thumb|Map of the TTPI from 1961

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 a mandate over the area from Imperial Germany after World War I. However, in the 1930s, Japan left the League of Nations and invaded additional lands. During World War II, military control of the islands was contested, but by the war's end, the islands had come under the Allies' control. 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 association kept with the United States: the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands and Palau are 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.

History

thumb|Arrival of [[United Nations|UN Visiting Mission, Majuro, 1978. The sign reads, "Please release us from the bondage of your trusteeship agreement."]]

Spain initially claimed the islands that later composed the territory of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI). Subsequently, Germany established competing claims over the islands.

The Territory contained 100,000 people scattered over a water area the size of the continental United States. It was subdivided into six districts and represented a variety of cultures, with nine spoken languages. The Pohnpeians and Kosraeans, Marshallese and Palauans, Chuukese, Yapese and Chamorros had little in common, except they were in the same general area of the Pacific Ocean.

The large distances between people, the lack of an economy, and language and cultural barriers all worked against the union. The six district centers became upscale slums, containing deteriorated Japanese-built roads, electricity, modern music, and distractions, which alienated youth and elders. The remainder of the islands maintained their traditional way of life and infrastructure.

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A Congress of Micronesia first levied an income tax in 1971. It affected mainly foreigners working at military bases in the region.

On October 21, 1986, the US ended its administration of the Marshall Islands District. The termination of US administration of the Chuuk, Yap, Kosrae, Pohnpei, and the Mariana Islands districts of the TTPI soon followed on November 3, 1986. The Security Council formally ended the trusteeship for the Chuuk, Yap, Kosrae, Pohnpei, Mariana Islands, and Marshall Islands districts on December 22, 1990, pursuant to Security Council Resolution 683. On May 25, 1994, the Council ended the trusteeship for the Palau District pursuant to Security Council Resolution 956, after which the US and Palau agreed to establish the latter's independence on October 1.

Geography

In 1969, the 100 occupied islands comprised over an area of of sea. The latter area was comparable in size to the continental United States.

  • 1958: 70,724
  • 1970: 90,940

Education

In 1947, the Mariana Islands' Teacher Training School (MITTS), a normal school serving all areas of the Trust Territory, opened in Guam. It moved to Chuuk in 1948, to be more central in the Trust Territory, The school, later known as Pohnpei Island Central School (PICS), is now Bailey Olter High School.

Palau Intermediate School, established in 1946, became Palau High School in 1962 as it added senior high grades. From the late 1960s to the middle of the 1970s, several public high schools were built or received additions in the Trust Territory. They included Jaluit High School, Kosrae High School, Marshall Islands High School in Majuro, Palau High, PICS<!--Stated as "Ponape High"-->, and Truk High School (now Chuuk High School). The Micronesian Occupational College in Koror, Palau, was also built. It later merged with the Kolonia-based Community College of Micronesia, which began operations in 1969, into the College of Micronesia-FSM in 1976.

Status

Following the termination of the trusteeship, the territory of the former TTPI became four separate jurisdictions:

Sovereign states in free association with the United States

The following sovereign states have become freely associated with the United States under the Compact of Free Association (COFA).

  • – established 1979, COFA effective October 21, 1986
  • – established 1979, COFA effective November 3, 1986
  • – established 1981, COFA effective October 1, 1994

Commonwealth in political union with the United States

  • – new constitution partially effective January 1, 1978, and fully effective November 4, 1986.

See also

  • High Commissioner of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands
  • Congress of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands

References

Bibliography

  • Photos from the records of the Trust Territory Government
  • 1967 Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands Census Geography
  • United States Code: CHAPTER 14 – TRUST TERRITORY OF THE PACIFIC ISLANDS
  • PACIFIC ISLANDS REPORT , Pacific Islands Development Program/East-West Center
  • Compact of Free Association between the United States and the Federated States of Micronesia As Amended (2003) (pdf, archived from the original on 2003-10-05)