Connectivity: Orientation to US Pacific

The population served by PIHOA reside in six Pacific jurisdictions: American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), and the Republic of Palau (ROP).  Three of the jurisdictions—including American Samoa and Guam, which are unincorporated territories, and CNMI, a commonwealth coveant—are officially part of the United States.  The Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of Palau are independent countries each of which has signed Compacts of Free Association with the US government.  The Compacts enable these countries to receive direct economic support from the US and to participate in many-though not all-of the rights, benefits and responsibilities of US citizens, including military service, free migration to and from the United States and eligibility for select domestic assistance programs, including many health-related programs administered through HHS.   In exchange for this support, Pacific jurisdictions grant the United States various forms of political oversight, the including the right to exercise strategic denial to the military forces of other nations and to retain military control of several million square miles of the Pacific.

Demographics and Geography The population of all six jurisdictions is approximately 500,000 Pacific Islanders and Micronesians who reside on hundreds of islands (ring shaped volcanic remnants with a central lagoon) covering an expanse of ocean over five million square miles.  The region is home to dozens of diverse cultures and more than two dozen languages.  Flying from the furthest reaches of the USAPI to Hawaii takes eight hours of flight time. 

Map of US Affiliated Pacific Islands

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