Chapter 17 – Freely Associated States (FAS)

CNMI and Guam make up what the Western world calls the Mariana Islands.  The Marshall Islands are at the other end of Micronesia.  The Caroline Islands, comprised of Palau and the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) are in the middle.  Palau, FSM, and the Marshall Islands together are called the Freely Associated States (FAS), and are linked to the United States by the Compact of Free Association (COFA).  

These parts of Micronesia, except for Guam, were “independent” until the 1500s and the age of exploration.  They were claimed by Spain from the 16th through the 19th century, and then became German possessions after the Spanish American War, and then a League of Nations Mandate under Japanese Rule from the end of World War I through World War II.  Pearl Harbor was bombed from a based in the Marshall Islands, so the United States insisted on taking Micronesia as a strategic Trust Territory (of the Pacific Islands – TTPI) after World War II.

The CNMI split from the rest of the TTPI in 1978, becoming a Commonwealth in 1986.  About the same time the former Districts of Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei, and Kosrae became the FSM, and the Marshall Islands both signed Compacts of Free Association with the United States, making them independent, at least in name.  Palau followed in 1994.

The Office of Insular Affairs (OIA), U.S. Department of the Interior, is required to report on the impact of the Compacts of Free Association on the U.S. Insular Areas and the State of Hawaii within 5 year periods.  The first census of Micronesian migrants to the CNMI was conducted in 1993, followed by surveys in 1998 and 2003.  The U.S. Census Bureau conducted snowball-method surveys in those years; in 2008 and 2013, OIA contracted with the Census Bureau again, but the Bureau did not produce characteristics of CNMI migrants in those surveys.  Partly because of this, the FSM government funded its own survey of migrants to CNMI, Guam, Hawaii, and the U.S. Mainland.  The migrants were included in the Decennial Censuses, so characteristics can be shown for FSM for 6 enumerations.  Palau and RMI migrant analysis will be displayed in future publications.

For FSM-born migrants, the numbers increased from 2,300 in 1993 to about 4,300 in 2012, so almost doubling during the period.  Measuring migrants in CNMI is difficult because many FSM born were in the CNMI during TTPI times and many married and had children, and so many, while reporting as Micronesian by ethnicity, were not included among the migrants.  Also, many changed their ethnicity to “Carolinian” over time, as shown in the previous chapter on ethnicity.  

The median age of the FSM-born migrants actually decreased from 23.9 in 1993 to 16.9 in 2012, although the median of 22.0 years in the 2010 could also be close to the real number.  As migrants become established, they bring their relatives under the visa-free entry program instituted as part of the Compacts.  The 2010 census was complete throughout CNMI, the 2012 was a sample, although in the case of CNMI, it was a random sample based on all units reporting an FSM-born householder.  The median age for males in 2010 was 21.6 compared to 22.5 for females (and was 17.2 compared to 16.7 if the 2012 data are considered.

In 1993, considerably more migrant females than males were enumerated – about 88 males for every 100 females – probably because of the incipient garment factory period.  The population remained predominantly female throughout the period, ending back at 86 per 100 in 2012 (but 96 if the 2010 census is the measure).

OIA requires annual reporting from the Insular Areas on the impact of the Compact on those Areas.  The CNMI produces annual reports, and some of the tables from recent reports are included here.