Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands

Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands
United Nations Trust Territory
1947–1994
Flag Coat of arms
Location of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands in the Pacific.
Capital		Saipan
Languages		English (official) Micronesian languages, Marshallese, Chamorro, Palauan
Government		Trust Territory
Chief of State
•	1947–1953 (first)	Harry S. Truman
•	1993–1994 (last)	Bill Clintona
High Commissioner
•	1947–1948 (first)	Louis E. Denfeld
•	1981–1987 (last)	Janet J. McCoyb
Historical era		Cold War
•	Trusteeship	July 18, 1947
•	Termination of administration (Marshall Islands)	October 21, 1986
•	Termination of administration (others)	November 3, 1986
•	Free Association	October 1, 1994
Area
•	1980
Population
•	1980 est.	132,929
Density
Currency		United States dollar
Preceded by Succeeded by South Pacific Mandate Marshall Islands Federated States of Micronesia Northern Mariana Islands Palau
a.	Clinton was President when Palau's Compact of Free Association took effect. Ronald Reagan was President when the RMI, FSM, and CNMI's final status took effect.
b.	McCoy retired as High Commissioner in 1987. As Palau was still a part of the TTPI, it was administered by officials in the Office of Territorial and International Affairs until 1994.

Map of the TTPI from 1961

The Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI) was a United Nations trust territory in Micronesia (western Pacific) administered by the United States from 1947 to 1986.

History

Arrival of 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 comprised the territory of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI). Subsequently, Germany established competing claims over the islands. The competing claims were eventually resolved in favor of Germany when Spain, following its loss of several possessions to the United States during the Spanish–American War, ceded its claims over the islands to Germany in 1899 pursuant to the German–Spanish Treaty (1899). Germany, in turn, continued to retain possession until the islands were captured by Japan during World War I. The League of Nations formally placed the islands in the former South Pacific Mandate, a mandate that authorized Japanese administration of the islands. The islands then remained under Japanese control until captured by the United States in 1944 during World War II.

The TTPI entered UN trusteeship pursuant to Security Council Resolution 21 on July 18, 1947 and was designated a "strategic area" in its 1947 trusteeship agreement. Article 83 of the UN Charter provided that, as such, its formal status as a UN trust territory could be terminated only by the Security Council, and not by the General Assembly as with other trust territories. The United States Navy controlled the TTPI from a headquarters in Guam until 1951, when the United States Department of the Interior took over control, administering the territory from a base in Saipan.

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 U.S. ended its administration of the Marshall Islands District. The termination of U.S. 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 U.S. and Palau agreed to establish the latter's independence on October 1.

Current status

The area is now divided into four 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).

• Republic of the Marshall Islands - Established 1979, COFA effective October 21, 1986
• Federated States of Micronesia - Established 1979, COFA effective November 3, 1986
• Republic of Palau - Established 1981, COFA effect October 1, 1994

Commonwealth in political union with the United States

• Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands - 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
• Micronesia portal

External links

Media related to at Wikimedia Commons

• 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, archiveed from the original on 2003-10-05)