The Federated States of Micronesia are located on the Caroline Islands in the western Pacific Ocean. The history of the modern Federated States of Micronesia is one of settlement by Micronesians; colonization by Spain, Germany, and Japan; United Nations trusteeship under United States-administered Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands; and gradual independence beginning with the ratification of a sovereign constitution in 1979.
A League of Nations mandate represented a legal status under international law for specific territories following World War I, involving the transfer of control from one nation to another. These mandates served as legal documents establishing the internationally agreed terms for administering the territory on behalf of the League of Nations. Combining elements of both a treaty and a constitution, these mandates contained minority rights clauses that provided for the rights of petition and adjudication by the Permanent Court of International Justice.
Palau, officially the Republic of Palau, is an island country in the Micronesia subregion of Oceania in the western Pacific. The republic consists of approximately 340 islands and connects the western chain of the Caroline Islands with parts of the Federated States of Micronesia. It has a total area of 466 square kilometers (180 sq mi), making it one of the smallest countries in the world. The most populous island is Koror, home to the country's most populous city of the same name. The capital Ngerulmud is located on the largest island of Babeldaob, in Melekeok State. Palau shares maritime boundaries with international waters to the north, the Federated States of Micronesia to the east, Indonesia to the south, and the Philippines to the northwest.
Palau was initially settled around 1000 BC.
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. The Imperial Japanese South Seas Mandate had been seized by the US during the Pacific War, as Japan had administered the territory since the League of Nations gave Japan mandate over the area from Imperial Germany after World War I. However, in the 1930s, Japan left the League of Nations, and then invaded additional lands. During World War II, military control of the islands was disputed, but by the end of the war the islands had come under control of the Allies. The Trust Territory of the Pacific was created to administer the islands as part of the United States, while still under the auspices of the United Nations. Most of the island groups in the territory became independent states, with some degree of ties kept with the United States: the Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands and Palau are today independent states in a Compact of Free Association with the US, while the Northern Mariana Islands remain under US jurisdiction, as an unincorporated territory and commonwealth.
The United Nations trust territories were the successors of the remaining League of Nations mandates, and came into being when the League of Nations ceased to exist in 1946. All the trust territories were administered through the United Nations Trusteeship Council and authorized to a single country. The concept is distinct from a territory temporarily and directly governed by the United Nations.
High commissioner is the title of various high-ranking, special executive positions held by a commission of appointment.
German New Guinea consisted of the northeastern part of the island of New Guinea and several nearby island groups and was the first part of the German colonial empire. The mainland part of the territory, called Kaiser-Wilhelmsland, became a German protectorate in 1884. Other island groups were added subsequently. The Bismarck Archipelago, and the North Solomon Islands were declared a German protectorate in 1885. The Caroline Islands, Palau, and the Mariana Islands were bought from Spain in 1899. German New Guinea annexed the formerly separate German Protectorate of Marshall Islands, which also included Nauru, in 1906. German Samoa, though part of the German colonial empire, was not part of German New Guinea.
The Flag of Palau was adopted on 1 January 1981, when the island group separated from the United Nations Trust Territory. As with the flags of several other Pacific island groups, light blue is the color used to represent the ocean and the nation's place within it. While this puts Palau in common with the Federated States of Micronesia and other neighboring island groups, the disc on the flag is off-centre like that of the flag of Bangladesh, but in this case the disc represents the moon instead of the sun. The current flag was introduced in 1981 when Palau became a republic.
The South Seas Mandate, officially the Mandate for the German Possessions in the Pacific Ocean Lying North of the Equator, was a League of Nations mandate in the "South Seas" given to the Empire of Japan by the League of Nations following World War I. The mandate consisted of islands in the north Pacific Ocean that had been part of German New Guinea within the German colonial empire until they were occupied by Japan during World War I. Japan governed the islands under the mandate as part of the Japanese colonial empire until World War II, when the United States captured the islands. The islands then became the United Nations–established Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands governed by the United States. The islands are now part of Palau, the Northern Mariana Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Marshall Islands.
The Territory of New Guinea was an Australian-administered United Nations trust territory on the island of New Guinea from 1914 until 1975. In 1949, the Territory and the Territory of Papua were established in an administrative union by the name of the Territory of Papua and New Guinea. That administrative union was renamed as Papua New Guinea in 1971. Notwithstanding that it was part of an administrative union, the Territory of New Guinea at all times retained a distinct legal status and identity until the advent of the Independent State of Papua New Guinea.
The German–Spanish Treaty of 1899, signed by the German Empire and the Kingdom of Spain, involved Spain selling the majority of its Pacific possessions not lost in the Spanish–American War to Germany for 25 million pesetas.
The high commissioner of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands was an official who administered the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI), a United Nations trusteeship in the Pacific Ocean under the administration of the United States, between 1947 and 1994. The territory consisted of islands captured by America during World War II, prior to which they had been part of the Empire of Japan as the South Seas Mandate, within the Japanese colonial empire. After World War II, United Nations Security Council Resolution 21 placed the territory under the United States trusteeship as the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. The islands are now part of Palau, Northern Mariana Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, and Marshall Islands.
The territorial conquests of the Empire of Japan in the Western Pacific Ocean and East Asia began in 1895 with its victory over Qing China in the First Sino-Japanese War. Subsequent victories over the Russian Empire and German Empire expanded Japanese rule to Taiwan, Korea, Micronesia, southern Sakhalin, several concessions in China, and the South Manchuria Railway. In 1931, Japan invaded Manchuria, resulting in the establishment of the puppet state of Manchukuo the following year; thereafter, Japan adopted a policy of founding and supporting puppet states in conquered regions. These conquered territories became the basis for the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere in 1940.
Diplomatic relations are maintained between Japan and Palau, a small island country in the western Pacific Ocean that was once a Japanese colony. There is a Japanese embassy on the Palauan island of Koror and a Palauan embassy in Tokyo.
The nationality law of the Federated States of Micronesia determines who is or may become a citizen or national of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). Article III of the Constitution of the Federated States of Micronesia provides the basis for nationality law, while specific provisions are elaborated in 7 FSMC § 201 et seq.
Koror City is the largest city and the commercial center in Palau, home to about half of the country's population, located on Koror Island. During the interwar period it served as the capital of the South Seas Mandate, a group of islands that made up the League of Nations mandated territory held by the Empire of Japan. It was subsequently the capital of Palau until it was replaced by Ngerulmud in 2006.
Marshallese nationality law is regulated by the Marshallese Constitution of 1979, as amended; the 1984 Citizenship Act of the Marshall Islands, and its revisions; and international agreements entered into by the Marshallese government. These laws determine who is, or is eligible to be, a national of the Marshall Islands. The legal means to acquire nationality, formal membership in a nation, differ from the domestic relationship of rights and obligations between a national and the nation, known as citizenship. Marshallese nationality is typically obtained either on the principle of jus soli, i.e. by birth in the Marshall Islands or under the rules of jus sanguinis, i.e. by birth abroad to parents with Marshallese nationality. It can be granted to persons with an affiliation to the country, or to a permanent resident who has lived in the country for a given period of time through naturalization.
The Marianas archipelago of the Northern Pacific contains fourteen islands located between Japan and New Guinea on a north–south axis and Hawaii and the Philippines on an east–west axis. Inhabitants were Spanish nationals from the 16th century until the Spanish–American War of 1898. As Guam became a territory of the United States the Northern Marianas were sold to Germany in 1899. The Northern Mariana Islands were a German protectorate until 1919, when they became part of the South Seas Mandate, administered by Japan. At the close of World War II, the Marianas became part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. In 1975, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands became a self-governing territory. In 1986, the Marianas came under the sovereignty of the United States when the trusteeship ended and US nationality and citizenship was conferred on the inhabitants of the territory.
Palauan nationality law is regulated by the 1980 Constitution of Palau, as amended; the 1994 Palau Citizenship Act, and its revisions; and international agreements entered into by the Palauan government. These laws determine who is, or is eligible to be, a national of Palau. The legal means to acquire nationality, formal legal membership in a nation, differ from the domestic relationship of rights and obligations between a national and the nation, known as citizenship. Palauan nationality is typically obtained either on the principle of jus soli, i.e. by birth in Palau or under the rules of jus sanguinis, i.e. by birth abroad to parents with Palauan nationality. It can be granted to persons with an affiliation to the country through naturalization.
