Nukuoro
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Nukuoro is an atoll in the Federated States of Micronesia.
It is a municipality of the state of Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia. Except for Kapingamarangi, it is the southermost atoll of the country. Nukuoro has a population of 372 (as of 2007), though several hundred Nukuorans live on Pohnpei. The total area, including the lagoon, is 40 km², with a land area of only 1.7 km², which is divided among more than 40 islets that lie on the northern, eastern and southern sides of the lagoon. By far the largest islet is Nukuoro islet, which is the center of population and the capital of the municipality.
The inhabitants speak Nukuoro language, which is closely related to the Kapingamarangi language and is a Polynesian dialect related to Samoan and Tokelauan. Nukuoro and Kapingamarangi constitute parts of the "Polynesian outlier" cultures lying well outside the Polynesian Triangle. Local legend tells that the first people came to settle on Nukuoro and Kapingamarangi in the 1700s from Samoa in the South Pacific 2,200 miles distant.
The lagoon is 6 kilometers (about 3.7 miles) in diameter. Fishing, animal husbandry, and agriculture (taro and copra) are the main occupations. A recent project to farm black pearl oysters has been successful at generating additional income for the island's people. Nukuoro is remote. It has no airstrip, and a passenger boat calls irregularly only once every few months. The island has no tourism except for the occasional visit by passing sailing yachts. There is a 4 room schoolhouse but children over the age of 14 must travel to Pohnpei to attend high school.
Its location is 3°50'49.20"N 154°56'34.80"E . Simply cutting and pasting that location into a browser's Google Toolbar search box (or into Google Earth itself) and clicking the added Google Earth icon, (if you have Google Toolbar and/or Google Earth downloaded to your computer) will take you on a non-stop, direct "Google Flight" to Nukuoro. The NASA astronaut photograph (shown here) ISS013-E-28610 was acquired May 31, 2006, 185 nautical miles (343 km) above earth using a Kodak 760C digital camera with an 800 mm lens, and is provided by the ISS Crew Earth Observations experiment and the Image Science & Analysis Group, Johnson Space Center. Clicking on the NASA layer within Google Earth will show the photos. The lagoon's inlet/outlet is on its southwest side.
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