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).
Kwajalein AtollKwajalein Atoll (ˈkwɑːdʒəlɪn; Marshallese: Kuwajleen kwiwajleyen) is part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). The southernmost and largest island in the atoll is named Kwajalein Island, which its majority English-speaking residents (about 1,000 mostly U.S. civilian personnel) often use the shortened name, Kwaj kwɑːdʒ. The total land area of the atoll amounts to just over . It lies in the Ralik Chain, southwest of Honolulu, Hawaii. The US Navy has hosted a naval base on Kwajalein Island since World War II.
Nauruan languageThe Nauruan or Nauru language (dorerin Naoero) is an Austronesian language, spoken natively in the island country of Nauru. Its relationship to the other Micronesian languages is not well understood. Nauruan has 16–17 consonant phonemes. Nauruan makes phonemic contrasts between velarized and palatalized labial consonants. Velarization is not apparent before long back vowels and palatalization is not apparent before non-low front vowels. Voiceless stops are geminated and nasals also contrast in length.
Jaluit AtollJaluit Atoll (Marshallese: Jālwōj, jal'w&j, or Jālooj, jal&w&j) is a large coral atoll of 91 islands in the Pacific Ocean and forms a legislative district of the Ralik Chain of the Marshall Islands. Its total land area is , and it encloses a lagoon with an area of . Most of the land area is on the largest islet (motu) of Jaluit (10.4 km2). Jaluit is approximately southwest of Majuro. Jaluit Atoll is a designated conservation area and Ramsar Wetland. In 2011 the population of the islands of Jaluit Atoll was 1,788.
Ebeye IslandEbeye (ˈiːbaɪ ; Marshallese: Epjā, or Ebeje in older orthography, yepjay; locally, Ibae, yibahyey, after the English pronunciation) is the most populous island of Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, as well as the center for Marshallese culture in the Ralik Chain of the archipelago. Settled on of land, it has a population of more than 15,000. Over 50% of the population is estimated to be under the age of 18. When Christian missionaries first arrived in the Marshall Islands, they introduced Latin script writing and orthographized the Marshallese language.
MajuroMajuro (ˈmædʒəroʊ; Marshallese: Mājro majr&w) is the capital and largest city of the Marshall Islands. It is also a large coral atoll of 64 islands in the Pacific Ocean. It forms a legislative district of the Ratak (Sunrise) Chain of the Marshall Islands. The atoll has a land area of and encloses a lagoon of . As with other atolls in the Marshall Islands, Majuro consists of narrow land masses. It has a tropical trade wind climate, with an average temperature of .
Pohnpeian languagePohnpeian is a Micronesian language spoken as the indigenous language of the island of Pohnpei in the Caroline Islands. Pohnpeian has approximately 30,000 (estimated) native speakers living in Pohnpei and its outlying atolls and islands with another 10,000-15,000 (estimated) living off island in parts of the US mainland, Hawaii and Guam. It is the second-most widely spoken native language of the Federated States of Micronesia. Pohnpeian features a "high language" including some specialized vocabulary, used in speaking about people of high rank.
Micronesian languagesThe twenty Micronesian languages form a family of Oceanic languages. Micronesian languages are known for their lack of plain labial consonants; they have instead two series, palatalized and labio-velarized labials. According to Jackson (1983, 1986) the languages group as follows: Nauruan Nuclear Micronesian family Kosraean Central Micronesian family Gilbertese Western Micronesian family Marshallese Chuukic-Pohnpeic family Chuukic (Chuukic) Pohnpeic (Ponapeic) The family appears to have originated in the east, likely on Kosrae, and spread westwards.
Enewetak AtollEnewetak Atoll (ɛˈniːwəˌtɔːk,_ˌɛnɪˈwiːtɔːk; also spelled Eniwetok Atoll or sometimes Eniewetok; Ānewetak, yan&yweytak, or Āne-wātak, yan&y-waytak; known to the Japanese as Brown Atoll or Brown Island; ブラウン環礁) is a large coral atoll of 40 islands in the Pacific Ocean and with its 296 people (as of 2021) forms a legislative district of the Ralik Chain of the Marshall Islands. With a land area total less than , it is no higher than and surrounds a deep central lagoon, in circumference.
Palauan languagePalauan (a tekoi er a Belau) is a Malayo-Polynesian language native to the Republic of Palau, where it is one of the two official languages, alongside English. It is widely used in day-to-day life in the country. Palauan is not closely related to other Malayo-Polynesian languages and its exact classification within the branch is unclear. It is a member of the Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian family of languages, and is one of only two indigenous languages in Micronesia that are not part of the Oceanic sub-branch of that family, the other being Chamorro (see , , , and ).
