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Updates: 

I've added population data according to the 2010 census.

Country overview: 

Short name	FEDERATED STATES OF MICRONESIA
ISO code	FM
FIPS code	FM
Language	English (en)
Time zone	see table
Capital	Palikir

 

Germany bought almost all of Micronesia--the Caroline, Mariana (excluding Guam), and Marshall Islands--from Spain in the 1890s. The islands were taken by Japan during World War I, and mandated to Japan in 1920 by the League of Nations. The Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands was created on 1947-04-02 and granted in trust to the United States. It contained the islands which are now in the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of Palau, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Marshall Islands. On 1979-05-10, following a vote on self-government, the F.S.M. was formed. It contained most of the Caroline Island group. The four states of the F.S.M. had previously been four of the seven districts of the T.T.P.I. On 1986-11-03, it became a freely associated state of the United States, a status which falls somewhere between a protectorate and an independent country.

Note: Oceania is said to consist of Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. All of these names are unofficial, so their extent is determined just by convention. The three divisions are based on the ethnicity of the native inhabitants. In some people's usage Oceania also includes the Malay Archipelago (Indonesia), and even (rarely) Australia and New Zealand.

Other names of country: 

1. Danish: Mikronesien, Føderale statsforbund Mikronesien, Mikronesiens Forenede Stater
2. Dutch: Micronesië, Micronesia, Gefedereerde Staten van Micronesië (formal), Federale Staten Micronesië
3. English: Micronesia (informal)
4. Finnish: Mikronesia
5. French: Micronésie, États mp Fédérés de Micronésie f
6. German: Mikronesien, Föderierte Staaten mp von Mikronesien n
7. Icelandic: Míkrónesía
8. Italian: Micronesia, Stati mp Federati di Micronesia
9. Norwegian: Mikronesiaføderasjonen
10. Portuguese: Micronésia, Estados mp Federados da Micronésia f (formal)
11. Russian: Микронезия, Федеративные Штаты Микронезии (formal)
12. Spanish: Micronesia, Estados mp Federados de Micronesia f
13. Swedish: Mikronesien, Mikronesiens federerade stater
14. Turkish: Mikronezya Federe Devletleri (formal)

Origin of name: 

Descriptive: union of island groups in Micronesia (Greek mikros nesos: small island)

Primary subdivisions: 

Federated States of Micronesia is divided into four states.

State	HASC	ISO	FIPS	F-6	Tz	Population	Area(km.²)	Area(mi.²)	Capital	ZIP
Chuuk	FM.CH	TRK	FM03	002	+10	48,651	127	49	Moen (Wenn)	2
Kosrae	FM.KO	KSA	FM01	005	+11	6,616	109	42	Lelu (Lele)	4
Pohnpei	FM.PO	PNI	FM02	040	+11	35,981	344	133	Palikir	1
Yap	FM.YA	YAP	FM04	060	+10	11,376	122	47	Colonia (Yap)	3
4 states						102,624	702	271
HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes. ISO: Codes from ISO 3166-2. FIPS: Codes from FIPS PUB 10-4. F-6: Codes from FIPS PUB 6-4, representing second-level administrative divisions of the United States. Tz: Time zone (offset in hours from UTC). Population: 2010-04-04 census (preliminary; source [3]). Capital: Names in parentheses are newer, more indigenous forms. ZIP: Last digit of ZIP code.

 

The codes for Federated States of Micronesia in FIPS PUB 5-2 are FM (alpha) and 64 (numeric). When the FIPS 5-2 and 6-4 codes are concatenated, as in 64040 for Pohnpei, the result is a code that uniquely identifies a county-equivalent unit in the United States.

Postal codes: 

Micronesia uses five-digit postal codes from the U.S. system. They all have the form 9694x.

Further subdivisions:

See the Municipalities of the Federated States of Micronesia page.

Territorial extent: 

1. Chuuk consists of the Chuuk Islands, which are surrounded by barrier reefs and grouped into the Shichiyo Islands (Tol, the largest, Udot, Ulalu) and the Shiki Islands (Moen, the largest, Dublon, Fefan, Uman); the Mortlock Islands, including the Etal, Lukunor, and Satawan Atolls; the Hall Islands, including the East Fayu, Murilo, and Nomwin Atolls; the Magur Islands, including the Namonuito, Pisaras, and Ulul Atolls; and Kuop, Losap, Nama, Namoluk, Pulap, Pulusak, and Puluwat Atolls.
2. Kosrae consists of just the island of Kosrae.
3. Pohnpei consists of the Senyavin Islands (Pohnpei Island and the nearby atolls of Ant and Pakin) and other atolls, including Kapingamarangi, Mokil, Ngatik, Nukuoro, Oroluk, and Pingelap.
4. Yap consists of the Yap Islands (Gagil-Tamil, Maap, Rumung, and Yap), and Eauripik, Elato, Fais, Faraulep, Gaferut, Ifalik, Lamotrek, Ngulu, Olimarao, Piagailoe (West Fayu), Pikelot, Sorol, Ulithi, and Woleai Atolls.
5. The approximate boundaries of the states, from west to east, are the following longitudes in degrees East: Yap - 148° - Chuuk - 154° - Pohnpei - 162° - Kosrae.

The UN LOCODE page  for Micronesia lists locations in the country, some of them with their latitudes and longitudes, some with their ISO 3166-2 codes for their subdivisions. This information can be put together to approximate the territorial extent of subdivisions.

Origins of names: 

1. Chuuk: Chuukese for mountain
2. Pohnpei: native word for "upon a stone altar" (refers to a creation legend)

Change history: 

1. 1947-04-02: Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, a trusteeship of the U.S.A., created by the United Nations. Initially it was administered from Honolulu, HI. Its first flag had six stars for the six districts as listed here:

	Pop-1958-06-30	Pop-1974-06-30
Marianas	8,220	14,355
Marshalls	13,928	25,044
Palau	8,845	12,674
Ponape	14,335	23,251
Truk	19,807	31,600
Yap	5,459	7,869
Total	70,594	114,773

1. 1958: Population report shows Marianas district split into Rota (pop. 970) and Saipan (7,250). The territory capital had moved to Saipan.
2. 1977: Kosrae state split from Ponape.
3. 1978-01-01: Following a referendum, Marianas district became the Northern Mariana Islands, a commonwealth of the United States.
4. ~1980: Name of the city of Ponape changed to Kolonia; name of the city of Colonia changed to Yap.
5. 1984-11-08: Name of the state and island of Ponape changed to Pohnpei.
6. 1986-10-21: Compact of Free Association between the Marshall Islands and the U.S. took effect, following a 1983 plebiscite. The Marshall Islands became separate from the Federated States of Micronesia.
7. 1986-11-03: Covenant to Establish a Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands took effect, making the Northern Mariana Islands a commonwealth of the U.S., and no longer part of the Federated States of Micronesia. The U.S. notified the U.N. that its responsibilities as trustee had been fulfilled.
8. 1989: Capital moved from Kolonia to Palikir (both on the island of Pohnpei).
9. 1989-10-01: Name of the state of Truk changed to Chuuk; its FIPS 6-4 code changed from 050 to 002.
10. 1990-12-22: Trusteeship dissolved by the U.N.
11. 1994-10-01: Palau became a freely associated state of the United States.

Other names of subdivisions: 

1. Chuuk: Truk (obsolete)
2. Kosrae: Kusaie (variant)
3. Pohnpei: Ponape (obsolete)

Population history:

State	1920	1925	1930	1935	1958	1967	1973	1980	1989	1994-09-18	2000-04-01	2010-04-04
Chuuk	14,788	14,961	15,200	15,129	20,124	25,107	31,609	37,488	47,871	53,319	53,595	48,651
Kosrae	786	886	990	1,189	2,367	3,260	3,952	5,491	6,835	7,317	7,686	6,616
Pohnpei	5,748	6,597	7,051	7,596	11,258	15,044	18,926	22,080	30,669	33,692	34,486	35,981
Yap	8,338	7,366	6,486	6,006	5,540	6,761	7,870	8,100	10,365	11,178	11,241	11,376
Total	29,660	29,810	29,727	29,920	39,289	50,172	62,357	73,159	95,740	105,506	107,008	102,624

Sources: 

1. [1] Europa World Year Book 2001. Europa Publications, London, 2001.
2. [2] The FSM 2000 Census of Population and Housing : National Census Report. Department of Economic Affairs, Division of Statistics, Palikir, 2002-05. (P. 3, retrieved 2012-01-14).
3. [3] FSM 2010 Census Preliminary Results . Office of Statistics, Budget & Economic Management, Overseas Development Assistance, and Compact Management (retrieved 2013-06-03).
4. [4] 1958 populations come from The Statesman's Year-Book 1959, Macmillan & Co., London, 1959.
5. [5] 1974 populations come from The Statesman's Year-Book 1977/1978, St. Martin's Press, New York, 1977.