90% of Americans think that Australia sits next-door to Germany and produced Arnold Schwarzenegger. The other 10% think we ride around on Kangaroos and say "BONZA!" a lot.
On that note I present the first in a TSP weekly feature (and we all know how well past promises of weekly features have gone) entitled "I've Never Been There" dedicated to educating us all about some countries that nobody's ever heard of.
With that, I present our first contender. Let's all consider ourselves a little bit more knowledgeable about the world, starting now!
1. Federated States of Micronesia
In 1979 the Federated States of Micronesia, a UN Trust Territory under US administration, adopted a constitution. In 1986 independence was attained under a Compact of Free Association with the United States. Present concerns include large-scale unemployment, overfishing, and overdependence on US aid.
Location: Oceania, island group in the North Pacific Ocean, about three-quarters of the way from Hawaii to Indonesia
Population: 133,144 (July 2000 est.)
Ethnic groups: nine ethnic Micronesian and Polynesian groups
Religions: Roman Catholic 50%, Protestant 47%, other and none 3%
Languages: English (official), Trukese, Pohnpeian, Yapese, Kosrean
Capital: Palikir
Radio broadcast stations: AM 5, FM 1, shortwave 0 (1998)
Television broadcast stations: 2 (1997)
Railways: 0 km
Highways: total: 240 km
International Disputes - None
1899 - Part of German New Guinea
1914 - Occupied by Japan
1920 - Held under mandate of the League of Nations
1947 - Part of the UN Trust Territory of the Pacific (With Marshall Islands, Northern Mariana Islands and Palau)
1979 - Granted autonomy
1986 - UN Security Council dissolves trust, independance granted.
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