Yap

Yap

a group of four main islands in the W Pacific, in the W Caroline Islands: administratively a district of the US Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands from 1947; became self-governing in 1979 as part of the Federated States of Micronesia; important Japanese naval base in World War II. Pop.: 12 055 (1999 est.). Area: 101 sq. km (39 sq. miles)

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Yap

 

a group of volcanic islands in the western Caroline Islands in the Pacific Ocean. The Yap Islands have an area of 100 sq km. The population of the islands is about 4,000 (1975). Elevations range to 178 m. The climate is subequatorial and oceanic; precipitation totals up to 3,000 mm annually. The islands have tropical evergreen forests and, in the interior regions, savanna vegetation.

The economy of the Yap Islands includes fishing and the cultivation of taro, sweet potato, and sugarcane. The indigenous population is Micronesian. The “money” of the local residents is unique, consisting of stone disks up to 2 m in diameter that have an opening in the center and that frequently weigh up to several tons. The Russian scientist N. N. Miklukho-Maklai was one of the first to describe the disks.

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Yap

 

an abyssal trench along the eastern foot of the island arc of Yap and Ngulu in the Pacific Ocean. The Yap Trench is about 500 km long. The narrow, sometimes flat bottom of the trench is separated by sills into several closed depressions with average depths of 6,000 to 8,000 m; the maximum depth is 8,850 m.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.