Chuuk Ráán Annim

Chuuk: A Creation Story
from “Micronesian Legends” by Bo Flood, Beret E. Strong, & William Flood

Anulap dwelled in the heavens. His wife, Ligoububfanu, was the creator of Chuuk. She made the three largest islands of Chuuk — Tol, Moen, and Fefan — rise above the glassy surface of the lagoon. Around them she crated a great ring of coral to protect the lagoon’s shallow waters. Both within and without the great reef, she scattered fistfuls of islands and created the world of sky-breathing creatures, the birds, insects, and skittering land crabs…In the water world below, angelfish and starfish began to cling to the rock, seagrass whispered in the current, and ghosts had entire undersea villages. Ligoububfanu created people too She knew they would need high ground to survive when the winds blew the fish far from the shore and tore the coconuts off even the strongest trees.

About Chuuk

Chuuk State is one of the four states in the Federated States of Micronesia. Chuuk State includes Chuuk Lagoon, with the main island of Weno and many islands in the regions of Fáichuk (Fonoton, Piis-Panewu, Tonoas, Fefen, Parem, Siis, Uman) and Nómwoneas (Udot, Eot, Ramanum, Fanapanges, Pwene, Paata, Onei, Tol). Chuuk State also includes several smaller islands and atolls — the Mortlock Islands (Nema, Losap, Namoluk, Ettal, Lukunor, Satowan) and the Northwestern Islands (Kuop [uninhabited], Murilo, Nomwin, East Fayu [uninhabited], Nómwonweité, Polowat, Pollap, Houk). About 29% of Chuuk’s population lives in the outer islands, while 40% live in Weno.[1]

In general, FSM has two seasons — a dry season from November to April and a wet season from May to October. The region sees very little seasonal variation in temperature, with only a 3^oF difference between the average hottest and coolest months. Rainy season in FSM is from May to November and dry season is from December to April.[2]

[1] Student Atlas of the Federated States of Micronesia (IREI, 2014)
[2] http://www.pacificclimatechangescience.org/publications/country-brochures/

Education

As of 2013, the Chuuk State Department of Education oversees 84 schools (63 elementary, 10 high, 11 all grade) with 731 teachers and 12,518 students (9,752 elementary, 2,766 high).[3]

The College of Micronesia serves about 3,000 students and offers associate degrees and certificates in health careers, liberal arts, teacher preparation, technology, nursing, marine science, business, agriculture, criminal justice, culture, and trades. COM also offers a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education. COM’s main campus is located in Palikir. It also has 4 state campuses and a FSM Fisheries and Maritime Institute in Yap and a Cooperative Extension Service in Pohnpei. COM Chuuk Campus offers associate degrees in elementary and early childhood education, as well as certificates and programs in liberal arts, early childhood education, and trades.[4]

[3] http://www.fsmed.fm/index.php/public-info/jemco-indicators
[4] http://www.comfsm.fm/?q=irpo-grads

For additional information about weather and climate in Chuuk

• Hawaiʻi and the U.S. Affiliated Pacific Islands (NCA, 2014): http://nca2014.globalchange.gov/report/regions/hawaii-and-pacific-islands
• Federated States of Micronesia, PEIN Country Profile (SPREP): http://www.sprep.org/Federated-States-of-Micronesia/federated-states-of-micronesia-pein
• Climate Change in the Federated States of Micronesia: Food and Water Security, Climate Risk Management, and Adaptive Strategies (SOEST, 2010): http://seagrant.soest.hawaii.edu/climate-change-federated-states-of_micronesia
• Current and Future Climate of the Federated States of Micronesia (Pacific Climate Change Science Program, 2011):http://www.pacificclimatechangescience.org/publications/country-brochures/
• NOAA National Weather Service Forecast Office, Guam (for weather alerts in Micronesia): http://www.prh.noaa.gov/guam/

PCEP Partners

• Chuuk Department of Education
• International Organization for Migration (IOM): http://www.micronesia.iom.int/

Capital	Weno (Moen)
Population	48,654 (2010)
Land Area	127.4 sq km (49.2 sq mi)
Languages	Chuukese, Mortlockese, Pááféng, Nómwonweité, Nómwonpáttiw (and 40+ dielects), English
Indigenous Ethnicities	Chuukese, Mortlockese, Pááféng, Nómwonweité, Nómwonpáttiw