Kapingamarangi

Kapingamarangi is an isolated atoll located in the central Pacific Ocean. It is located in the extreme southwest of the state of Pohnpei of the Federated States of Micronesia. From the situated on the island of Pohnpei capital of the Federated States of Micronesia, the atoll is located over 750 km.

Geography

Kapingamarangi is located only 75 km north of the equator; the next land mass is the Nukuoro Atoll in the north to about 300 km away. The total area including the lagoon is 82.1 km ², of which 1.12 km ² land area which is spread over 33 small palm covered islands on the eastern side of the atoll. On the west side of the reef at high tide is almost flooded.

The atoll has about 500 inhabitants (2007). It forms a community of the Micronesian state of Pohnpei. Main island and seat of the municipality as well as the Chieftain is Touhou, which reaches a height of 35 meters and in the north with the island Veilua ( Ueru ) is connected by a narrow causeway.

Language

The inhabitants speak the language kapingamarangische. This is one belonging to the Samoan branch of the Polynesian languages ​​dialect. Therefore Kapingamarangi one of the out-of- Polynesian triangle of Polynesia enclaves.

Islands

The 33 islands from north to south, extending on the eastern edge of the atoll, are ( with square footage ):

Five islands are permanently inhabited. The distribution of the population of the islands is known from 1947. Though further islands show residential buildings, however, are not inhabited all year, but only about the production of copra. Hare had about 29 residential buildings on (1947).

History

On the map of Fyodor Petrovich Liitke of 1828 the atoll under the Micronesian Pyguirame name is registered with a question mark.

Kapingamarangi may have been discovered already in 1537 by Hernando de Grijalva, but the first certain discovery comes from Edmund Fanning on the ' Tonquin ' on 25 April 1809.

In 1825 (exact dates are not known ) were two sightings:

• By the British whaling ship Greenwich, Emmett master, owner Samuel Enderby
• And by Prince B. Mooers by the American whaling ship Spartan

Other sightings were:

• December 20, 1853 by Commander Tardy de Mont Ravel from the French corvette La Constantine

• September 8, 1864 by W. Symington from the ship Northfleet, port of London

• August 21, 1865, the Spanish frigate Berenguela

From 1899 to 1914 Kapingamarangi was part of the German colony of German New Guinea.

In August 1914, the atoll was occupied by the Japanese Navy. 1916 a part of the population was relocated to Pohnpei, where even today (2011) is located about 1500 their mother tongue speaking Kapingamaranginer.

A curiosity is that Kapingamarangi, during the Spanish colonial period designated as Pescadores, as three more mini archipelago in Micronesia, was in the German - Spanish Treaty of 1899 apparently forgotten, and therefore is legally still Spanish territory. Due to the low importance, the country raises no claims of ownership.