Yap ( yap, Waqaab) traditionally refers to an island group located in the
Caroline Islands
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 centra ...
of the western
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
, a part of
Yap State
Yap State, also known in the Yapese language as Nam nu Wa'ab (lit. "Island of Yap") or simply as Wa'ab, is one of the four states of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). The other states are Kosrae State, Pohnpei State, and Chuuk State.
C ...
. The name "Yap" in recent years has come to also refer to
the state
A state is a centralized political organization that imposes and enforces rules over a population within a territory. There is no undisputed definition of a state. One widely used definition comes from the German sociologist Max Weber: a "stat ...
within the
Federated States of Micronesia
The Federated States of Micronesia (; abbreviated FSM) is an island country in Oceania. It consists of four states from west to east, Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosraethat are spread across the western Pacific. Together, the states comprise a ...
, inclusive of the Yap Main Islands and its various outer islands, the Yap Neighboring Islands. For specifying the island group, the name ''Yap Main Islands'' is most exact.
Geography
Yap is actually made up of four separate islands: Yap Proper (''Marbaaq''), Gagil-Tamil, Maap ( yap, Maap′), and Rumung. The four islands are separated by relatively narrow water features, and the islands are surrounded by a common
coral reef
A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups.
Co ...
. Gagil-Tamil was once connected to Yap Proper, but a canal, ''Tagireeng Canal'', less than 10 meters wide, was constructed that separated the two landmasses in 1901. Yap was formed from an uplift of the
Philippine Sea Plate
The Philippine Sea Plate or the Philippine Plate is a tectonic plate comprising oceanic lithosphere that lies beneath the Philippine Sea, to the east of the Philippines. Most segments of the Philippines, including northern Luzon, are part of ...
, and is referred to as a "high" island as opposed to
atoll
An atoll () is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon partially or completely. There may be coral islands or cays on the rim. Atolls are located in warm tropical or subtropical oceans and seas where corals can gr ...
s. The land is mostly rolling hills, with densely vegetated valleys and savanna interiors.
Mangrove
A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evoluti ...
swamps line much of the shore, although there are beaches on the northern and western sides of the islands. Excluding the reef area, the Yap Main Islands are approximately 24 km long, 5–10 km wide, and 98 km. The highest elevation is at Mount Taabiywol in Fanif municipality on Yap Proper.
Administration
Administratively, the Yap Main Islands are divided into ten municipalities that sometimes cross the water features that divide Yap into its constituent islands.
![Yap Islands municipalities](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/Yap_Islands_municipalities.jpg)
*
Dalipebinaw
Dalipebinau ( yap, Dalipeebinaew) is a village and municipality in the state of Yap, Federated States of Micronesia. It lies on the west side of the Yap island, north of Yap International Airport
Yap International Airport is an airport on Ya ...
*
Fanif
Fanif ( yap, Fanif) is a municipality in the state of Yap, Federated States of Micronesia
The Federated States of Micronesia (; abbreviated FSM) is an island country in Oceania. It consists of four states from west to east, Yap, Chuuk, ...
*
Gagil
Gagil ( yap, Gagil, dialect ''Ggil'') is a municipality in the state of Yap. It forms part of Island and covers the eastern side of the island. It has a population of roughly 400 people scattered in village groups. One of these villages includes ...
*
Gilman
*
Kanifay
Kanifay ( yap, Kanifaay) is a village and Administrative divisions of the Federated States of Micronesia#Municipalities, municipality in the state of Yap, Federated States of Micronesia.http://www.geonames.org/7626956/weloy-municipality.html
Ref ...
*
Maap
Maap ( yap, Maap′) is an island and village and municipality in the state of Yap, Federated States of Micronesia. It lies on the north east of the archipelago
An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a ...
*
Rull
Rull ( yap, Ruul) is a municipality in the southern part of the island Yap, Federated States of Micronesia. It has a traditional dancing ground. Rull has a population of 1,847. The historic Rull Men's Meetinghouse is located within the town.
E ...
*
Rumung
Rumung is a village and municipality in the state of Yap, Federated States of Micronesia
The Federated States of Micronesia (; abbreviated FSM) is an island country in Oceania. It consists of four states from west to east, Yap, Chuuk, ...
*
Tomil
Tomil or TamilOtto Van der Brug"Water Resources of the Yap Islands".USGS Open-File Report: 82-357. 1984. p. 1. ( yap, Tamil) is a municipality on the island of Yap, in the Federated States of Micronesia. It consists of twelve distinctive village ...
*
Weloy
Weloy ( yap, Weeloey) is a village and municipality in the state of Yap, Federated States of Micronesia
The Federated States of Micronesia (; abbreviated FSM) is an island country in Oceania. It consists of four states from west to east, Y ...
Culture
The
Yapese people
The Yapese people are a Micronesian ethnic group native to the main island of Yap. Yapese culture is built on the maxim: Respect and Responsibility. Aspects of traditional Yapese culture are still important in modern Yapese culture.
History
Be ...
's indigenous cultures and traditions are strong compared to other states in
Micronesia
Micronesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, consisting of about 2,000 small islands in the western Pacific Ocean. It has a close shared cultural history with three other island regions: the Philippines to the west, Polynesia to the east, and ...
.
Stone money
![Yap Stone Money](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/Yap_Stone_Money.jpg)
Yap is known for its
stone money, known as Rai, or Fei: large
doughnut
A doughnut or donut () is a type of food made from leavened fried dough. It is popular in many countries and is prepared in various forms as a sweet snack that can be homemade or purchased in bakeries, supermarkets, food stalls, and franc ...
-shaped, carved disks of (usually)
calcite
Calcite is a Carbonate minerals, carbonate mineral and the most stable Polymorphism (materials science), polymorph of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). It is a very common mineral, particularly as a component of limestone. Calcite defines hardness 3 on ...
, up to 4 m (12 ft) in diameter (most are much smaller). The smallest can be as little as in diameter. Many of them were brought from other islands, as far as
New Guinea
New Guinea (; Hiri Motu
Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea).
It is a simplified version of ...
, but most came in ancient times from
Palau
Palau,, officially the Republic of Palau and historically ''Belau'', ''Palaos'' or ''Pelew'', is an island country and microstate in the western Pacific. The nation has approximately 340 islands and connects the western chain of the Caro ...
. Their value is based on both the stone's size and its history. Historically the Yapese valued the disks because the material looks like
quartz
Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical form ...
, and these were the shiniest objects available. Eventually the stones became legal tender and were even mandatory in some payments.
The value of the stones was kept high due to the difficulty and hazards involved in obtaining them. To quarry the stones, Yapese adventurers had to sail to distant islands and deal with local inhabitants who were sometimes hostile. Once quarried, the disks had to be transported back to Yap on rafts towed behind sail-driven canoes. The scarcity of the disks, and the effort and peril required to get them, made them valuable to the Yapese.
In 1874, Irish American sea captain
David O'Keefe hit upon the idea of employing the Yapese to import more "money" in the form of shiploads of large stones, also from Palau. O'Keefe then traded these stones with the Yapese for other commodities such as
sea cucumber
Sea cucumbers are echinoderms from the class Holothuroidea (). They are marine animals with a leathery skin and an elongated body containing a single, branched gonad. Sea cucumbers are found on the sea floor worldwide. The number of holothuria ...
s and
copra
Copra (from ) is the dried, white flesh of the coconut from which coconut oil is extracted. Traditionally, the coconuts are sun-dried, especially for export, before the oil, also known as copra oil, is pressed out. The oil extracted from copr ...
. The 1954 film ''
His Majesty O'Keefe
''His Majesty O'Keefe'' is a 1954 American adventure film directed by Byron Haskin and starring Burt Lancaster. The cast also included Joan Rice, André Morell, Abraham Sofaer, Archie Savage, and Benson Fong. The screenplay by Borden Chase and ...
'' cast
Burt Lancaster
Burton Stephen Lancaster (November 2, 1913 – October 20, 1994) was an American actor and producer. Initially known for playing tough guys with a tender heart, he went on to achieve success with more complex and challenging roles over a 45-yea ...
in the captain's role. Although some of the O'Keefe stones are larger than the canoe-transported stones, they are less valuable than the earlier stones due to the comparative ease with which they were obtained.
As no more disks are being produced or imported, this
money supply
In macroeconomics, the money supply (or money stock) refers to the total volume of currency held by the public at a particular point in time. There are several ways to define "money", but standard measures usually include Circulation (curren ...
is fixed. The islanders know who owns which piece but do not necessarily move them when ownership changes. Their size and weight (the largest ones require 20 adult men to carry) make them very difficult to move around. Although today the
United States dollar
The United States dollar ( symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the officia ...
is the currency used for everyday transactions in Yap, the stone disks are still used for more traditional or ceremonial exchange. The stone disks may change ownership during marriages, transfers of land title, or as compensation for damages suffered by an aggrieved party.
Other currencies
There are four other types of currency on the Island. First there is "''Mmbul''" which is a length of
lava-lava
A lavalava, also known as an ''ie'', short for 'ie lavalava, is an article of daily clothing traditionally worn by Polynesians and other Oceanic peoples. It consists of a single rectangular cloth worn similarly to a wraparound skirt or kilt. The ...
, the cloth used for
loincloth
A loincloth is a one-piece garment, either wrapped around itself or kept in place by a belt. It covers the genitals and, at least partially, the buttocks. Loincloths which are held up by belts or strings are specifically known as breechcloth or ...
s, three or four feet long and two feet wide, wrapped up in a
Betel nut
The betel (''Piper betle'') is a vine of the family Piperaceae, which includes pepper and kava. The betel plant is native to Southeast Asia. It is an evergreen, dioecious perennial, with glossy heart-shaped leaves and white catkins. Betel plan ...
sheath. Then there is "''Gau''" or "''Gaw''", a necklace of
shells, up to 10 feet in length. The shells come from Canet, an island near
Ponape
Ponape may refer to:
* Pohnpei, an island in the Federated States of Micronesia
* ''Ponape'' (barque), a German sailing ship
{{disambiguation ...
, from Ponape itself and from
Euripik. Since these come from a distance, Gau is worth more than Mmbul. "''Yar''" is money made of large shells about eight inches wide, pierced and tied on a coconut rope. Finally, "''Reng''" is the name of money made of
turmeric
Turmeric () is a flowering plant, ''Curcuma longa'' (), of the ginger family, Zingiberaceae, the rhizomes of which are used in cooking. The plant is a perennial, rhizomatous, herbaceous plant native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asi ...
, which is ground and mixed with water and the paste shaped into a ball, typically used for tribal ceremonies.
Living structures
There are three types of traditional buildings on Yap. The "''tabinaw''" is a family house and has a roof made of woven thatch (dried palm fronds). Inside, there is one open room with no lavatory. Kitchens are separate structures (''t'ang'') outside the family houses.
The "''faluw''" is the "men's house"; such buildings were built on the shoreline with easy access to the sea. Prior to World War I, women had been kidnapped and taken to the ''faluw''. Today this practice no longer occurs. Women considered it an honor to be chosen for the ''faluw'', because only the most beautiful women would be taken there. Such a woman was called the "''mispil''" (resident female) of the ''faluw''. As the island's culture was more and more influenced by the rest of the world's views on prostitution, this practice ended.
Largest of the three types is the "''p'ebay''", a place for the community to come together for school, dances or meetings. As with all structures on Yap, it is necessary to obtain permission before entering. There are a few men's houses that women are allowed to enter; however, people must always ask for permission.
Language and ethnicity
The
Yapese language
Yapese is a language spoken by the people on the island of Yap (Federated States of Micronesia). It belongs to the Austronesian languages, more specifically to the Oceanic branch of that family. It has been difficult to classify it further, but ...
belongs to the
Austronesian languages, more specifically to the
Oceanic languages
The approximately 450 Oceanic languages are a branch of the Austronesian languages. The area occupied by speakers of these languages includes Polynesia, as well as much of Melanesia and Micronesia. Though covering a vast area, Oceanic languages ...
. Yap was initially settled by ancient migrants from the Malay Peninsula, the Indonesian Archipelago, New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands. The people of the
Yap State
Yap State, also known in the Yapese language as Nam nu Wa'ab (lit. "Island of Yap") or simply as Wa'ab, is one of the four states of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). The other states are Kosrae State, Pohnpei State, and Chuuk State.
C ...
outer islands are descendants of
Micronesian settlers, and as such have significant ethnic dissimilarities from the people of the Yap Main Islands. Their culture and languages (
Ulithian
Ulithian is the language spoken on Ulithi Atoll and neighboring islands. Ulithian is one of the six official languages of the Federated States of Micronesia. There are some 3,000 speakers, although only 700 of these live on Ulithi Atoll.
In 2010 ...
and
Woleaian
Woleaian is the main language of the island of Woleai and surrounding smaller islands in the state of Yap of the Federated States of Micronesia. Woleaian is a Chuukic language. Within that family, its closest relative is Satawalese, with whic ...
) are closely related to those of the outer islands of
Chuuk.
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
is used as a common language.
Navigation
The Yapese and Neighboring Island Yapese were some of the most renowned navigators in the Pacific. Yapese sailors traveled phenomenal distances in outrigger canoes, without the aid of a compass, navigating by the stars and the patterns of ocean waves using techniques of Micronesian and
Polynesian navigation
Polynesian navigation or Polynesian wayfinding was used for thousands of years to enable long voyages across thousands of kilometers of the Pelagic zone, open Pacific Ocean. Polynesians made contact with nearly every island within the vast Poly ...
. During pre-colonial times, the people of Yap established an island empire and dominion over what are now the Neighboring Islands of Yap State. Beginning in the 19th century, Yap was colonized by the Spanish, Germans, and Japanese in succession.
The double-hulled voyaging canoe ''
Alingano Maisu
''Alingano Maisu'', also known as ''Maisu'' , is a double-hulled voyaging canoe built in Kawaihae, Hawaii by members of Na Kalai Waa Moku o Hawaii and Ohana Wa'a members from throughout the Pacific and abroad as a gift and tribute to Satawalese n ...
'', gifted by the
Polynesian Voyaging Society
The Polynesian Voyaging Society (PVS) is a non-profit research and educational corporation based in Honolulu, Hawaii. PVS was established to research and perpetuate traditional Polynesian voyaging methods. Using replicas of traditional double-hul ...
to master navigator
Mau Piailug
Pius "Mau" Piailug (pronounced ; 1932 – July 12, 2010) was a Micronesian navigator from the Carolinian island of Satawal, best known as a teacher of traditional, non-instrument wayfinding methods for open-ocean voyaging. Mau's Carolinian ...
, is home-ported on the island of Yap under the command of Piailug's son, Sesario Sewralur.
Social structure
Yapese society is based on a highly complex "caste system" involving at least seven tiers of rank. Historically, the caste rank of an entire village could rise or fall in comparison to other villages depending on how it fared in inter-village conflicts. Winning villages would rise in rank as a part of a peace settlement, while losing villages would have to accept a decline in comparative rank. In many cases lower ranked villages were required to pay tribute to higher ranked villages. Further, dietary taboos might be imposed on lower ranking villages, i.e., they might be prohibited from harvesting and eating the more desirable fish and animals of the sea. Further, within each village each family had its own rank comparative to the others.
Until the arrival of the German colonizers, the caste ranking system was fluid and the ranks of villages and families changed in response to inter-village intrigues and confrontations. In the early twentieth century, however, the German colonial administration pacified Yap and enforced a prohibition against violent conflict. The caste ranking of each village in modern Yap thus remains the same as it was when the system was frozen in place by the Germans.
Foreign Contact
![HH1883 pg125 Hafen von Jap](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1c/HH1883_pg125_Hafen_von_Jap.jpg)
The first recorded sighting of Yap by Europeans came during the Spanish expedition of
Álvaro de Saavedra in 1528. Its sighting was also recorded by the Spanish expedition of
Ruy López de Villalobos
Ruy López de Villalobos (; ca. 1500 – April 4, 1546) was a Spanish explorer who sailed the Pacific from Mexico to establish a permanent foothold for Spain in the East Indies, which was near the Line of Demarcation between Spain and Portugal a ...
on 26 January 1543, who charted them as ''Los Arrecifes'' ("the reefs"). At Yap, the Villalobos expedition received the same surprising greeting as previously in
Fais Island
Fais Island is a raised coral island in the eastern Caroline Islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district in Yap State in the Federated States of Micronesia. Fais Island is located approximately east of Ulithi and northeast o ...
from the local people approaching the ships in canoes: "''Buenos días Matelotes!''" ("Good day, sailors!") in perfect sixteenth-century Spanish evidencing previous presence of the Spaniards in the area. The original account of this story is included in the report that the
Augustinian Augustinian may refer to:
*Augustinians, members of religious orders following the Rule of St Augustine
*Augustinianism, the teachings of Augustine of Hippo and his intellectual heirs
*Someone who follows Augustine of Hippo
* Canons Regular of Sain ...
Fray Jerónimo de Santisteban
Fray or Frays or The Fray may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Fictional entities
*Fray, a phenomenon in Terry Pratchett's ''The Carpet People''
*Fray, the main character in the video games:
**''Fray in Magical Adventure''
**''Fray CD'' ...
, travelling with the Villalobos expedition, wrote for the Viceroy of
New Spain
New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Am ...
, while in
Kochi
Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of K ...
during the voyage home. Yap also appeared in Spanish charts as ''Los Garbanzos'' (''The Chickpeas'' in Spanish) and ''Gran Carolina'' (''Great Caroline'' in Spanish).
From the 17th century until 1899, Yap was a Spanish colony within the
Captaincy General of the Philippines
The Captaincy General of the Philippines ( es, Capitanía General de Filipinas ; tl, Kapitaniya Heneral ng Pilipinas) was an administrative district of the Spanish Empire in Southeast Asia governed by a Governor-General of the Philippines, gove ...
of the
Spanish East Indies
The Spanish East Indies ( es , Indias orientales españolas ; fil, Silangang Indiyas ng Espanya) were the overseas territories of the Spanish Empire in Asia-Pacific, Asia and Oceania from 1565 to 1898, governed for the Spanish Crown from Mexico C ...
. The Spanish used Yap Island as a prison for those captured during the
Philippine Revolution.
After their defeat by the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
in 1898, and subsequent loss of the Philippines, Spain sold these islands and its other minor Pacific possessions to
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
.
Yap was a major
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
naval communications center before the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
and an important international hub for cable telegraphy, with spokes branching out to Guam, Shanghai, Rabaul, Naura and Manado (Sulawesi's North coast). It was occupied by Japanese troops in September 1914, and passed to the Japanese Empire under the Versailles Treaty in 1919 as a mandated territory under
League of Nations
The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...
supervision. US commercial rights on the island were secured by a special US-Japanese treaty to that effect, concluded on 11 February 1922.
In
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
ese-held Yap was one of the islands bypassed in the U.S. "
island-hopping
Leapfrogging, also known as island hopping, was a military strategy employed by the Allies in the Pacific War against the Empire of Japan during World War II.
The key idea is to bypass heavily fortified enemy islands instead of trying to ca ...
" strategy, although it was regularly bombed by U.S. ships and aircraft, and Yap-based Japanese bombers did some damage in return. The Japanese
garrison
A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a mil ...
comprised 4,423
IJA men under the command of Colonel Daihachi Itoh and 1,494
IJN men.
At the end of World War II, Yap was occupied by the U.S. military victors. The U.S. held it and the rest of the Caroline Islands as a trusteeship under a United Nations mandate (the "
Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands
The Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI) was a United Nations trust territory in Micronesia administered by the United States from 1947 to 1994.
History
Spain initially claimed the islands that later composed the territory of the Trus ...
") until 1986. In that year, Yap,
Truk,
Pohnpei
Pohnpei "upon (''pohn'') a stone altar (''pei'')" (formerly known as Ponape or Ascension, Proto-Chuukic-Pohnpeic: ''*Fawo ni pei)'' is an island of the Senyavin Islands which are part of the larger Caroline Islands group. It belongs to Pohnpei ...
, and
Kosrae
Kosrae ( ), formerly known as Kusaie or Strong's Island, is an island in the Federated States of Micronesia. The State of Kosrae is one of the four states of the Federated States of Micronesia, and includes the main island of Kosrae and a few near ...
formed the independent nation of the Federated States of Micronesia. Under a
Compact of Free Association
The 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 (F ...
with the United States, Micronesian citizens and goods are allowed entry into the U.S. with few restrictions.
American
Peace Corps
The Peace Corps is an independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to provide international development assistance. It was established in March 1961 by an executive order of President John F. ...
has been active in Yap from 1966 to 2018. Other US-based non-profit organizations, including
Habele The Habele Outer Island Education Fund (or simply Habele) is a South Carolina–based charitable organization serving K-12 aged students in Micronesia. Habele's initial geographic focus was the so-called "Outer Islands" of Yap State as well as l ...
, have an ongoing presence on both Yap proper and its outer islands, aimed at reducing educational disparities and inequalities in access to effective classroom instruction.
See also
*
2007 Yap Islands Zika virus outbreak
*
William Henry Furness III
*
Rai stones
A rai stone ( yap, raay), or fei stone, is one of many large artifacts that were manufactured and treasured by the native inhabitants of the Yap islands in Micronesia. They are also known as Yapese stone money or similar names.
The typical rai ...
References
External links
The Official Government Website for the Island of YapYap Visitors Bureau
{{Use dmy dates, date=September 2018
Caroline Islands
.