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Micronesia
Micronesia, from the Greek mikros (μικρός) (meaning small) and nesos (νῆσος) (meaning island), is a subregion of Oceania, comprising hundreds of small islands in the Pacific Ocean. The Philippines lie to the northwest, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Melanesia to the west and south, and Polynesia to the east.
This region consists of many hundreds of small islands spread over a large region of the western Pacific Ocean.
Politically, Micronesia is divided into eight nation-states and territories:
- Guam (Organized, unincorporated territory of the United States).
- Kiribati (Island country).
- Marshall Islands (Island country).
- Federated States of Micronesia, abbreviated as FSM (Island country).
- Nauru (Island country).
- Northern Mariana Islands (Commonwealth in political union with the United States).
- Palau (Island country).
- Wake Island (Unorganized, unincorporated territory of the United States).
The people today form many ethnicities, but are all descended from and belong to the Micronesian culture. The Micronesian culture was one of the last native cultures of the region to develop. It developed from a mixture of Melanesians, Filipinos and Polynesians. Because of this mixture of descent, many of the ethnicities of Micronesia feel closer to some groups in Melanesia, Polynesia or the Philippines. A good example of this are the Yapese who are related to Austronesian tribes in the Northern Philippines.