Micronesia

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Micronesia

The collective name for islands of the Pacific Ocean east of the Philippines, including the Mariana, PALAU, Caroline, Marshall, and Kiribati Islands. Micronesia is from the Greek micro, small + nesos, island, so named because the islands in this group are much smaller than those in MELANESIA. Micronesia is inhabited by a mixed race of Melanesians, Polynesians, and some Malaysians. (From Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1988, p761 & Room, Brewer's Dictionary of Names, 1992, p350)