Country Details

Micronesia

Oceania, island group in the North Pacific Ocean, about three-quarters of the way from Hawaii to Indonesia

Geography

Detailed information and insights

Location

Oceania, island group in the North Pacific Ocean, about three-quarters of the way from Hawaii to Indonesia

Geographic coordinates

6 55 N, 158 15 E

Map references

Oceania

Area

Total

702 sq km

Land

702 sq km

Water

0 sq km (fresh water only)

Area - comparative

four times the size of Washington, D.C. (land area only)

Land boundaries

Total

0 km

Coastline

6,112 km

Maritime claims

Territorial sea

12 nm

Exclusive economic zone

200 nm

Climate

tropical; heavy year-round rainfall, especially in the eastern islands; located on southern edge of the typhoon belt with occasionally severe damage

Terrain

islands vary geologically from high mountainous islands to low, coral atolls; volcanic outcroppings on Pohnpei, Kosrae, and Chuuk

Elevation

Highest point

Nanlaud on Pohnpei 782 m

Lowest point

Pacific Ocean 0 m

Natural resources

timber, marine products, deep-seabed minerals, phosphate

Land use

Agricultural land

7.1% (2023 est.)

Agricultural land: arable land

arable land: 2.9% (2023 est.)

Agricultural land: permanent crops

permanent crops: 0% (2022 est.)

Agricultural land: permanent pasture

permanent pasture: 4.3% (2023 est.)

Forest

92.2% (2023 est.)

Other

0.7% (2023 est.)

Irrigated land

0 sq km (2022)

Population distribution

the majority of the population lives in the coastal areas of the high islands; the mountainous interior is largely uninhabited; less than half of the population lives in urban areas

Natural hazards

typhoons (June to December)

Geography - note

composed of four major island groups totaling 607 islands