Pingelap

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Coordinates: 6°13′5″N, 160°42′10″E Pingelap is an atoll in the Pacific Ocean, part of Pohnpei state of the Federated States of Micronesia, consisting of three islands: Pingelap Island, Sukoru and Daekae, linked by a reef system and surrounding a central lagoon, although only Pingelap Island is inhabited.[1] The entire system has a land area of 1.8 km² (455 acres) at high-tide, and is less than 2.5 miles (4 km) at its widest point.[2] The atoll has its own language, Pingelapese, spoken by most of the atoll's 750 residents.

[edit] History

A map of the Pohnpei region. Pingelap is at the eastern edge of the map.
A map of the Pohnpei region. Pingelap is at the eastern edge of the map.

The atoll was seized by Japan in October 1914, following the start of World War I, and the southern part of Pingelap Island was occupied by Japan during hostilities in the Pacific Ocean theater of World War II for a supply base, and was attacked by Allied Forces. The presence of foreign troops on the island led to the introduction of a number of infectious diseases, including gonorrhoea, tuberculosis and dysentery, which reduced the population from its pre-war level of around 1000 to 800 and decreased the fertility rate significantly.[1]

Historically, the atoll was ruled by a paramount chief known as the nahnmariki; a hereditary title which granted certain land rights to its holder. This system remained in place during Japanese rule, although the title was renamed "Island Magistrate". However, with the arrival of the U.S. Navy in 1945, a democratically-elected system was set up alongside the traditional system, which gradually weakened in power. Universal primary education was provided for Pingelapese children and a limited health care scheme was set up to eradicate the diseases introduced during the war.[1]

During the 1960s, the Peace Corps and U.S. Air Force settled on the main island, constructing a missile watching station in the northeast of the island and a pier, with work beginning in 1978 on an airstrip, jutting into the lagoon, on the main island.[1] The runway was finished in 1982, and currently between 2 and 3 planes per day fly to and from the atoll, operated by Caroline Islands Air.[3]

[edit] Today

A satellite image of the atoll at low-tide. The pale strip in the centre is the airstrip.
A satellite image of the atoll at low-tide. The pale strip in the centre is the airstrip.

The atoll is of particular interest to geneticists: a typhoon reduced the population of the atoll to only 20, one of whom had the rare disease complete achromatopsia (known on the island as maskun, meaning literally "not see" in Pingelapese), a recessive genetic disorder which causes total colour-blindness in sufferers; due to the small gene pool and rapid population growth, the disorder is now prevalent in almost 10% of the population, with a further 30% being unaffected carriers (by comparison, in the United States, only 1 in 33,000, or 0.003%, are affected)[4], leading neurologist Oliver Sacks to write his 1997 book The Island of the Colorblind.[5]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d Damas, David (1994). Bountiful Island: A Study of Land Tenure on a Micronesian Atoll. Wilfrid Laurier University Press. ISBN 0-88920-239-7. 
  2. ^ Damas, David (1985). "Pingelap Politics and American-Micronesian Relations". Ethnology 24 (1): 43. doi:10.2307/3773489. 
  3. ^ Micronesian Diary: Pingelap, Phonpei. intangible.org. Retrieved on 2007-06-13.
  4. ^ The Achromatopsia Group. Retrieved on 2007-06-13.
  5. ^ Sacks, Oliver (1997). The Island of the Colour-blind. Picador. ISBN 0-330-35887-1. 
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