png|UN categorisations/map]] except [[#endnote CCAU|notes 2–3]], 6. Depending on definitions, various territories cited below (notes 3, 5–7, 9) may be in [[List of countries spanning more than one continent|one or both of]] Oceania and Asia or North America.<br /></ref>
! data-sort-type="number" | [[List of countries and outlying territories by total area|Area]]<br />(km<sup>2</sup>)
! data-sort-type="number" | [[List of countries by population|Population]]<br />({{UN_Population|Year}}){{UN_Population|ref}}
! data-sort-type="number" | [[List of countries and dependencies by population density|Population density]]<br />(per km<sup>2</sup>)
! [[Capital (political)|Capital]]
! [[ISO 3166-1 alpha-2|ISO 3166-1]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| {{center|[[File:Seal of the Federated States of Micronesia.svg|25px]]}}
| style="text-align:center;"| {{Flagicon|Federated States of Micronesia}}
| '''[[Federated States of Micronesia]]'''
| style="text-align:right;"| 702
| style="text-align:right;"| {{UN_Population|Micronesia (Fed. States of)}}
| style="text-align:right;"| 149.5
| [[Palikir]]
| FM
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| {{center|[[File:Seal of Guam.svg|20px]]}}
| style="text-align:center;"| {{Flagicon|Guam}}
| [[Guam]] (United States)
| style="text-align:right;"| 549
| style="text-align:right;"| {{UN_Population|Guam}}
| style="text-align:right;"| 296.7
| [[Hagåtña, Guam|Hagåtña]]
| GU
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| {{Coat of arms|text=none|Kiribati}}
| style="text-align:center;"| {{Flagicon|Kiribati}}
| '''[[Kiribati]]'''
| style="text-align:right;"| 811
| style="text-align:right;"| {{UN_Population|Kiribati}}
| style="text-align:right;"| 141.1
| [[South Tarawa]]
| KI
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| {{center|[[File:Seal of the Marshall Islands.svg|20px]]}}
| style="text-align:center;"| {{Flagicon|Marshall Islands}}
| '''[[Marshall Islands]]'''
| style="text-align:right;"| 181
| style="text-align:right;"| {{UN_Population|Marshall Islands}}
| style="text-align:right;"| 293.2
| [[Majuro]]
| MH
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| {{Coat of arms|text=none|Nauru}}
| style="text-align:center;"| {{Flagicon|Nauru}}
| '''[[Nauru]]'''
| style="text-align:right;"| 21
| style="text-align:right;"| {{UN_Population|Nauru}}
| style="text-align:right;"| 540.3
| [[Yaren District|Yaren]] <small>(''de facto'')</small>
| NR
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| {{center|[[File:Seal of the Northern Mariana Islands.svg|20px]]}}
| style="text-align:center;"| {{Flagicon|Northern Mariana Islands}}
| [[Northern Mariana Islands]] (United States)
| style="text-align:right;"| 477
| style="text-align:right;"| {{UN_Population|Northern Mariana Islands}}
| style="text-align:right;"| 115.4
| [[Saipan]]
| MP
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| {{center| }}
| style="text-align:center;"| {{Flagicon|Palau}}
| '''[[Palau]]'''
| style="text-align:right;"| 458
| style="text-align:right;"| {{UN_Population|Palau}}
| style="text-align:right;"| 46.9
| [[Ngerulmud]]<ref name="Palau">On 7 October 2006, government officials moved their offices in the former capital of [[Koror]] to [[Ngerulmud]] in the state of [[Melekeok]], located {{convert|20|km|0|abbr=on}} northeast of Koror on [[Babeldaob|Babelthuap Island]].<br /></ref>
| PW
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| {{Coat of arms|text=none|United States}}
| style="text-align:center;"| {{Flagicon|Wake Island|local}}
| [[Wake Island]] (United States)
| style="text-align:right;"| 2
| style="text-align:right;"| 150
| style="text-align:right;"| 75
| [[Wake Island]]
| UM
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|
| style="text-align:center;"|
| '''Micronesia''' (total)
| style="text-align:right;"| 3,307
| style="text-align:right;"| 526,343
| style="text-align:right;"| 163.5
|}

===Indigenous groups===
====Micronesians====
{{main|Micronesians}}
=====Carolinian people=====
It is thought that ancestors of the [[Carolinian people]] may have originally immigrated from the Asian mainland and [[Indonesia]] to Micronesia around 2,000 years ago. Their primary language is [[Carolinian language|Carolinian]], called ''Refaluwasch'' by native speakers, which has a total of about 5,700 speakers. The Carolinians have a [[matriarchy|matriarchal]] society in which respect is a very important factor in their daily lives, especially toward the [[matriarch]]s. Most Carolinians are of the [[Roman Catholic]] faith.

The immigration of Carolinians to [[Saipan]] began in the early 19th century, after the [[Spain|Spanish]] reduced the local population of [[Chamorro people|Chamorro]] natives to just 3,700. They began to [[immigrate]] mostly sailing from small [[canoes]] from other islands, which a [[typhoon]] previously devastated. The Carolinians have a much darker complexion than the native [[Chamorro people|Chamorros]].

=====Chamorro people=====
[[File:Chamorro people in 1915.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Chamorro people in 1915]]
The [[Chamorro people]] are the [[indigenous peoples]] of the [[Mariana Islands]], which are politically divided between the [[Territories of the United States|United States territory]] of [[Guam]] and the United States [[Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands]] in Micronesia. The Chamorro are commonly believed to have come from [[Southeast Asia]] at around 2000 [[Common Era|BC]]. They are most closely related to other [[Austronesian peoples|Austronesian]] natives to the west in the [[Philippines]] and [[Taiwanese aborigines|Taiwan]], as well as the [[Caroline Islands|Carolines]] to the south.

The [[Chamorro language]] is included in the [[Malayo-Polynesian languages|Malayo-Polynesian subgroup]] of the [[Austronesian languages|Austronesian]] family. Because Guam was colonized by Spain for over 300 years, many words derive from the [[Spanish language]]. The traditional Chamorro number system was replaced by Spanish numbers.<ref>{{cite book | first = Rafael | last = Rodríguez-Ponga Salamanca | title = Del español al chamorro: Lenguas en contacto en el Pacífico | language = es | trans-title = From Spanish to Chamorro: languages in contact in the Pacific| location = Madrid | year = 2009 | publisher = Ediciones Gondo | isbn = 978-84-933774-4-1 | oclc = 436267171}}</ref>

=====Chuukese people=====
The [[Chuukese people]] are an [[ethnic group]] in [[Oceania]]. They constitute 48% of the population of the [[Federated States of Micronesia]]. Their language is [[Chuukese language|Chuukese]]. The home atoll of Chuuk is also known by the former name Truk.

=====Nauruan people=====
The [[Nauruan people]] are an [[ethnicity]] inhabiting the [[Pacific Ocean|Pacific]] [[island]] of [[Nauru]]. They are most likely a blend of [[Indigenous peoples of Oceania|other Pacific peoples]].<ref>{{cite book|title=FutureFish 2001: FutureFish in Century 21: The North Pacific Fisheries Tackle Asian Markets, the Can-Am Salmon Treaty, and Micronesian Seas|first=C.D. | last = Bay-Hansen|year=2006|publisher=[[Trafford Publishing]]|isbn=1-55369-293-4|page=277}}</ref>

The origin of the Nauruan people has not yet been finally determined. It can possibly be explained by the last Malayo-Pacific [[human migration]] (c. 1200). It was probably seafaring or shipwrecked [[Polynesians]] or [[Melanesians]] that established themselves in Nauru because there was not already an [[indigenous people]] present, whereas the [[Micronesians]] were already crossed with the Melanesians in this area.

====Kaping people====
The roughly 3000 residents of the Federated States of Micronesia that reside in [[Kapingamarangi]], nicknamed 'Kapings', live in one of the most remote locations in both Micronesia and the world at large. Their home atoll is almost {{convert|200|mi|km|abbr=on|order=flip}} from the nearest point of immigration.<ref>{{cite book|first=Douglas L.|last=Oliver|title=Oceania: The Native Cultures of Australia and the Pacific Islands|volume=1|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|location=Honolulu|year=2022|isbn=978-0-82484-570-4|page=274}}</ref>  There are no regular flights; the only reliable way to legally visit is to travel on a high-speed sailboat to the atoll. Owing to this difficulty, few sailors travelling the Pacific attempt to visit. The local language is the [[Kapingamarangi language]]. From the 1970s, to attend high school the children needed to travel to Pohnpei, bringing their parents with them to create communities of Kapings on the island.<ref>>{{cite journal|last1=Drummond|first1=Emily|last2=Rudolph|first2=Johnny|year=2021|title=Nukuoro (Nukuoro Atoll, Pohnpei State, Federated States of Micronesia) – Language Snapshot|journal=Language Documentation and Description|issue=20|page=149}}</ref>

===Immigrant groups===
====East, South, and Southeast Asian people====
{{See also|Japanese settlement in Palau|Japanese settlement in the Federated States of Micronesia|Koreans in Micronesia|Chinese in Palau|Filipinos in Palau}}
There are large [[East Asia|East]], [[South Asia|South]] and [[Southeast Asia|Southeast]] Asian communities found across certain Micronesian countries that are either immigrants, foreign workers or descendants of either one, most migrated to the islands during the 1800s and 1900s.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iDg9oAkwsXAC|title=Asia in the Pacific Islands: Replacing the West|first=R. G.|last=Crocombe|date=1 January 2007|publisher=IPS Publications, University of the South Pacific|via=Google Books|isbn=9789820203884}}</ref> According to the 2010 census results Guam was 26.3% [[Overseas Filipino|Filipino]], 2.2% [[Korean diaspora|Korean]], 1.6% [[Overseas Chinese|Chinese]] and 2% other Asian.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.indexmundi.com/guam/ethnic_groups.html|title=Guam Ethnic groups - Demographics|work=indexmundi.com}}</ref> The 2010 census showed the Northern Mariana Islands was 50% Asian of which 35.3% were Filipino, 6.8% Chinese, 4.2% Korean and 3.7% other Asian (mainly [[Japanese diaspora|Japanese]], [[Bangladeshi diaspora|Bangladeshi]] and [[Thai people|Thai]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.indexmundi.com/northern_mariana_islands/demographics_profile.html|title=Northern Mariana Islands Demographics Profile 2016|work=indexmundi.com}}</ref> The 2010 census for the Federated States of Micronesia showed 1.4% were Asian while statistics for Nauru showed 8% of Nauruans were Chinese.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.indexmundi.com/federated_states_of_micronesia/ethnic_groups.html|title=Federated States of Micronesia Ethnic groups - Demographics|work=indexmundi.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.indexmundi.com/nauru/ethnic_groups.html|title=Nauru Ethnic groups - Demographics|work=indexmundi.com}}</ref> The 2005 census results for Palau showed 16.3% were Filipino, 1.6% Chinese, 1.6% Vietnamese and 3.4% other Asian (mostly Bangladeshi, Japanese and Korean).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.indexmundi.com/palau/ethnic_groups.html|title=Palau Ethnic groups - Demographics|work=indexmundi.com}}</ref>

Japanese rule in Micronesia also led to Japanese people settling the islands and marrying native spouses. [[Kessai Note]], the former president of the [[Marshall Islands]] has partial Japanese ancestry by way of his paternal grandfather, and [[Manny Mori|Emanuel Mori]], the former president of the [[Federated States of Micronesia]], is descended from one of the first settlers from Japan, [[Mori Koben|Koben Mori]].

A significant number of Micronesians were shown to have paternal genetic relations with Japanese [[Haplogroup D-M55]]. [[Genetic testing]] found that 9.5% of males from Micronesia as well as 0.2% in [[East Timor]]<ref name=Hammer2006>{{cite journal | last1 = Hammer | first1 = Michael F. | last2 = Karafet | first2 = Tatiana M. | last3 = Park | first3 = Hwayong | last4 = Omoto | first4 = Keiichi | last5 = Harihara | first5 = Shinji | last6 = Stoneking | first6 = Mark | last7 = Horai | first7 = Satoshi | year = 2006 | title = Dual origins of the Japanese: Common ground for hunter-gatherer and farmer Y chromosomes | journal = Journal of Human Genetics | volume = 51 | number = 1 | pages = 47–58 | doi = 10.1007/s10038-005-0322-0 | pmid = 16328082| doi-access = free }}</ref> carry what is believed to reflect recent admixture from Japan. That is, D-M116.1 (D1b1) is generally believed to be a primary subclade of D-M64.1 (D1b), possibly as a result of the [[Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies|Japanese military occupation of Southeast Asia]] during [[World War II]].<ref name="tumonggor"/>

====European people====
The 2010 census results of Guam showed 7.1% were white while the 2005 census for Nauru showed 8% were European. Smaller numbers at 1.9% in Palau and 1.8% in the Northern Mariana Islands were recorded as "white". In conjunction to the European communities there are large amounts of mixed Micronesians, some of which have European ancestry.

[[File:Languages of Micronesia.en.svg|thumb|upright=1.65|Languages of Micronesia.]]

===Languages===
The largest group of languages spoken in Micronesia are the [[Micronesian languages]]. They are in the family of [[Oceanic languages]], part of the [[Austronesian languages|Austronesian language]] group. They descended from the [[Proto-Oceanic language|Proto-Oceanic]], which in turn descended via [[Proto-Malayo-Polynesian language|Proto-Malayo-Polynesian]] from [[Proto-Austronesian language|Proto-Austronesian]].
The languages in the Micronesian family are [[Marshallese language|Marshallese]], [[Gilbertese language|Gilbertese]], [[Kosraean language|Kosraean]], [[Nauruan language|Nauruan]], as well as a large sub-family called the [[Chuukic–Pohnpeic languages]] containing 11 languages.

On the eastern edge of the Federated States of Micronesia, the languages [[Nukuoro language|Nukuoro]] and [[Kapingamarangi language|Kapingamarangi]] represent an extreme westward extension of the [[Polynesian languages|Polynesian branch]] of Oceanic.

Finally, there are two [[Malayo-Polynesian languages]] spoken in Micronesia that do not belong to the [[Oceanic languages]]: [[Chamorro language|Chamorro]] in the [[Mariana Islands]] and [[Palauan language|Palauan]] in [[Palau]].