Sonsorol

Sonsorol is one of the sixteen states of Palau. The administrative center is Sonsorol ("Dongosaro") island. The inhabitants speak Sonsorolese, a local Trukic language, and Palauan.

The islands of the state of Sonsorol, together with the islands of Hatohobei, form the Southwest Islands of Palau.

The state is subdivided into four municipalities, which correspond to the four individual islands, with one village on each island, with the possible exception of Fanna Island. The islands are, from north to south (Fanna Island and Sonsorol Island are together called Sonsorol Islands):

Islands

Fanna

Fanna, also called Fana, is encircled by a coral reef extending 160 to 480 m offshore, and nearly circular in shape, with a diameter of 350 m. The island is thickly wooded with coconut palms and other trees. Although the island is referenced as a municipality, with Mariano Carlos serving as chief since 2000, no buildings or village can be made out on detailed aerial photographs, and the island is noted as uninhabited by different sources. Fanna Island and nearby Sonsorol Island 1.6 km further south together form the Sonsorol Islands.

onsorol

Sonsorol Island, also called "Dongosaro" or Dongosaru, is encircled by a coral reef extending 160 to 480 m offshore. It is 2 km long north south, and up to 890 m wide in the north. It is located 1.6 km south of Fanna Island. The village of Dongosaro, which is the capital of the state, is located on the west coast. The island is thickly wooded with coconut palms and other trees. Together with Fanna, it forms the Sonsorol Islands.

Pulo Anna

Pulo Anna or "Puro" is fringed by a coral reef extending beyond 460 m offshore. The island itself is about elliptical and measures 800 meters northeast-southwest, and is up to 550 meters wide. Puro village is on the northwest side of the island. Pulo Anna lies in the flow of the Equatorial Countercurrent throughout the year.

Merir

Merir Island, or "Melieli", is fringed by reef which extends beyond 1100 m offshore in the south and 160 m in the north. The edges of the reef are steep-to, except at the northern end where a spit, with a depth of 12.8 meters at its outer end, extends about 1300 meters northward. The island itself is 2.200 meters north south, and up to 600 meters wide. The village of Melieli, which has a radio station, is located on the northwest side of the island.

Trivia

Sonsorol is the setting for the individualist anarchist piece [http://www.sonsorol.org/port_watson.html "Visit Port Watson!"] , originally published in the book Semiotext(e) SF, edited by Rudy Rucker, Robert Anton Wilson, and Peter Lamborn Wilson.

External links

* [http://www.sonsorol.com/ Sonsorol Island]
* [http://www.sonsorol.com/history/index_eng.htm Municipalities with Chiefs mentioned]
* [http://www.satelliteviews.net/cgi-bin/w.cgi?c=ps&UF=-3738292&UN=-5116154&DG=ADMD Satellite views]
* [http://permanent.access.gpo.gov/websites/pollux/pollux.nss.nima.mil/NAV_PUBS/SD/pub126/126sec10.pdf Sailing Directions]
* [http://www.botany.hawaii.edu/faculty/duffy/arb/260-272/267.pdf Atoll Research Bulletin 267]