Satawan

picture of Satawan Atoll Satawan Atoll is an atoll located about southeast of Chuuk Lagoon proper. Geographically it is part of the Nomoi or Mortlock Islands in the Carolines and administratively it is part of Chuuk State in the Federated States of Micronesia. About 3,000 people¹ live on a land area of .A [[Japanese people|Japanese] airfield was located on the atoll during World War II.

picture of Satawan Atoll]] Satawan Atoll is an atoll located about southeast of Chuuk Lagoon proper. Geographically it is part of the Nomoi or Mortlock Islands in the Carolines and administratively it is part of Chuuk State in the Federated States of Micronesia. About 3,000 people live on a land area of .A Japanese airfield was located on the atoll during World War II.

Name

The name of the island goes back to Proto-Chuukic *tadawana, making it etymologically related to Satawal.

Administrative divisions

Satawan Atoll administratively consists of four of the 40 municipalities of Chuuk State, named after the principal islets: Satowan (Satawan) (east) Ta (south) Kuttu (Kutu) (west) Moch (More) (north) Satowan and Ta municipalities are statistically grouped with the "Lower Mortlocks", and Kuttu and Moch municipalities with the "Mid Mortlocks". Satawan Atoll had a population of 2,935 . Satawan Atoll is located at and has a total area of (including the lagoon), but a land area of only .

History

Captain James Mortlock was sailing from Port Jackson to Whampoa in Young William when he rediscovered two sets of islands on 19 and 27 November 1795. Confusingly, both were later called Mortlock Islands. During World War II the Japanese garrison on the Mortlock Islands, under the command of Colonel Masatake Tobita, consisted of 753 IJA men including a company of six medium tanks and 257 IJN men including air base crew. Some World War II relics left by the Japanese can be found on Satawan. These include tanks (which may be seen on the main road), a few small planes, (the island was at one point home to a Japanese airstrip), and stone look-out posts along the north east coast. One can walk from Satawan to Ta via the reef at low tide. Near the end that is towards the island called Ta is a large cannon left over from the Japanese that points out into the ocean.

Notes

References

External links

[https://web.archive.org/web/20060821182233/http://web.singnet.com.sg/~tonym/islands.html Mortlock Islands - the two distinct island groups named "Mortlock Islands"

Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1312810282 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.