Yap State, FSM
The Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) consists of four states: Chuuk, Kosrae, Pohnpei, and Yap. These entities were formerly part of the United Nations Trust Territory, but the FSM is now a semi-independent nation under a Compact of Free Association with the U.S. and receives financial benefits in return for providing exclusive free passage to U.S. military vessels through FSM waters.
Yap State consists of a group of four volcanic islands and 19 inhabited outer islands and atolls, with a total land area of 46 square miles. Two-thirds of its 11,647 people (est. 2006) live on Yap Island. One of the most traditional island groups of the Pacific, Yap has four languages: Yapese, Ulithian, Woleaian, and Satawalese.
Culture
The Yapese society has a caste system consisting of seven levels. People are recognized and respected according to their village. Each person is named after an ancestor, which ties that person to a certain piece of property. Every group of islands within the Yapese society has its own unique cultural identity and customs. Traditionally, the women on the outer islands of Yap wear lava-lavas and men wear loincloths. The women on Yap proper wear grass skirts, and the men wear loincloths with a lava-lava and strings of hibiscus fibers all tied in a particular way. Today, western clothes and styles are more popular.
Language
Yap State has four major languages—Yapese, Ulithian, Woleaian, and Satawalese. They, along with English, are the official languages of the state. Yapese is spoken only on Yap proper, and it is a language unlike any other spoken throughout Micronesia and the Pacific. The outer island people of Yap speak a language which is quite similar to that spoken by outer islanders of Chuuk and the Carolinians of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Useful greetings are provided with English translations and phonetic pronunciations on Language Cards.
Education
The U.S. Navy set up schools in Yap when it took control in 1945 and was replaced by the U.S. Department of the Interior in 1951. In a broad sense, the U.S. model is still in effect. This is reflected in the basic curriculum and the school day. Yap's educational system is still somewhat of a carryover from its Trust Territory days. According to education officials there, an effort is being made to more accurately reflect Yapese tradition and culture while still meeting the challenges of an emerging nation and rapidly changing world. Yap has 33 public schools with an enrollment of about 2,800 students.
PREL Service Center
P.O. Box 985
Colonia, Yap FM 96943
Phone: (691) 350-4382
Fax: (691) 350-4380
Email: yapsc@prel.org
Yap Department of Education
Yap Department of Education
Ms. Rosa Tacheliol, Director of Education
P.O. Box 220
Colonia, Yap FM 96943
Phone: (691) 350-2150
Fax: (691) 350-2399
FSM Department of Education
www.literacynet.org/micronesia/doe1.html
Institutions of Higher Education
College of Micronesia, Yap Campus
Ms. Lourdes F. Roboman, Director
P. O. Box 286
Colonia, Yap FM 96943
Phone: (691) 350-2296
Fax: (691) 350-5150
Email: comfsmyap@comfsm.fm
www.comfsm.fm/yap
Government
Airline Service
Contact PREL
Pacific Resources for Education and Learning
Phone:
(808) 441-1300
U.S. Toll-free Phone:
(800) 377-4773
AskPREL
Phone:
(808) 441-1300
U.S. Toll-free Phone:
(800) 377-4773
AskPREL
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