Kosrae Island

Japanese: コシャエ[島]（英語表記）Kosrae Island

Kosrae is also called Kusaie. It is a volcanic island (163°06′E, 5°19′N) in the eastern end of the Caroline Islands in the Western Pacific Ocean, and is part of the Federated States of Micronesia. Its area is 106.9 km2, and its population is 7,400 (1991). It is an isolated mountainous island covered in tropical rainforest, and its inhabitants live on the small amount of flat land along the coast, in the inland sea of coral reefs, and in the nearby seas. It is culturally and linguistically related to the surrounding Marshall Islands and Pohnpei. Until the 19th century, it flourished with a self-sufficient economy based on the cultivation of breadfruit, taro, bananas, and other crops, and on fishing; a hierarchical chiefdom with a king called Tokosha at the top; and a well-developed system of honorific language and etiquette.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

コスラエともクサイKusaieとも称する。西太平洋，カロリン諸島東端の火山島(東経163゜06′，北緯5゜19′)でミクロネシア連邦に属する。面積106.9km2。人口7400(1991)。熱帯雨林に覆われた山がちの孤島で，住民は海岸部のわずかの平地と，サンゴ礁の内海や近海とを生活圏としてきた。文化的･言語的に周囲のマーシャル，ポナペなどと類縁関係に立つ。19世紀までは，パン果，タロイモ，バナナ等の栽培と漁労による自給自足経済，トコシャと称する王を頂点とする首長制階層社会，発達した敬語と礼儀作法の体系等を特徴とする文化が栄えた。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

<<: Paul Koschaker

>>: Koshimizu [town] - Koshimizu