Areca nutThe areca nut (ˈærᵻkə or əˈriːkə) is the fruit of the areca palm (Areca catechu), which grows in much of the tropical Pacific (Melanesia and Micronesia), South Asia, Southeast Asia, and parts of east Africa. It is commonly referred to as betel nut, not to be confused with betel (Piper betle) leaves that are often used to wrap it (a preparation known as betel nut chewing). Consumption has many harmful effects on health and is carcinogenic to humans.
Compact of Free AssociationThe Compact of Free Association (COFA) is an international agreement establishing and governing the relationships of free association between the United States and the three Pacific Island sovereign states of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), and the Republic of Palau. As a result, these countries are sometimes known as the Freely Associated States.
WoleaiWoleai, also known as Oleai, is a coral atoll of twenty-two islands in the western Caroline Islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district in the Yap State in the Federated States of Micronesia and is located approximately west-northwest of Ifalik and northeast of Eauripik. Woleai is also the name of the largest of the islets constituting the atoll, lying to the northeast. The population of the atoll was 1,081 in 2000, on an area of 4.5 km2.
Wa (watercraft)Wa are traditional sailing outrigger canoes of the Caroline Islands, Palau, and Yap. They have a single outrigger. They are similar to the sakman of the Northern Marianas. Wa are proa — vessels with identical bow and stern, allowing the craft to reverse without turning. They are made from hewn-out hulls, typically breadfruit trunks, with single wide top-strakes, and carved head and stern pieces. Sails are lateen rigged and were traditionally made of pandanus mat sailcloth.
MicronesiaMicronesia (UKˌmaɪkrəˈniːziə, US-ˈniːʒə) is a subregion of Oceania, consisting of about 2,000 small islands in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. It has a close shared cultural history with three other island regions: Maritime Southeast Asia to the west, Polynesia to the east, and Melanesia to the south—as well as with the wider community of Austronesian peoples. The region has a tropical marine climate and is part of the Oceanian realm.
MicronesiansThe Micronesians or Micronesian peoples are various closely related ethnic groups native to Micronesia, a region of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean. They are a part of the Austronesian ethnolinguistic group, which has an Urheimat in Taiwan. Ethno-linguistic groups classified as Micronesian include the Carolinians (Northern Mariana Islands), Chamorros (Guam & Northern Mariana Islands), Chuukese, Mortlockese, Namonuito, Paafang, Puluwat and Pollapese (Chuuk), I-Kiribati (Kiribati), Kosraeans (Kosrae), Marshallese (Marshall Islands), Nauruans (Nauru), Palauan, Sonsorolese, and Hatohobei (Palau), Pohnpeians, Pingelapese, Ngatikese, Mwokilese (Pohnpei), and Yapese, Ulithian, Woleian, Satawalese (Yap).
