Caroline Islands

Caroline Islands
Native name:
Islas Carolinas
Nickname: New Philippines
Map of Caroline Islands
Map of the Federated States of Micronesia and Palau
Location of Caroline Islands in the Pacific
Geography
LocationWestern Pacific Ocean
Coordinates7°N 147°E / 7°N 147°E / 7; 147
ArchipelagoMicronesia
Adjacent toPacific Ocean
Total islands963
Major islandsYap, Chuuk, Pohnpei, Kosrae, Palau
Area1,300 km2 (500 sq mi)
Length3,540 km (2200 mi)
Highest elevation791 m (2595 ft)
Highest pointDolohmwar, Pohnpei
Administration
Federated States of Micronesia and Palau
Demographics
Population125,000 (2024)
LanguagesMicronesian languages, English
Ethnic groupsMicronesian, Filipino, Japanese
Additional information
Time zone
  • UTC+10, UTC+11
Area and population estimates include Federated States of Micronesia and Palau
Navigator Mau Piailug (1932–2010) of Satawal island, Micronesia
Rai stones on Yap

The Caroline Islands (or the Carolines) are a widely scattered archipelago of tiny islands in the western Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea. Politically, they are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) in the central and eastern parts of the group, and Palau at the extreme western end. Historically, this area was also called Nuevas Filipinas or New Philippines,[1] because they were part of the Spanish East Indies and were governed from Manila in the Philippines.

The Carolines are scattered across a distance of approximately 3,540 kilometres (1,910 nmi), from the westernmost island, Tobi, in Palau, to the easternmost island, Kosrae, a state of the FSM.[2]

  1. ^ Rosser, William Henry (1870). North Pacific pilot: The seaman's guide to the islands of the North Pacific, with an appendix on the winds, weather, currents, &c., of the North and South Pacific. J. Imray. pp. 183–184. Archived from the original on 20 June 2013. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
  2. ^ "Distance from Tobi Island to Kosrae". Google. Archived from the original on 6 January 2020. Retrieved 15 November 2021.