Starting with the Marianas, they are an arch-shaped archipelago, which is actually made up by the summits of 15 volcanos in the North-Western part of the Pacific Ocean. The islands cover a total area of 389 square miles (1,007 square kilometers) and the grounds are very fertile, while there is a plentiful supply of water. Also, there are not great temperature variations in the area.
Moving on, Wake Island is a coral atoll with a coast line of 12 miles in total. Even though Wake Island is situated in the tropical zone, it is subject to several storms during the winter. On August 31, 2006 a category 5 Super Typhoon Loke hit the island inflicting major damage, while later a U.S. Air Force repair team restored the damage. Today, the atoll is administered by the U.S. Department of Interior's Office of Insular Affairs.
A reef in Palau.
Palau covers a total area of 488 square kilometers and has a total population of 19, 129 individuals as of 2000, according to the Pacific Islands Applied Geoscience Commission. In Palau there are several areas of ecological concern, which include illegal fishing with dynamite, inadequate facilities for waste disposal and extensive coral dredging. However, unlike most of the other Pacific Islands, Palau is outside the main Typhoon zone.
The next island in our list is Kiribati. The capital of this island is Tarawa. Kiribati covers a total area of 811 square kilometers and has a total population of 84,494 individuals, as of 2000. What is worth mentioning about this island is its musical tradition, which is mostly vocalizing accompanied by body percussions. This population of this rich island however is tortured by diseases the most common of which is Tuberculosis and has a high infant mortality rate.
Guam's capital is Agana and the island covers a total area of 541 square kilometers, with a total population of 154,805 individuals as of 2000. They use the U.S. Dollar as their currency and the island has a $21,000 GDP per capita. Guam suffers the effect of bioinvasion; near the end of World War II, the Brown Tree Snake was transported to the island and nearly eliminated the island's native bird population, since there were no snakes on Guam island prior to that. Also, the Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle attacked most of the island's coconut trees in 2007, forcing the authorities to call for a quarantine on several areas of the island.
Nauru is a small island of 21 square kilometers and a total population of 13,048 individuals, as of July 2005. The island is surrounded by a magnificent coral reef, which is exposed to low tide. The highest point of Nauru is the Command Ridge, which is 71 meters above sea level. On the island there are about 60 native vascular plant species, no native mammals, but there are several native birds, insects and land crabs.
An old, rusty ship on the shore of the Marshall Islands.
The Marshall Islands are located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and cover a total area of 181.3 square kilometers. They have a population of 50,840 individuals as of 1999 and they use the U.S. Dollar as their official currency. From 1946 till 1958 the United States tested 67 nuclear weapons on Marshall Islands, including the largest nuclear test ever conducted, Castle Bravo.
The largest nuclear test ever conducted; Castle Bravo, Marshall Islands (March 1, 1954).
Last but not least, the Federated States of Micronesia cover an area of 702 square kilometers and have a total population of 107,008 individuals as of 2000. The Federation consists of 607 islands across the archipelago of Caroline Islands, east of the Philippines. The four constituent island groups are Chuuk, Pohnpei, Kosrae and Yap, all four of which are represented by a white star on the Federation's National Flag. There are seven official languages spoken in the area including English.
Sources:
Wikipedia Online Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/
The Pacific Islands Applied Geoscience Commission - http://www.sopac.org/
World Dive Adventures - http://www.worlddive.com/
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