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Pingelap is an atoll in the Pacific Ocean, part of Pohnpei State of the Federated States of Micronesia, consisting of three islands: Pingelap Island, Sukoru and Daekae, linked by a reef system and surrounding a central lagoon, although only Pingelap Island is inhabited. The entire system has a land area of 1.8 km² (455 acres) at high-tide, and is less than at its widest point. The atoll has its own language, Pingelapese, spoken by most of the atoll's 250 residents. ==History== The first European discoverer of the islands was Captain Thomas Musgrave in ''Sugar Cane''. Captain MacAskill in the ''Lady Barlow'' rediscovered them in 1809. Errors in measurement of their location resulted in the islands being separately named on charts in the 19th century as the Musgrave Islands and the MacAskill islands, within the Caroline archipelago.〔Findlay (1851), Vol. 2, p.1076.〕〔Brigham (1900), Vol. 1, issue 2, p.131.〕 Japan seized the atoll in October 1914, following the start of World War I. Japan then occupied the southern part of Pingelap Island during hostilities in the Pacific Ocean theater of World War II for a supply base. Allied Forces later attacked it. The presence of foreign troops on the island led to the introduction of a number of infectious diseases, including gonorrhoea, tuberculosis and dysentery, which reduced the population from its pre-war level of around 1000 to 800, and decreased the fertility rate significantly.〔 Historically, the atoll was ruled by a paramount chief known as the ''nahnmariki'', a hereditary title that granted certain land rights to its holder. This system remained in place during Japanese rule, although the title was renamed "Island Magistrate". However, with the arrival of the U.S. Navy in 1945, a democratically-elected system was set up alongside the traditional system, which gradually weakened in power. Universal primary education was provided for Pingelapese children and a limited health care scheme was set up to eradicate the diseases introduced during the war.〔 During the 1960s, the Peace Corps and U.S. Air Force settled on the main island, constructing a missile watching station in the northeast of the island and a pier, with work beginning in 1978 on an airstrip, jutting into the lagoon, on the main island.〔 The runway was finished in 1982, and currently between 2 and 3 planes per day fly to and from the atoll, operated by Caroline Islands Air.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Micronesian Diary: Pingelap, Phonpei )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Pingelap」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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